Indianapolis’ Jookabox are one of those bands that seems to come through town every six months — which means that if you go to decent amount of shows around town, you’ve probably seen them at least once. You’re most likely already acquainted with their awesomely off kilter psych-garage, you probably already either love or hate their combination of blown-out casio beats and twee harmony vocals — or you may just be indifferent to them at this point. I find myself feeling that way now and then about several bands.
For example, take Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Since I began my tenture at UIUC two years ago, they’ve played Champaign-Urbana with a degree of regularity that you could set a clock by; August 2008, January 2009, August 2009, January 2010, September 2010. Do any of the nebulously local groups that come through town in this fashion (Margot & the Nukes, Decibully, the Hood Internet, etc) really establish a relationship with the area or make a lasting impression? While I don’t think anyone is going to be writing a glorified rock history on Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s shows at the Courtyard Cafe, they certainly have a dedicated fanbase in a town where shows are underattended more often than they should be. I suppose that what it comes down to is that there’s such an awesome amount of talent coming through C-U, both on a local and national level that a band repeating a bit too often doesn’t bother me. I’d it this be known as a place that bands know they can come and have a good show on every tour than as that weird college town in the middle of the cornfields where Broken Social Scene once played to less than a hundred people. Having a built-in audience is also a huge positive for local support (Sunset Stallion and Millimeter Mountain, in this case), since something tells me most local bands aren’t playing to several hundred people on most nights. In the end, even if you’re not the hugest Jookabox fan, or even if you’ve never listened to them before, you should try and make it out to the show. Supporting local, independent music and venues means more than just going to see the bands you’re already into.
And you never know, maybe you’ll actually wind up liking Jookabox — after all, of Montreal and Maserati used to be two of those bands that played here all the time.
Jookabox perform tonight (September 2nd) at the Canopy Club, with opening acts Sunset Stallion and Millimeter Mountain. The show begins at 9:00 p.m. and carries a $7 cover at the door.