Xeni lets us in on her recent visit to Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, CA.  Some clarification is needed however: the Pronto record she’s describing is “The Cheetah,” which is our glitchy, computery one, while the record she’s holding is “All Is Golden,” which is our 70′s pop rock one.  Here’s more:

“Amoeba Records is one of the world’s greatest independent record stores, with many thousands of square feet of new and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and assorted rarities in film and music. They’re in SF, Berkeley, and Hollywood. The kinds folks who run the joint invited me in to pick a handful of items I’m excited about, and the video that resulted is embedded above. I chose:

• The incredible Alan Lomax in Haiti box-set (we’ll be blogging more about this one on BB soon!)
• Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (a tip of the chapeau to Susannah Breslin, and to my brother DJ Carlito for turning me on to this one)
• N.A.S.A. “Spirit of Apollo” (we’ve premiered a number of the music videos from this project on Boing Boing Video)
• Q-Burns Abstract Message and Eighth Dimension Records (we’ve used snips from his work as theme music for Boing Boing’s audio podcast, and for our video project—I’m a longtime fan!)
• Wilco, “Wilco (The Album)” (I loved their latest record, and I believe they’re one of the greatest live acts on the planet.)
• Pronto, “All is Golden” (Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen‘s side project, glitchy electronic minimalism, I mispronounce his name horribly in this video… sorry Mikael!)
• Die Antwoord!

Amoeba Records: What’s in My Bag? / Xeni Jardin

The complete “What’s in My Bag” archives are here, with many interesting past guests.”

“Good songs shouldn’t be difficult to find, but they are.  Instead, we focus on innovative recordings, cross-cultural meldings, grooves, and new technologies.  But songs are secondary.  Will we care about the latest Afro-beat groove band’s actual songs five years (or five months) from now?  Recall if you will that calling a band a “great live act” often says more about a band’s limitations than its strengths.  Is Randy Newman a great live act?  Is Leon Russell?  Maybe.  But first and foremost they are great songwriters.

I confess that I did not know Mikael Jorgensen was-or rather is­-a great songwriter.  I did know-and still do-that Jorgensen is a member of Wilco, a great live act (which also has great songs).  I knew something about his “side project,” the aptly named Pronto, but not much.  Someone from Isotope 417 was in it.  Jim Becker of Califone might have done something on it.  Beyond that: Not much.

Let me now be blunt and stop beating around the bush and just come right out with it: Fuck, these songs are good.  Heartbreakingly so.  Tender when they need to be.  Groovy when they need to groove. Rocking when they need to rock.  All with a sense of control that reminds on the one hand of J.J. Cale, on the other of Leon Russell, and yet on the other (yes it’s a three handed comparison) of Stevie Wonder.  Were we really into circus freakshow metaphors, I might offer a fourth hand (or a second third hand) for Neil Young for there are occasional grungy rockisms here that indeed remind of the flannel king.

The comparisons to Russell and Wonder are apropos and perhaps obvious.  Jorgensen is a keyboardist, after all, and these are keyboard-driven songs.  Cale for the understatement then, the lack of pretense, the sense of control that drives the emotional intensity but doesn’t override it.  I already covered the “why Neil” question so I’ll hit next rather than repeat on that one.

Russell, Wonder, Cale, and Young work here too in that there’s a sense of the 1970s that abounds on this record-not because it so much hearkens back to that magic decade but because it’s so clean of studio crappery (a nice touch since Jorgensen is also a studio guy).  This is not “studio as instrument” but rather “studio as tape recorder.”  I think I may have forgotten that was still possible.

Jorgensen’s partner-in-crime in Pronto is drummer Greg O’Keefe and, perhaps slightly less so, Chris Girard and I’d be remiss in not mentioning their contributions.  But Jorgensen is the center of gravity here, pinning everything to his vintage keys and piano melodies and his vocals.  He’s not an immediately stunning vocalist, but with songs this good he doesn’t need to be.

Standout Tracks: “All Is Golden,” “Good Friends Have Gone” CHRISTIAN KIEFER

By John Dworkin

There’s a new game in the music world: Six degrees of Wilco. Current Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen’s band Pronto is the latest degree in a wide network of Wilco connections. All Is Golden is Pronto’s debut and Jorgensen composed and sings all the material. The musical influences are varied: power pop; retro ’70s funk; Chicago Transit Authority pop/jazz horns; and songwriter Americana like The Band or Randy Newman. The dilemma of deciding whether to be a jack of all trades or master of none comes to mind, though it all out works well, with plenty of catchy hooks and memorable phrases, despite it feeling like there’s still a decision to be made.

The best aspects of All Is Golden come through Jorgensen’s occasionally exceptional lyrics. Perceptively droll observations and quirky associations win over his more concrete writing. The record’s best song, “What Do You Know About You?,” opens: “What do you know about you?/Is it the color of your hair/Or the size of your shoe?/What do you think about you?/Are you handsome or ugly /Like a fox or kangaroo?” With its Dr. Seuss word play, simple pop harmony/rhythms, and near nursery rhyme-like melody, the tune starts off sounding like something from Sesame Street: picture a jolly adult singing to a wondering child with pictures of kangaroos, shoes, and question marks swirling above his head.

But “What Do You Know About You?” soon turns ironic, somewhat dark, and a bit surreal: “Are you a fireman/Who is working in women’s shoes?/Are you a fisherman/Who would rather be making shampoo?” It ends up like a tune meant for Jon Brion’s soundtrack to the 2004 film, I Heart Huckabees—a musical companion to the film’s mantra, “How am I not myself?” The childlike playfulness and humor of the tune veil its more serious social commentary. It’s a heady mix— Schoolhouse Rock (1973) for adults. And clocking in at barely two minutes, it seems that it may have been a throwaway that was thankfully included.

There are tunes that go for a grittier, rock and roll vibe such as “Listen Lover,” “Monster,” “Unexpected Vex,” and “I Think So.” One of the record’s better tracks, “Precious Like A Sneer,” while lighter sonically, still has lyrics with some teeth: “Panic over boredom/It’s the white man’s disease/Finalize the patterns/Overfill prescriptions please.” While these words are thoughtful and clever, they also leave the impression that Tyler Durden may be around the corner waiting to ask the lyricist, “How’s that working out for you?” Generally, the tunes that are going for more edge could use a little more “Sneer” and a little less “Precious.”

Straightforward, folk/roots acoustic-based nostalgia like “Good Friends Have Gone” and “Had & Have” are well-crafted and well-performed. The one true oddity of All Is Golden is “Mrs. Bruford.” With its aborted psychedelic intro giving way to a three minute pop instrumental, it sounds like something salvaged from Paul McCartney’s cutting room floor. The tune gets points for sheer strangeness. Warts and all All Is Golden is a promising debut.

Track listing: Listen Lover; All Is Golden; Good Friends have Gone; When I’m On The Rocks; Precious Like A Sneer; Monster; What Do You Know About You?; Big Sleeved man; Unexpected vex; Say It All Night; Mrs. Bruford; Had & Have; I Think So.

Personnel: Mikael Jorgensen: piano, keyboards, guitar, vibes, vocals; Greg O’Keefe: drums, percussion, horn arrangements; Matt Lux: electric bass; Jim Becker: electric bass (3, 8), electric guitar (6, 11, 12); Stuart Bogie: tenor saxophone (2, 6); Craig Montoro: trumpet (2); Stephen Moses: trombone (2).

Today’s Song for the Day is “Listen Lover”, by Pronto, from their new release, All Is Golden.

This album is full of sunny 1970’s pop music, even though it was just released a week or so ago. Standout tracks, in my opinion, include today’s tune, “Good Friends Have Gone”, “When I’m On The Rocks”, “Say It All Night”, and “I Think So”, among others.

Eight of the thirteen tracks on this album are barely over three minutes or less. Maybe that’s from where the band gets its name.

I should mention that this band is fronted by Mikael Jorgensen, the keyboardist/ProTools expert of the band Wilco. I think Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times said it best when he wrote: Mikael Jorgensen: Not just the guy with the laptop.

Have a little of Mikael Jorgensen’s blog here.

And have a little of the official Pronto web site here.

And buy yourself some Pronto goodness here.

Side project from Wilco’s keyboardist with members of Iron & Wine and Cat Power.

Sound good? It isn’t.

The music is overdone and overproduced with a menagerie of horns, organs, and pianos, and is particularly shlocky on the many ballads and slow-tempo songs. Multi-instrumentalism is nothing new to these bands, but Pronto has an unfortunate Billy Joel/Elton John vibe that is hard to stomach.

Even if you like this music (assuming you’re in a Bar Mitzvah cover band), the vocals will surely be an impediment. Suffering from “non-vocalist stepping into vocalist in his side band” syndrome, Mikael Jorgensen’s is terribly off-key and strained. His voice and delivery remind me a bit of Keith Moon, another guy who shouldn’t have strayed from behind his instrument.

This isn’t good at all.

Bottom Line: Pronto is a good name, because that’s how quickly I wanted to shut this off.
Notable Tracks: “Listen Lover” is a jaunty tune that would’ve been good with another vocalist.
Overall Rating: 1.5 stars

If you know much about the rock band Wilco by now you know that everyone involved works on projects outside of the group. Whether it be John Stirratt and Pat Sansone’s The Autumn Defense, or Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche’s assorted work or even those projects of band leader Jeff Tweedy.

But until now keyboardist Mikael (pronounced Michael) Jorgensen had been primarily known for his engineering work outside of Wilco. All that’s changed with the release of All Is Golden by Mikael’s band Pronto.

Released earlier this month on Contraphonic Records, All Is Golden is a straight-forward set of songs that fall into some sort of netherworld where good music in the tradition of the singer-songwriter style lives. It’s not current Top 40 nor is it necessarily stuck in the 70s-era that many in the press are tagging it as. What I like most about Pronto’s debut is that it’s earnest and honest. Jorgensen isn’t putting on airs and he’s not forcing an arch or discomforting style down the listener’s throat. I appreciate the ease in which the songs come across, even while knowing that any art that sounds easy is never so.

With his core band in place (Jorgensen is on lead vocals, keyboards and guitars, Greg O’Keeffe – who has been playing with Jorgensen for upwards of 13 years – is on drums, Erik Paparazzi – who has played with Cat Power and was in the band Lizard Music with Jorgensen in the 90s – is on guitar and Tunde Oyewole – who played with Jonathan Fire Eater’s Stewart Upton in the band The Childballads – is on bass), Jorgensen is now at the tail end of a quick promo tour for the debut album. They play tonight at Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA and tomorrow night in Chicago at Martyr’s for a CD release show. I am lucky enough to be able to go to the Chicago show, but if you like the band and still want to see them live Jorgensen promises more touring this fall once Wilco’s tour plans have subsided.

Below is an edited conversation I had with Jorgensen two weeks back when he was a bit under the weather and trying to stay one step ahead of the myriad of issues he now has to deal with as a band leader. Go out and purchase Pronto’s All Is Golden, whether it be via paid download or at your local record store. And check out the band’s MySpace page for more information.

Rock & Roll Ghost: Is the Wilco schedule pretty much laid out so it’s easier to see what holes there are for Pronto to tour?

Mikael Jorgensen: For the most part. I know more or less what I’m going to be doing and where I’ll be through the end of September. This is my first time doing this. I just have to try and orchestrate those off times and keep the other guys in Pronto interested and excited without going ‘Alright guys, I’ll see you in six months! Take care. Don’t stop practicing!’ That’s going to be one of the challenges…I don’t think it’s going to be bad. We’re just going to have to figure it out when it comes.

With the gestations that Pronto has gone through – with members coming and going since its inception – would you rather prefer things remain loose or would you rather the band be a solid unit?

I would love for it to be a solid unit for a bunch of reasons. But that doesn’t mean it can’t move into something else. There’s something about the stability or the threat of stability that’s appealing at this point because it’s been so by hook or by crook for so long. In a way it’s about managing expectations for us and for our potential future fame.

What was the period of time that made up the recording of the album? It took years?

Yeah. I played my first solo show at the Hideout in Chicago in November 2005. I had been going through this time of personal upheaval. I had lost both my folks in under a year in 2004. A breakup with a girlfriend. All these things contributed to a not cool vibe. And then I just decided that I gotta do something to get my head straight and work on something positive and constructive. Let me play a solo show, let me see how that goes. That didn’t go awfully. Let me make a record, let’s see where that goes. We started recording in January 2006. We did maybe three sessions in total – January, March and April. It was at that time that I tried to pick up the momentum of taking charge of my own thing. Like I gotta move back closer to my family and my sister and my east coast roots. I moved back to Brooklyn to escape those really brutal Chicago winters. Not that New York is a tropical paradise comparatively. It’s all small differences.

I feel you on that. I barely made it through this past winter in Chicago.

Moving to New York I knew I would need to be in Chicago often for Wilco. So it wasn’t abandoning anything because I’d come back…I was just there for a month in February and then a month in October for recording and then for the residency last year. I’m always coming back. And then Sky Blue Sky happened as soon as I moved back to Brooklyn. And then I toured and I didn’t have the time to get to it. And also I was trying to put together a New York version of the band and concentrating on getting some live version of it together. That worked out fairly well and I made some friends, too. Then it was the standard New York dilemma where most musicians have four or five other things going on and scheduling becomes the biggest challenge. As soon as the Sky Blue Sky touring was finished in the fall of 2007. I mixed the record in Chicago at Soma, mastered it at the Chicago Mastering Services in January (2008).

And then I started this long process of trying to find a label. Through all the people I knew, especially from working at Soma and with Wilco. The most frustrating aspect of it all was the lack of response. I was in Chicago last fall and was talking to a good friend of mine. I was like ‘Man, I’m having a really hard time finding anyone to give me the time of day.’ I know the economy’s weird and the music industry’s in flux but c’mon, people still buy records and use iTunes. My friend Toby introduced me to Ben Schulman from Contraphonic and we started talking just around Halloween. It happened really quickly and without any hitches. I had CDs by Christmas and now it’s released. It’s turning into something real. Until this week it was like, ‘Oh I got a box of 300 of these in my living room.’ It’s actually taking on its own energy which is really exciting.

Is being in Wilco a help or a hindrance when you’re coming out with your own work?

It’s both to a certain degree. Clearly there’s an advantage to being able to say, ‘The guy from Wilco’s releasing a solo record or project’. It’s got a certain currency with writers and radio stations, it gives them a reason to consider it a little bit longer. The negative parts or the sort of difficulties…I can see it being a situation where people would maybe not listen to the music so much and base their opinions about it on a perception of Wilco and a perception of Jeff and a perception of ‘the laptop guy’. I guess that’s one of the things I’ve been keeping aware of. But it hasn’t happened. And the press so far has been really digging it and accurate [in their] descriptions. The 70s thing has been pushed a little too hard, but…it really is amazing that you say one thing or somebody writes one thing and then all of a sudden…

Did you feel any kind of reluctance to move back to Brooklyn and was their any worry caused about doing so?

It was kind of a risky move. I’ve always wanted to live in New York and here’s an opportunity. I stressed about it horrendously. To the point where I threw my back out the day I signed my lease. [I was] plagued with awful doubt. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating mostly because we don’t all have the same kind of access we used to have. But the band dynamic has, I think, changed for the better over the past couple of records where the writing sessions are explicitly scheduled. So everybody makes time. There were sessions before that were maybe a little less structured. It’s only an hour and a half, two hour flight to Chicago. If I had to get to Chicago tonight, it’d be expensive, but it could happen. The equipment thing is kind of a weird problem. Like I have my Wilco gear and that stays in Chicago and I have my Pronto equipment in New York. [With] some of it there’s a little bit of crossover. Having to check lots of bags on flights sometimes gets challenging.

And expensive I can imagine.

Well Wilco’s been faithful to an airline so we all have frequent flyer miles and travel benefits. So I get three bags free.

Bonus.

Yeah, total bonus. And frequent flyer miles so we get to take vacations and that kind of thing. It’s like standard business travel.

The whole Wilco organization is a myriad of interesting deals and special bonuses.

I was talking to Glenn once, ‘It’s funny I always see this Tiger Woods guy…I’m so sick and tired of seeing that guy everywhere.’ And then it dawned on me that the reason I see him is because he’s a business traveler advertisement. You are a business traveler. Oh right. I guess that’s true.

You mentioned something about having access. Was that access to Jeff or what did you mean by that?

Yeah, access to Jeff, access to the Loft. There was a general invitation to anybody who wanted to come and play music. That didn’t always happen, but an open invitation. I think that the reason that’s changed significantly is because everybody’s become quite busy with their family lives. It’s not so easy to duck out at 9 o’clock and get to the Loft for 2-3 hours and work on something when there’s children. I think it’s going to restructure some things for us but won’t seem too much different for fans.

So there haven’t been any issues with regards to moving with the band?

No. Our manager Tony is here as well. I figured that of all the places I could move it wasn’t like I was moving to Spokane. I have access to Tony and if I have to take care of anything I can go to the office right here in midtown.

With regards to Pronto, are the lyrics all you?

Yeah. That was definitely my first real crack at trying to write some lyrics that were genuine. I’d been playing instrumental music for so long and I’d always loved instrumental music and I kind of gravitated towards that. I thought that it was nice to get out of the safety zone of that. I imagine that I’ll look back on it as ‘Oh that was cute. I can’t believe you really wrote lyrics like that.’

Do you find yourself writing more since then?

It’s funny because I’ll write here or on tour or on a plane. Sometimes I’ll get ideas or it’s just writing down a bunch of observations or strange personal interactions I witnessed. When we play at the space, we set up all the recording equipment and just record and forget it’s running and just begin playing and improvising. And then something will take form and then we’ll learn how to play it and then I’ll put my notebook up on the music stand and start flipping through pages. And whatever’s on the page I’ll start singing over what we’re playing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

How hard is it to change up from being on tour with Wilco and then going on tour with Pronto?

It is kind of a comedown or whatever. I have such a different level of investment with Pronto. Up until this point I’ve called the shots and it’s been my thing. I’ve been deeply involved in that in every aspect that I could be involved with. I’m welcoming all this work because with Wilco it’s completely taken care of by our management and our agents and our accountants and our roadies and all the people that work for the band. I’m always perpetually grateful. I may not say thank you every day, but I’m always grateful to the work that everybody does. For me this is a learning experience that goes beyond just the music making process. I’ve been having a great time being colossally busy taking care of this and having to make decisions and living and dying by them. It’s not a Herculean effort to get a proper show underway. As long as we continue to have fun and enjoy…because I think everyone loves to travel and play music. At this point it pays for itself and there’s a little bit of money after the fact. I’d like for it to get a little bit bigger and have it be something that people look forward to.

Check here for the archive of the show!

Pronto
All Is Golden
Street: 3.10
Contraphonic

Pronto = Badly Drawn Boy + Wilco + Amos Lee + Biirdie + French Toast + Sleepercar
Wilco’s Mikael Jorgensen, alongside members of Iron & Wine, Cat Power, Antibalas & Califone, form the indie-rock/pop group Pronto. Don’t write off Pronto as just another side project, though; their sound reaches out and grabs those ol’ eardrums to make them smile and itch for more. All Is Golden compromises 13 tracks of pop-sensibility indie-rock laden with soft-spoken-though-emotionally charged vocals, as well as soothing piano and guitar work. Tracks such as “Good Friends Have Gone,” “Had And Have,” “When I’m On The Rocks” and “Say It all Night” bring together Pronto’s mellow tendencies, while “I Think So,” “Monster” and “Unexpected Vex” are clearly a bit edgier and get the heart rate up a bit … but not too much. For a debut album from a band who is considered a part-time side project, Pronto exceeds all expectations – and would even without any name-dropping. – Jeremy C. Wilkins

The early description of 70′s icons like Randy Newman, Jackson Browne and Glen Frey come to mind when listening to Pronto’s debut All Is Golden. Under the analog edge is a indie band playing retro, sparse and working to let the core of the song bring it on home like a inspired yelling carpediem. No massive amounts of compression, comfortable sweaters, or studio trickery can fool the good song radar. The tracks are purposely sparse with just enough musical layers to keep it honest and golden. ha! In the middle of the record there is an attempt to get a little proggy in a AIR sort of way but it’s quickly abandoned for higher ground. This is all Mikael Jorgensen. Labeled as his solo project he is supported by long time friend and drummer Mr. Greg O’Keeffe and some other indie guys from Iron & Wine, Califone, and Antibalas as a the namedrop bio’s goes on. He could have picked up anybody in all honestly and I wouldn’t have noticed. The New Jersey roots are having played in Movere Workshop and Lizard Music. If this band would have come in 1978 nobody would have noticed but being that the time machine was fixed and have transported 30 years later. Their debut is much welcome in the emosoundscape and the mushrooming repeater stations. The music is proof positive that the art of song writing is alive and well and has not changed much since that time. You can even twitter them in the prontospere but no modern marketing tool gimic will change the connection the music makes all on it’s own. I’m not sure how access translates into live performances or music but what do i know. The couple sample tracks here are quite good cuts like a freshly poured beer. They refresh and numb the palette. There is hope for people who will take the the time to seek out music. Catch them live starting in March and thru out the spring of 2009.

By
Jim DeRogatis
on March 12, 2009 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Onstage as a member of Wilco, Mikael Jorgensen updates the role of Brian Eno in Roxy Music or Allen Ravenstine in Pere Ubu, twiddling the knobs of a synthesizer or manipulating sounds through a laptop computer.

Few knew that beneath that calm, scientific façade beat the romantic heart of a pop songwriter. Now, Jorgensen has bared that side of his musical personality on the debut album by his side project Pronto, “All Is Golden,” recently released on Chicago’s Contraphonic label.

“I’ve kind of been straddling that line my entire life,” Jorgensen says. “I got my first synthesizer when I was in seventh grade, and I’ve never been able to really figure out a way to merge that part of my music and the sort of classic-rock/pop songwriting I was into with my first band in New Jersey, Lizard Music. They’ve always sort of remained separate. ‘All is Golden’ is a reflection of experiences and learning and thinking about the music-making process in Wilco, but also incorporating musical ideas that were like, ‘I want to do this sort of ’70s, Steeley Dan-tinged stuff and take my first real crack at lyric writing.’”

Jorgensen cut his teeth in the fertile music scene around New Brunswick, N.J., in the mid-’90s. He moved to Chicago in 1998 to help John McEntire of Tortoise build SOMA Electronic Music Studios, and he joined Wilco to record the 2004 album “A Ghost Is Born.” He now lives in Brooklyn but returns here whenever Wilco summons.

“Around 2005, I thought, ‘I want to do something [outside of Wilco],’” Jorgensen says. “I was just kind of getting antsy in between tours, and I had all this personal upheaval going on: Both of my folks passed away in the course of a year, and there was a breakup with a girlfriend. I remember retreating to my apartment between tours and thinking, ‘I’ve just got to hoist myself out of this. I need another project to look forward to when I’m coming home.’ At the end of 2005, I played my first solo show ever at the Hideout, and then I made the decision that, ‘I’m going to make a solo record and just see where this goes.’”

Recording at Wilco’s famous North Side loft in the winter of 2006, Jorgensen recruited drummer Greg O’Keefe, bassist Matt Lux (Iron & Wine), guitarist Jim Becker (Califone) and saxophonist Stuart Bogie (Antibalas). (The touring version of Pronto is now completed by O’Keeffe, Erik Paparazzi and Tunde Oyewole). The result was a collection of 13 smart, emotional pop songs with an organic and intimate vibe that Jorgensen describes as “very ’70s.”

“I think the ’70s thing is just a byproduct of my upbringing: My dad worked in recording studios in the ’70s, and I would go and visit him and see all of the flashing lights and meters and people running around and music happening. I also think that it’s a result of the actual studio practice: This was a record about songs and playing together in the studio to get as much of that on tape as possible before bringing it into the computer for mixing and overdubs. I think that brings the sort of accessibility that we associate with the ’70s–like the Steeley Dan records and ‘Sail Away’ by Randy Newman, ‘Carney’ by Leon Russell or even a little weirder like Aphrodite’s Child’s ’666.’”

Now that “All Is Golden” finally has been released, Jorgensen is looking ahead to issuing an earlier recording by a different, more instrumental version of Pronto, as well as recording new material–in between touring commitments with Wilco, of course. And that brings up the inevitable question one must ask any songwriter who happens to be in a band with Jeff Tweedy: Is it daunting or inspiring to write your own material while working with someone on that level?

“It’s kind of both,” Jorgensen says, laughing. “We’ve just finished up the new [Wilco] record, and I think everybody is more excited about it at this point than ever. And I’m always sort of quietly dumbfounded and impressed with the fact that Jeff can just do something that… I don’t know if it’s all true, but it’s always honest, if you know what I mean, and the music that I love often has that quality.

“I try not to compare myself to Jeff, because it’s really not worth it. This is my first attempt at this, really, and I’m just trying to be as honest as I’m able.”

FACTS

Pronto, the Regal Standard

10 p.m. Saturday, March 28

Martyr’s, 3855 N. Lincoln

$12

(773) 404-9494; www.martyrslive.com