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After a long, slow drive from St. Louis, Bare Mutants finally arrive at the Bottle for their official album release show for The Affliction, out last month on In the Red. The album takes you deep into the smooth dreamland of leader Jered Gummere with the help of fellow Chicago scene staples, Jeanine O’Toole (vocals) of the 1900s and Seth Bohn (bass) from Mannequin Men, along with talented friends Leslie Deckard (keys) and Matt Holland (drums). The Affliction is perfect for those chilly, overcast days where you dedicate yourself to doing nothing but staring into space and pondering your life.Sitting across from me, clad in all white, chain smoking cigarettes and guzzling iced coffees, we discuss: how cool is white on white, life as a new father, and who they’d want to play dodge ball against.JERED GUMMERE: What do you think of these white outfits? I guess it’s too late to change…ASHLEIGH DYE: I’m into it. With the white backdrops; you guys are doing a white out. I'm into monochromatic things... So first of all - I have to say that band names and the naming of things fascinate me - so why Bare Mutants?[laughter]JG: [laughing] Well, because I went to a name generator on the Internet and that was the first one that came up that I was like, not too bad!AD: A name generator, eh? See that’s interesting, no less. That’s a pretty interesting thing for a name generator to spit out. Was it a band specific generator?LESLIE DECKARD:  Yeah and I think you typed in, like, BARE or something to finally get there.AD: The Velvet Underground has been mention/referenced for your guys’ new album The Affliction, but were there any other major influences that went into making this album?JG: Friendship.AD: Each other - that’s a good influence to have. You're on a small mid-west tour right now, is this your last stop?JG:  We play Milwaukee tomorrowAD: Where’s your favorite stop been so far?JG: My house [laughter]LD: No, Ed’s house![Everyone]: Yeah - Ed’s!JEANINE O’TOOLE: We stayed with Jered’s old friend in Galesburg, Illinois.AD: Galesburg?SETH BOHN: Yeah. It’s like a half hour south of Rock Island. We did a Day Trotter recording session and had the night off, so we just went there. It was a lot of fun.AD: sounds like a good time. Old friends, recording sessions, shows. How was the audience’s response?LD: Sold out, first of all. [laughs]JO: No, well St. Louis...SB: St. Louis was goodishJO: St. Louis was a great response; I’d say it was more quality than quantity. But, it was cool. Everyone was into it.AD: That’s good. I mean, as long as the people their are enjoying what you’re doing that’s what matters; you could have a crowd full of people and if they’re just talking to each other, what's the point? Do you have any more dates lined up or an affirmed future for Bare Mutants?SB: There some stuff in the works for December.AD: Where are you guys looking to go?SB: Out East.JG: Maybe Canada. AD: Out east is a good place to go in December, that’s some crafty planning.JG: We’re also playing Midpoint Festival in Cincinnati at the end of this month.AD: Jered, this question's more for you: How does writing now compare to projects past? How has your recent venture into fatherhood played a role in that? Do you think it’s been significant?JG: Well, most of this record was written way before that, but I’m a stay-at-home father now, so at night when my wife comes home I go to the basement and I’m pretty productive. I feel much more focused.AD: Sometimes it takes more things going on in your life to make you more focused creatively.JG: I think it was the other things that were the problem before. Now I have minimal focus.AD: If your daughter could only listen to one artist throughout her baby years of your choosing, whom would you pick?JG: Oh, man… I mean right now she’s a Willie Nelson girl, so I’ll probably stick with Willie.AD: If money and time were obsolete for you guys, where would you go on tour?JG: Uh, Japan.JO: I was just going to say Japan!AD: I’ve always wanted to go to Japan! They’re so weird over there... What’s a band you’d most like to have a dodge ball match against?LD: I really suck at dodge ball so this is a hard question.JO: Leslie you can’t be on the team!AD: I was always the girl hiding in the back, and then I’d end up being the only one left on my team. But I can’t throw very far so it sucked. JG: I don’t really like Mac DeMarco. We’ll take him out.[everyone laughs]LD: Five on one![laughter]JG [laughing] Nah, he’s got like 4 or 5 people in his band.SB: Or Outer Minds, they’d be fun to throw some balls at.AD: OK so these are my last couple questions, they’re from Mike G here at the Bottle... Jered, who do you think is more famous, you or Bruce Lamont?JG: Oh yeah.JO: That’s good, haha.JG: Uh probably Hesh, unfortunately.JO: He is Robert Plant in half of his time so…AD: And in closing: Who do you think will win this year, Packers or the Bears?JG: The fucking Bears! There are too many Green Bay fans in this city.SB: Even if the Packers win, the Bears still win because they’re the Bears.——————————————————————————————————Live @ Empty Bottle on Friday the 13th of September, 2013Interview conducted and transcribed by ASHLEIGH DYEPhotos taken by ASHLEIGH DYE

This Friday we'll be celebrating the release of the debut album by Chicago's own BARE MUTANTS. Comprised of some of our favorite local bands - THE PONYS, MANNEQUIN MEN, THE 1900s and LIKE PIONEERS - the LP is titled The Affliction and it was release released on one of our favorite LA-based labels, In The Red. If you know us, which you probably do by now, you know we can't get enough of these bodacious dudes and lady-dudes. Front-dude JERED GUMMERE continues to blow us away, and this record further solidifies his place as one of the absolute top-notch songwriters to grace our stage...In case you don't already know, if you buy tickets in advance to Friday's show you'll be entered to win some sweet, sweet vinyl records! BARE MUTANTS have given us a copy of their new LP, as well as their debut 7" on HoZac, and the smokin' hot members of VERMA have provided their new LP Coltan (Trouble In Mind) along with their new HoZac 7-inch. WOWE what a prize! The winner will be contacted the day of the show and can pick up his/her prize the night of the show.Here are some nice things "the press" has to say about that excellent BARE MUTANTS LP...

"This album is a heartbreaking motherfucker of sublime despondency. The simple but not simplistic arrangements underscore the matter-of-fact lyrics by former Ponys front man Jered Gummere—they read like a chronicle of the stocktaking and soul-searching you do while spending an afternoon recovering from last night’s epic bender." (Brian Costello, Chicago Reader)"In the absence of new music from the Ponys, fans of noise-streaked rock can turn their lonely eyes to Bare Mutants... Bare Mutants have previously shared "Crying With Bob," and now you can hear "Growing" first below. Both are patiently sculpted works rich with fuzzy guitar, garage-rock organ, and echoing baritone vocals." (SPIN)"How many reasons does Jered Gummere need to give us before we start invoking his name tirelessly? What's this guy got to do for us that was not already proven with The Ponys, Guilty Pleasures and influencing Jay Reatard and the burrough of Brooklyn for the better part of the Aughts? Turns out, it's start yet another killer band." (Impose)

We've got an almost-obnoxious number of awesome new shows coming to our stage (& LSA) in the next few months and they're all going on sale this week. Some of them are even on sale now! Check it out ("after the jump") and give a listen to the New Shows Playlist at the bottom of this post. What a world!8/16: Cheater Slicks (9:30pm; $10) *On Sale NOW*9/13: Bare Mutants (record release), Verma, VLLLGE (9:30pm; $10 (advance), $12) *On-sale Friday @ 10am*9/16: Terry Malts, Spray Paint (9pm; Free) *FREE MONDAY*10/5: Quintron and Miss Pussycat, zZz (9:30pm; $10 (advance), $14) *On Sale NOW*10/8: Obits (9pm; $12) *On-sale Friday @ 10am*10/11: The Moondoggies, Rose Windows, Is/Is (9pm; $12) *On-sale Friday @ 10am*10/14: Islands (9pm; $12) *On-sale Friday @ 10am*10/18: The Men, Fuzz, Purling Hiss, CCR Headcleaner @ Logan Square Auditorium (8pm; $12 (advance), $14 – 17+) *On-sale Fri, 7/12 @ 10am*"Shark Pizza" image courtesy of Hobo Lunchbox.

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UMO

Summer Festival Season is in full swing all over Chicago and two of the biggest fests, the annual Pitchfork & Lollapalooza music gatherings, are just around the corner. Say what you will about the fests (actually, don't), but we think it's great that they allow for us to have Aftershows at our venue. We get to welcome acts that have become popular enough to have outgrown our fair room, and whether you want to stand out in the heat and/or rain, you can still come rock the eff out with totally killer bands in an intimate space. WIN-WIN!This year we've got two more Aftershows to announce, one for Pitchfork and one for Lollapalooza, and we're damn excited for both of em!The Friday of PITCHFORK (7/19) we're hosting the first of three Panache Booking Aftershows, and this one will feature legendary punk band THE ZEROS!Making their first appearance ever on our stage, THE ZEROS will be supported by local psych/garage/rock heroes OUTER MINDS and Minneapolis rockers THE BLIND SHAKE. Tickets are $15 and you can get em NOW - grab em here!For Lollapalooza, we've teamed up with C3 & the Red Bull Sound Select Series to bring UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA back to our stage for their first time since 2011.UMO, as they're lovingly known, released their excellent sophomore album, appropriately titled II, on Jagjaguwar Records at the beginning of the year and tonight they'll be joined by two fantastic, steadily-rising Chicago bands BARE MUTANTS and NETHERFRIENDS. Tickets are on sale NOW and they're going fast - grab some here before they're gone!EB out.