Chicago's Katrina Benefit / The Redwalls by Jerry Marcus (10/11/05)

This special Katrina Benefit coverage comes to us from Chicago's very own Jerry Marcus:

Caught the Katrina Benefit tonight at the Metro, Chicago's home of indie rock. It was clear from the get go that (i) I was a full driver's license (16 years) older than all of the kids in the first four rows, and (ii) the whole night revolved around, and was leading up to, The Redwalls.

The Redwalls were nothing short of off-the-hook. Think Bowie, Dylan, Lennon and T.Rex all wrapped together, mixed up with a bunch of kids from Deerfield, Illinois, one of whom had perfectly teased out hair and a killer (fake?) British accent. Some may even say these kids, dressed cooler than Beck at his best, are the very poppy nephew of the band into which it took Wilco ten years to evolve.

However you slice it, they're on fire. They took the stage and shredded "Robinson Crusoe" with perfectly staged Beatlesque harmonies and drum fills reminiscent of Keith Moon. The three front-men of the four piece band were absolutely fluid, switching between lead and rhythm and bass guitars as well as lead vocals. The most frustrating part of the night was trying to determine which of the three had the sickest vocals - and whether or not I liked the Dylan look alike with the big hair and British accent or the starry-eyed fresh faced kid in the middle as my favorite front man. These are kids that are tight as fuck on guitar, shred their vocals, and melted the insides of every girl tonight at the Metro. They even came out for the Katrina Benefit encore and busted "This Land Is Your Land" -- and it actually worked.

Granted, they're no match to the depth of a band like the White Stripes. The Redwalls are pop-candy, and they got it down cold. It's clear Capitol Records hooked them up with the best stylist, a seasoned production team to maximize all the hooks and guitar riffs on their album, and staged all their harmonies on shared microphones at either end of the stage.

If you haven't yet heard them, download their album De Novo and listen to tracks 2, 3, 8 & 10. I'd do it now if I were you. Clear your schedule and empty your CD player -- this is gonna take you on a 2 week binge.

-Jerry Marcus

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