For those wondering, my weekend in Chicago was very successful. Finished my article, radically improved my ping-pong game, and got turned onto the best-named band since the fall of the USSR: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.
Generally speaking, when I discover a new band, they're rather well-found already. Unknown Indie gems like Death Cab for Cutie, the Coup, Iron & Wine, and so forth. But SSLYBY -- whose website hyperbolically describes them as the "THE THIRD BEST BAND ON WELLER STREET IN SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI" (hyperbolically because you can't underestimate the music scene on Weller Street) -- appears genuinely unknown. Which is a shame, because they rock, albeit in a soft, sorta cerebral way, and on a webpage with links to a local literary magazine and Indy bookstore. Check 'em out before they blow up. Or, more specifically, help them blow up. Go my blog minions, go.
Update: More SSLYB songs here. I particularly like House Fire.