Snowglobe - Chicago, IL

It was a smoky crowd of hipsters that Snowglobe played to at Schubas. The bearded trucker-hat and snowcap-wearing band looked as if they had rode into the city on an eighteen-wheeler from their Memphis hometown. Mixing a set of twelve and a half horn-filled songs off of 2002's Our Land Brains and the upcoming 2005 release Doing The Distance, Snowglobe impressed.

With their nonchalant stage presence and artistic pop sensibilities similar to that of Modest Mouse, a relaxed Snowglobe made it seem all too easy on stage. With Brad Postlethwaite and Tim Regan trading lead vocals and keyboards, Nahshon Benford kept the group upbeat with his trumpet and tuba playing. The band exuded a cool Elephant 6 collective-vibe ala Neutral Milk Hotel.

Snowglobe played subtle psycho-pop songs like "Waves Rolling," and "Dream Works," from Our Land Brains but the band sounded strongest when they pulled away from the keyboards and took on a duel guitar attack that built into a wave of southern-psycho power on the newer material.

The infectious "Regime," from Doing The Distance is a hit in the making that could land Snowglobe further success. The songs played from the upcoming album Doing The Distance sound promising, as does Snowglobe's future.