After a couple years (at least), San Francisco's From Monument to Masses finally return to Chicago to play one show before jumping The Puddle for a European tour. For the three or four of you who actually read Rockness, you know that I've been a fan of these guys for what seems like forever. Sorry for being so cliche by touting their talents again!

I've long spouted on about how they should be thought of in the same breath as critical favorites like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. After all, they do intense guitar instrumental (with lots of synth prettiness mixed in) as well as anyone. Who knows why FMTM is still so low-profile; maybe their samples are too politically charged for populists tastes, maybe they don't tour frequently enough to build ground support, maybe it's too hard to find their album (on Dim Mak).

Why this band isn't selling out shows from coast to coast could be any number of reasons, but it certainly has nothing to do with the strength of their songs. They build and swell and finally explode into the most glorious of rock-outs. I've also had a few sneak listens of FMTM's new stuff and, impossibly, it blows their back catalog out of the water. Go to this show. You'll be into it.

BUY TICKETS TO SEE FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES AT THE EMPTY BOTTLE!

From Monument to Masses play The Empty Bottle, on Sunday, April 12th.