Local popsters The Western Civilization are hitting the road and hoping fans will help out. ยWe have all kinds of expenses coming up with the tour in October and could really use some help,ย says a tour donation request on the groupยs MySpace page. (Uh, yeah, let us know how that goes, kids.) But all naive gimmicks aside, the five-piece group from the north side has an impressive collection of beautifully layered pop musings. Western Civilization recalls bits and pieces of The Rentals, The Decembrists and the Postal Service, along with various other radio-friendly songsters, but donยt file them under ยsame old, same old.ย This group of guys and gals has a well-defined pop sensibility, and if they sound as flawless live as they do on their recently released debut Letters of Recognition, theyยll likely rake in enough album and T-shirt sales to support a trek all the way from todayยs show at Walterยs, through the States and back again. Hollywood Black, Elbows as Weapons and Papermoons start the night off.
Fri., Sept. 28, 8 p.m., 2007
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2007.