bric-a-brac – Underground Bee

June 12, 2017

Negative Scanner and Sweet Cobra at Bric-a-Brac

Negative Scanner — one of my favorite rock bands in Chicago these days — played a great free show on Saturday, June 10, at Bric-a-Brac Records. It was part of the fourth anniversary party at Bric-a-Bric & Collectibles, a shop where live garage rock is a regular occurrence. Singer-guitarist Rebecca Valeriano-Flores sounded ferocious at times, leading Negative Scanner through several songs from its self-titled 2015 album, along with a couple of tunes I didn’t recognize. (Signs of a new record coming sometime soon?)

After Negative Scanner, I stuck around for another Chicago band, the hard-rocking trio Sweet Cobra, which made a thunderous noise.

Negative Scanner

Sweet Cobra

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016

Royal Brat and Mr. Ma’am at Bric-a-Brac

On Saturday, Feb. 20, Bric-a-Brac Records hosted another one of its fun in-store punk/garage rock performances. Chicago’s Mr. Ma’am played the first set, followed by Royal Brat from Minneapolis. The place wasn’t as crowded as it gets during some of these free shows, but it was still buzzing with energy.

Mr. Ma’am

Royal Brat

October 14, 2015June 11, 2017

Nobunny, Pookie & Slushy at Bric-a-Brac

Bric-a-Brac Records & Collectibles, a shop in Avondale just north of Logan Square, is really getting to be the go-to spot for free garage and punk rock performances. On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 11, the store hosted short, very spontaneous sets by three Chicago singer-guitarists with goofy stage names: Slushy, Pookie and Nobunny. Their fans sang along to some of the songs, and it felt like a rock concert, even without an actual stage or full bands.