Webstirs

April 24th, 2010

Catchy. Clever. Quirky. Contagious. After a lengthy hiatus, Chicago’s best kept secret are back with a fresh lineup and a brand new CD of smart indie-pop. Formed by two former grade school chums—Mark Winkler and Preston Pisellini—who shared a love of classic pop songcraft, the Webstirs released their debut album Smirk in 1994, a refreshing blast of beatlesque pop back when grunge and alternative rock was all the rage. It was followed by two critically acclaimed albums—Rocket to the Moon and Radio Racket—before the band decided to take a break in 2001. The boys were eventually coaxed by their producer Matt Allison to record a few demos together in 2006. Two years later, the project snowballed into their most ambitious effort to date—a stylistic roller-coaster ride of a record called So Long. Featuring the killer lineup of former Redwalls drummer Jordan Kozer, bassist extraordinaire Charlie Short, and guru guitarist Geoff Benge, the Webstirs live show is an high-energy dose of tuneful—and timeless—rock.