Party: The Safes w/ The Killigans, Red Cities and The Morbs

Party: The Safes w/ The Killigans, Red Cities and The Morbs

The Safes w/ The Killigans, Red Cities and The Morbs
Doors at 7 p.m. | Show at 8 p.m.
$5 | 21+

No list of America's best current rock n' roll bands is complete without mention of Chicago's Safes. The brothers O'Malley tear it up live and put out fabulous recordings to boot. The excellent 2003 debut Family Jewels was definitely a hard one to top, but The Safes have truly outdone themselves with their second long player Well, Well, Well. Completely free of filler and featuring some of the best pop songs of recent memory, Well, Well, Well rates a place in the collection of every power pop fan. And when I say "power pop", I'm talking the traditional sense of the term: songwriting and vocal harmonies redolent of the Beatles and Kinks, with the driving energy and thunderous punch of Cheap Trick and the early Who. It's an approach that's been done to death by numerous bands, but few execute it better than The Safes.

The ringing melodies and finely-crafted arrangements hearken back 40 years or so, yet in no way does Well, Well, Well feel "retro" or patently derivative. Rather it feels fresh and timeless, the abundant hooks and soaring harmonies winningly rendered by a tight, formidable trio. No two tracks sound alike, and Patrick O'Malley's stellar production achieves a clean, muscular timbre. You'd have to search far and wide to find pop songs better than "Fairy Tale Tomorrow", "Cool Sounds Are Here Again", and "Everybody In The World". I know that saying "It's a shame these songs aren't being played on the radio" is a king cliche in the zine world. But what the hell! It's a shame these songs aren't being played on the radio! The rockers are equally compelling. "Phone Book Full of Phonies" boasts the year's awesomest guitar riff, while the Stonesy swagger of "Deception" brings to mind the almighty Figgs. Really, you can drop in on this album at any point and land on a hit. Whether you crave no-frills barroom bangers like "Bad Blood" or textured psych-pop gems like "Bliss This Instance", The Safes have got you covered. Indeed, cool sounds are here again! -NowWave Magazine


Since forming in 2003 The Safes have released their debut LP Family Jewels, follow-up EP Boogie Woogie Rumble, the second LP Well Well, Well, and the second EP Sight of all Light to great success. Touring
coast-to-coast The Safes have established loyal fanbases across the country on the strength of their live show a sweaty explosion of energy and melody.

With six critically acclaimed CDs under their belt, THE SAFES have gotten their photo in Rolling Stone Magazine along with praise from Senior Editor David Fricke. Pitchfork, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Kansas City Star, St Louis Dispatch, Chicago Sun Times and Tribune, Paste Magazine, and Big Takeover as well as several other weeklies, daily's, and blogs have championed this great band. The Safes did their National Television debut on WGN! And have The Safes get their music played on radio stations such as WFMU, WXPN, KEXP, WLUW, KHDX, WMBR, and along with commercial stations KROQ, WFNX, WXRT,
and WLUP along with many other stations. Charting on Billboards Specialty radio charts and CMJ.

THE SAFES have shared the stage with many big time acts, from Andrew Bird to members of Wilco and The Raconteurs, and The Smoking Popes, to name a few.