There’s nothing particularly monstrous about Boulder, Colo.’s Big Head Todd & the Monsters, who will be performing Friday in a sold-out show at the Riviera Theatre. Actually, the trio led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Todd Park Mohr has an extremely accessible sound, with insidiously hook-laden songs, thoughtful lyrics and plenty of Mohr’s blues-tinged guitar.
Bolstered by non-stop touring and widespread airplay for the song “Bittersweet,” the band’s 1993 album, “Sister Sweetly,” has sold close to 700,000 copies. Not bad for a band of high school friends who never expected to get much further than playing regional clubs.
“Radio’s acceptance of the album really surprised me, because I never expected us to do well on rock ‘n’ roll radio,” said Mohr, calling from a tour stop in Virginia in support of the band’s new “Strategem” album. “Rock radio has traditionally been more heavy metal or commercially oriented, and we’ve never been that commercial of a band.
“I’ve always approached music as more of a hobby. Even when I quit school to play music full time, I never thought we’d ever be anything more than an independent rock ‘n’ roll band. I never thought we’d have the kind of widespread commercial success that we’ve had.”
“Strategem” is a worthy successor to “Sister Sweetly,” containing such radio-friendly fare as “Wearing Only Flowers,” “Angel Leads Me On” and the first single, “In the Morning.” Having road-tested most of the new material before recording it, Mohr, bassist Rob Squires and drummer Brian Nevin essentially knew which songs worked and which ones didn’t before beginning the recording process in a small theater in Boulder.
“We wanted to make an album that had more of a band sound than the last one,” Mohr said. “There’s quite a bit more drumming on this album. We just wanted to make a more natural-sounding, harder rock ‘n’ roll album.”
Big Head Todd & the Monsters, who released a pair of independent albums before signing with major label Giant Records, have a strong following in Chicago. The band last played Chicago in July as part of the H.O.R.D.E. show at the World Music Theatre.
“We’ve been coming to Chicago since the very beginning of our career,” Mohr said. “Our first time in Chicago we drove in our van and stayed there for a month knocking on doors for gigs and sleeping on friends’ floors. We played on open-stage night at Kingston Mines, and I remember we got $75 for opening for a comedy show at At the Tracks.
“We came back to Chicago every few months and gradually worked our way up. In fact, we named our old touring van `El Presidente’ in honor of a Mexican restaurant on Ashland Avenue which became our favorite restaurant in Chicago.
“I really enjoy what we’ve achieved in Chicago. Chicago is an oasis for us, which makes it a joy to come back.”
Other concerts of note
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Sugar, Friday at the Aragon Ballroom: Alternative rock icon Bob Mould ironically titled his trio Sugar’s latest album “File Under: Easy Listening.” Anyone familiar with Mould’s music dating back to his Husker Du days knows the intense guitarist-vocalist is anything but mellow. While he continues to bury his earnest vocals in the mix, Mould’s new material is exultant, with powerful melodies to go with the bracing wash of jagged guitars and the strong backing of bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis. Opening are Magnapop, whose recent “Hot Boxing” album was produced by Mould, and Washington, D.C.’s, chirpy Velocity Girl.
Bobby Womack, Johnnie Taylor and Denise LaSalle, Friday at the Arie Crown Theatre: This triple bill is a defiant rebuttal to those who think soul music is dead. Womack, who had hits with “Lookin’ For a Love” and “It’s All Over Now” before, respectively, the J. Geils Band and the Stones borrowed them, has a new album out, while the gritty-voiced Taylor of “Who’s Making Love” and “Cheaper To Keep Her” fame still sounds great. Expect the outspoken LaSalle to do plenty of her patented cheating songs.
Dinosaur Jr., Saturday at the Riviera Theatre and Sunday at Metro: While Beck may be overtaking Dinosaur Jr. auteur J Mascis as the chief slacker poster boy, Dinosaur Jr.’s new “Without A Sound” album is a more than worthy follow-up to its acclaimed predecessor, “Where You Been.” If you can get past Mascis’ whiny vocals and depressive world view, the new material has its rewards, especially songs like “Feel the Pain,” “Mind Glow” and “Outta Hand,” where Mascis momentarily peels away the grunge guitars and emphasizes his surprisingly melodic side. Saturday’s show is sold out.
Dream Theater, Saturday at the Vic Theatre: Dream Theater plays slick, extremely commercial-sounding hard rock with some anachronistic “progressive rock” tinges. While not a particularly original sound, it’s one that appeals to MTV programmers and, thus, suburban rockers everywhere. Opening is the Canadian band I Mother Earth.
BeBe & CeCe Winans and the Sounds of Blackness, Saturday at the Arie Crown Theatre: The most successful brother and sister duo since, well, Donny and Marie have made the transition from gospel superstars to R&B stars. The Winans’ new concept album, “Relationships,” has spawned a hit with “If Anything Ever Happened To You.” Opening is the 40-member Sounds of Blackness, who will be performing material from their acclaimed gospel/R&B hybrid album, “Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum.”
They Might Be Giants and Frank Black, Monday and Tuesday at the Vic Theatre: They Might Be Giants core duo of John Linnell and John Flansburgh will be touring with a full six-piece band complete with horn section in support of the group’s new 20-song (!) “John Henry” album. In the past TMBG’s shows have been somewhat inconsistent affairs, but with plenty of charming new ditties to play from the new album, the two Johns ought to rise to the occasion at these shows, of which the first is sold out. As a solo act, former Pixies leader Frank Black (aka Black Francis) has yet to achieve the success he and his old band had, but his current “Teenager Of the Year” album features no shortage of short but sweet gems.
Earth, Wind & Fire, Monday at the Arie Crown Theatre: ’70s superstars Earth, Wind & Fire achieved something of a mild comeback with last year’s “Millennium” album. Although singer Maurice White will not be performing, you can still expect EW&F to mix the classics (“Shining Star,” “September,” “After the Love Is Gone”) with newer material like “Sunday Morning.”
Lyle Lovett, Wednesday at the Auditorium Theatre: At his show at the Rialto Square Theatre this summer, Lyle Lovett was his inimitably droll self, as he and his small acoustic-oriented band debuted material from his excellent new “I Love Everybody” album. Worth the price of admission was his tall tale about the inspiration behind the song “Creeps Like Me.” Expect different interpretations this time around only because Lovett is touring once again with his Large Band.
dada, Thursday at the Vic Theatre: Following in the footsteps of bands like Gin Blossoms and Soul Asylum, the L.A. trio dada combines ringing guitars and a crash-boom-bam rhythmic attack on its new “American Highway Flower” album with intriguing lyrics and, most important, extremely catchy tunes. Opening is Rob Rule.