This month Chicago’s Kranky Records released the studio debut from Disappears. The album is titled Lux, and it very well maybe the hardest rocking album that Kranky has ever released. From the title track to “Magic” to my favorite track “Gone Completely”, this album that was 18 months in the making delivers in a big way.

The band is currently on a cross country tour that spans three months ends up in Canada in June. The band will then hit the road with Woven Bones in June. Their next hometown performance will on July 5th at Millennium Park with The Thermals for Downtown Sound.

If you’re going to have Kid Sister come into the studio to record a version of someone else’s song why would it be this one? However, this does show off her range.

Kid Sister will next perform in Chicago on July 19th at Millenium Park.

The latest addition to the growing Giant System Chicago catalog comes from Implodes.

We are just a year out from the full-length debut of Anni Rossi, Rockwell (4AD), and now there are rumors of a new album coming this summer. In fact we found as a sneak peek of the album over the weekend at the wonderful site MBV.

Anni is play of the “plus many more” performing at Matt Groening’s ATP event in Butlins Minehead UK next month.

Katie (Very Truly Yours) and Pat make tiny indie-pop songs together complete with toy piano and ukulele. They somewhat released an ep called Short Cuts last week that you can listen to on their myspace page. I say somewhat because it is not yet available for purchase or download, but it is absolutely worth a listen. This ep is the follow-up to their 2009 album On a Balance Beam.

This duo will be performing on April 27th at Bird’s Nest, you can catch Very Truly Yours on May 4th with Casiotone for The Painfully Alone and Magical, Beautiful at Schubas.

Mahjongg has announced their summer tour which will correspond with the release of their new LP on K Records. The tour kicks off at Subt on July 9th. You can find all of the tour dates here.

This video is from last year, but Harpoon is currently recording a split album with The Muzzler for Hewhocorrupts Inc.

They will also be at Ronny’s Bar tonight with Iron Reminders (last show), Locks, and Winters in Osaka.

The Dirty Rooks are a six-piece rock and blues band that draws their influences from classic rock acts such as The Faces, The Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin. The band’s sophomore album Sugar Mama is filled with blues influenced classic rock tunes from start to finish. The album is a perfect combination of classic rock songs and some slower, more blues influenced ballads. On Sugar Mama, The Dirty Rooks take the often-played out genre of classic rock and give it a booze filled boost. Some highlights of the album include the amped up “Larry’s Blues”, which is complete with classic guitar riffs, catchy hooks and just the right amount of horns. The band turns it down a few notches on the slower and more soulful “Stranger These Days”, proving they can hold their own at a variety of tempos.

The Dirty Rook’s music is the kind best heard live and on stage. Luckily for me, on Friday, April 16th, the Rooks took to the stage at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park. Roughly forty people packed into this small North side bar to hear the sounds of the Dirty Rooks. The band opened up their set with the lively tune “Old Mill Creek”, which instantly proved this music is best heard up close and personal. Next up was the bluesy “Skeleton Key”, with lead singer Dan Stalilonis singing“ 3 AM, find you crying on the bathroom floor. Don’t love you no more.” By the 3rd song of their set, the Dirty Rook’s enthusiastic and energetic stage presence had the crowd up and dancing. The Rook’s “I Don’t Mind” showcased the band’s ability to step outside the classic rock genre and add a nice touch of country influence to their sound. The band did their own take on Paul McCartney’ s “Maybe I’m Amazed”, adding their own unique sound to the classic song. The Dirty Rooks provide a breath of fresh air to a genre that often sounds old and outdated. Be sure to check out their website for free song downloads and tour dates. – Tim Mannion

The Black Godfather, Andre Williams, is back with a new album from Bloodshot Records. That’s All I Need will be released on May 18th, and the Andre will be celebrating the release at Schubas on May 29th.

A couple of years ago Project Lab made a documentary about Andre, his music, and his influence called Agile, Mobile, and Hostile and it was recently added to Hulu.

One of the latest releases to come from the Sacred Bones 12” series is the new ep from Daily Void entitled Eclipse of 1453 EP. The music of Daily Void has always been raw and primal and this ep is not exception. The band reaches into the darkest elements of punk and then punches you right in the jaw.

Daily Void celebrates the release of their ep on April 24th at Empty Bottle with The Styrenes and John Bellows.

Do Division Fest has announced their 2010 line-up and it’s a solid one. This two day event will feature Chicago bands including The Hood Internet, Pelican, The Ponys, CoCoComas, Bailiff, Rego, Soft Speaker The Poison Arrows, Headlights, and more. The out-of-towners include YACHT, Warpaint, Earl Greyhound, and Maritime, among others.

The Do Division Fest takes place on June 5th and 6th (on Division Street from Ashland to Leavitt), and for the full line-up you can visit their website.

Deep Elm Records recently released a massive 18-song free sampler called We Dream Alone. The digital album includes a track from Nathan Xander’s 2009 release The Fear called “Trial By Fire”. Nathan has since joined forces with Witchouse to form Nathan Xander & Witchouse. The above video also comes from The Fear and was released back in October.