It's only January, but Brooklyn's Animal Collective will be playing one of the most anticipated shows of the year on Jan. 22 at the Metro.

The holidays are officially over, which means we’ve now gotta deal with the sucky part of winter. But wait, there’s still reason to celebrate. At least for us music junkies. There’s a pretty impressive list of bands hitting Chicago in the latter half of January.

Jan. 15, 2009
Hold Steady, Tom Morello @ House of Blues
The Hold Steady is often called America’s best bar band, but the acclaim they’ve got from their last two studio efforts has turned them into something more. And for this show, they’ll share the bill with Rage Against Machine guitarist Tom Morello.

Jan. 17, 2009
Bustle in Your Hedgerow @ Abbey Pub
This Led Zeppelin tribute band is one of the better tribute bands playing today. Anchored by the amazing musicians from the Benevento Russo Duo (keyboardist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo), they offer up completely instrumental renditions of Zeppelin classics. That’s right… no vocals. But it would be nearly impossible to emulate Robert Plant’s voice anyway, so Benevento just plays the vocals on keys. And it works pretty well. Guitarist Scott Metzger and Ween bassist Dave Driewitz.

Jan. 19, 2009
Umphrey’s McGee @ Vic Theater
Yeah, they did just play three nights at the Auditorium Theatre for New Years. But the local jamband has a new album coming out Jan. 20, so they’re playing one more hometown gig before hitting the road to support the release of Mantis. The band will play one set, followed by a listening party and a CD signing.

Jan. 20, 2009
The Killers, M83 @ UIC Pavilion
If you dig 80s music, then this is your show. The Killers went from indie-favorites to mainstream rock stars with a handful of radio-friendly, poppy anthems. And M83’s most recent release, Saturdays = Youth, was constantly being tagged as an 80s-inspired album that would play perfectly as the soundtrack to one of John Hughes’ teen flicks.

Jan. 22, 2009
Animal Collective @ Metro
Riding the wave of some incredibly positive buzz surrounding their new album, Animal Collective will play one of their few American shows in Chicago. Merriweather Post Pavilion officially hits record stores on Jan. 20, but it’s already been drawing rave reviews. Despite its January release, the Trib’s Greg Kot thinks it will have enough staying power to end up on many top 10 lists for 2009. And Pitchfork gave it a 9.6, higher than any album they rated in 2008. This is a must-see concert.

Jan. 24, 2009
Disco Biscuits, RJD2, Prefuse 73 @ Congress Theater
With their unique brand of psychedelic electro-rock called “transfusion,” the Disco Biscuits were pioneers in the jam scene (think Phish on ecstasy). The Biscuits even host their own festival, Camp Bisco, each year that has drawn the likes of Snoop Dogg, !!! and the Brazilian Girls. Making this show even more attractive are the openers -- RJD2 and Prefuse 73.

Jan. 24, 2009
Kings of Leon @ House of Blues
After selling out the Aragon on Halloween, this Southern family band scales it down quite a bit for an intimate show at HOB. They’ve finally hit the mainstream, and could hit arena band status soon.

Jan. 31, 2009
Les Savy Fav @ Epiphany Church
Tim Harrington might be the most entertaining frontman in music. The balding, bearded singer marches deep into the crowd during songs and can be counted on for some hilarious hijinx. One of the great punk bands of our time, Les Savy Fav puts on a rocking, rowdy show you won’t forget. And this one is in a freakin church!

Other shows worth a look:

Jan. 15, 2009
Department of Eagles @ Schuba’s

Jan. 17, 2009
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic @ Cubby Bear

Jan. 22, 2009
Annuals @ Empty Bottle

Jan. 23, 2009
The Wailers @ House of Blues

Jan. 24, 2009
Frightened Rabbit @ Empty Bottle

Jan 26-27, 2009
Metallica @ Allstate Arena

Jan. 31, 2009
Heartless Bastards @ Martyrs’

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