Pitchfork

This past Wednesday night Chicagoans experienced an indie pop invasion from the other side of the equator, as the Brunettes of New Zealand and the Lucksmiths of Australia crossed paths at Schubas.

The Lucksmiths, hopping oceans to support their just-released Spring a Leak double-disc rarities comp, played an all-too-brief opening set, inviting us to trick late-arriving friends into thinking the band had been onstage for a couple hours already. I wish they had gotten two hours to play; one hour of their sly, sweet, jangly tunes and one hour of their tack-sharp banter. Also: accents.

Luckily the Brunettes gave us much to love as well, bolstering tunes from their North American debut, Structure & Cosmetics-- packed with arrangements more complex and lyrics more knotty than most twee kids are probably used to-- with a dance contest, a "Born to Run" cover, and a "Name Game" ("Anna Anna bo-banna...") take on band introductions. With winter's chill well on its way, Chicago could use more of this sunny stuff.

Also, if someone could please tell me why these two aren't touring the continent together, that would be nice.

THE BRUNETTES






THE LUCKSMITHS












THE BRUNETTES






The Brunettes:

09-28 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern *
09-29 Montreal, Quebec - Petit Campus *
10-01 Cambridge, MA - Middle East *
10-02 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge *
10-03 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's *
10-04 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *
10-05 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel *
10-07 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
10-09 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
10-10 Athens, GA - Tasty World *
10-11 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge *
10-12 Hattiesburg, MS - The Thirsty Hippo *
10-19 Brooklyn, NY - Sound Fix (CMJ)
10-20 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (CMJ)
11-01 London, England - Windmill
11-02 London, England - Water Rats
11-07 Manchester, England - Star and Garter
11-08 Aberdeen, Scotland - Snafu Club
11-09 Glasgow, Scotland - The Beat Club
11-10 Edinburgh, Scotland - Radar @ Ego
11-13 Paris, France - Point Ephemere
11-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
11-15 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Studio-K
11-16 Hamburg, Germany - Haus 73
11-17 Berlin, Germany - TBA
11-19 Leipzig, Germany - Nato
11-20 Luxembourg, Luxembourg - d:qliq
11-21 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart
11-22 Toulouse, France - Samba Resille
11-24 Maniago, Italy - Teatro Verdi
11-25 Carpi, Italy - Mattatoya
11-28 Bristol, England - Croft
11-30 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Speakeasy @ Queens University
12-01 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
12-02 Galway, Ireland - TBA

* with Ferraby Lionheart

The Lucksmiths:

09-28 New York, NY - Knitting Factory #$
09-29 Brooklyn, NY - Europa #$
09-30 Washington, DC - DC9 #$
10-01 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse #$
10-02 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge $
10-03 New Orleans, LA - Hi-Ho Lounge
10-04 Austin, TX - Emo's ~

# with Still Flyin'
$ with the Ladybug Transistor
~ with Our Solar System