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 The Dirty Rooks provide a breath of fresh air to a genre that often sounds old and outdated.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.

A behind the scenes look at the new album from Model Stranger, Dreams & Bones. The band will be celebrating the release of the album on April 24th at Cubby Bear with Verona Red, Cavalry, The Flavor Savers, and 20 Mark Helga. Doors open at 8pm and tickets are $10.

The Spend is as much about interesting and multi-layered folk music as it is about Matt Shaw’s desire for complete control. On his debut as The Spend, Mild Peril (Basic Satan), Shaw control’s the music, runs the label, and even does the cover art. The album and title track open with the line “The band is done. The girlfriend’s gone.”, and that is exactly where Shaw began with this project, broken up on several levels. The resulting full-length album is beautifully complex document of Shaw’s journey to independence and the understanding of who he is as a musician.

The Spend will be performing at Songwriter’s Night at Phyllis’ Musical Inn (1800 w Division) on April 28th with Gia Margaret and others.

The Smashing Pumpkins have released the fourth (of 44) track from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. This song may have the biggest sound of the four tracks, while massive swirling guitars filling every inch. This will be the final song in the first of 11 four song ep, Song For A Sailor. The downside of this track, and perhaps trying to write a massive amount of music in a short period of time, has to be the very simplistic and repetitive lyrics.

Once a month CRC (Chicago Recording Company), 232 East Ohio, hosts a small happy hour get together at the studio with beer and wine and a band, and this month they have My My My. The event is this Thursday (April 22nd) at 6pm and it is FREE!

Chicago’s Coke Rats (the sole project of Tim Tsurutani of CAW! CAW!) kicks off the new mixtape from Slanty Shanty Records’ Tape Club. The mixtape was designed to celebrate the 10 releases the tape club has put out. Coke Rats’ debut Smooches was released by in August in a limited run of 50, and it was the first release of the 10. These releases also include a tape from former Chicago band The Heligoats.