Pitchfork

Every year around this time, the Village Voice takes an afternoon off from their rail-against-rockism campaign and unending condescension towards independent music fans to kick back, suck down some beers, and hold...a free indie rock concert (!!!) known as the Siren Music Festival. We know, it doesn't make much sense to us, either, short of the fact that their budget precludes them from snagging, say, Jessica and Xtina. Luckily, our confusion is your delight: Previous years' lineups have boasted performances from Modest Mouse, Sleater-Kinney, the Shins, Trail of Dead, TV on the Radio, the Fiery Furnaces, Death Cab for Cutie, Ted Leo, etc etc etc. And so far, it looks like it's gonna be more of the same in '05.

Yes, the lineup's come out, kids, and while it regrettably cain't hold a candle to last year's roster (at least, not at this early juncture), we're impressed they were able to snag indie legends Spoon as headliners. Other artists who've signed on for the event so far include Mates of State, Brendan Benson, VHS or Beta, Dungen, Q and Not U, and the Dears. So, if you're not already planning to hit Chicago on July 16 for Pitchfork's Intonation Festival (wink!), you might consider heading over to Coney Island for this thing. It's scheduled to run from noon to 9 p.m., and keep in mind, it drew over 170,000 fans last year, so if you wanna have any chance of getting splashed with Britt Daniel's hott sweat droplets, get there early. Plus, it's free so you can't bitch if it rains.

For those of you of age, Budweiser will be your beer sponsor; for those of you with hair, Garnier Fructis will be your hair care sponsor. Visit the festival's website for further details.