A lot of record stores around Chicago had fun festivities planned on Record Store Day, which was April 19, but I ended up spending most of the day at Laurie’s Planet of Sound in Lincoln Square. At making a morning stop at the store to buy some records, I returned midafternoon. Among the things I missed in the middle of the day was a performance by John Darnielle of Mountain Goats. I’d hoped to see the Lemons, a Chicago band that plays short bubble-gum pop ditties, but they started early and played such short songs that they were finishing up the minute I came through the front door.
But then I was there for a fun afternoon of music, including Phil Angotti and Friends covering the whole Simon & Garfunkel album Sounds of Silence; the solid riffs of Handcuffs; the reunited Chicago punk band Silver Abuse, who shouted goofy songs about dogs and Ron Santo and made a delightful art-noise racket; and Mazes, who artfully shifted from pretty chamber pop melodies into some rocking guitar solos.
Best of all, this was one of those days when a record store feels like a clubhouse where you hang out with friends.
Phil Angotti and Friends
