In memoriam: 6 great Chicago bands lost during the '00s

Like the '90s before it, the past decade has been a period of significant gains for the Chicago music community—scenes flourished, both mainstream and underground, with a seemingly never-ending supply of talent in an array of genres. Yet for every breakout success story like Kanye West and Fall Out Boy, countless acts flew under the radar, had their run, and disbanded without proper recognition of their contributions. With the end of the decade here, The A.V. Club attempts to right that wrong by looking back at some of the '00's most promising artists and their sorely underappreciated last hurrahs.

Assassins
Swan song: You Will Changed Us (2006)
In 2002, members of Chicago's Marvelkind and Butterfly Child formed a group that seemed poised to become the city's next breakout success story. Yet major-label troubles and a delayed debut (You Will Changed Us, which finally saw release in summer 2006) slowed the group's momentum. Blending urgent, high-voltage shocks of electro with tuneful new-wave melodies and dream-pop atmospherics, Assassins proved a perfect complement to Kill Hannah and Dark Wave Disco in the scene's power-glam/electro/new-wave trifecta. Shortly after the album's release, Assassins moved to Los Angeles, and though it never issued a proper break-up statement, the band has been AWOL since. The lesson: Leaving Chicago will inevitably kill your band.

Spitalfield
Swan song: Better Than Knowing Where You Are (2006)
Spitalfield's 2003 Victory Records debut, Remember Right Now, garnered the attention of the Chicago scene and beyond due to the strength of its earnest and emotive pop-rock. Songs like "Stolen From Some Great Writer" confirmed Spitalfield more as successors to the early, vulnerable work of Jimmy Eat World than the histrionic screamo dominating Victory at the time. Two more records followed, but Spitalfield never broke through. In September 2007, the group issued a formal break-up announcement via its MySpace, saying the decision to disband had "absolutely nothing to do with a lack of passion for making music together or love for each other," before sentimentally comparing the breakup to the final scene of The Wizard Of Oz.

Devil In A Woodpile
Swan song: In Your Lonesome Town (2005)
Devil In A Woodpile will undoubtedly be remembered but for its long-running Tuesday-night residency at The Hideout, where the group created a genuine hootenanny experience (complete with washboard). DIAW specialized in unamplified jump-blues, a style of old-timey music that practically sounded sepia-toned, partly due to singer Rick "Cookin'" Sherry's gravelly voice. After a long run that stretched back to 1998's self-titled debut on local Americana label Bloodshot, DIAW called it quits with little fanfare. But Sherry still holds it down on Tuesday nights at The Hideout with his new outfit, Sanctified Grumblers.

The Reputation
Swan song: To Force A Fate (2004)
Elizabeth Elmore first gained recognition in the college-radio circuit during the late '90s with her group Sarge, which emerged from Champaign alongside acts like Braid and Hum. Following Sarge's disbanding at the end of the '90s, Elmore continued with The Reputation, where her confrontational, vulnerable, and sometimes scornful voice was the band's not-so-secret weapon. A 2002 LA Times piece entitled "If This Rock Star Thing Fails, There's Always Law School" touched on Elmore's law studies at Northwestern, but may have also prophetically foretold the group's end in 2006. Fans are left with only two albums (the other being its 2002 self-titled debut) and a lot of moody guitar rock both sweet and suggestive.

Hey Mercedes
Swan song: Unorchestrated EP (2005)
After the demise of Braid in 1999, guitarist-vocalist Bob Nanna, bassist Todd Bell, and drummer Damon Atkinson formed Hey Mercedes, a more polished, poppier cousin to Braid's quirky second-wave emo. After releasing a debut EP on Braid's old home, Polyvinyl, the band moved to powerhouse indie Vagrant Records for 2001's fantastic Everynight Fire Works. An unrelated lawsuit against Vagrant delayed its release and provided a bad omen of what was to come: Despite the greatness of Fire Works and its worthy, though lesser, 2003 successor Loses Control, Hey Mercedes barely registered on a label that was churning out hit-makers like Dashboard Confessional and Saves The Day. After grinding it out for another couple of years—interrupted by a Braid reunion tour in the summer of 2004—Hey Mercedes called it quits in early 2005. The door hasn't shut completely, though; the band has played two reunion shows since, most recently in September. 

Dead To Fall
Swan song: Are You Serious? (2008)
Dead To Fall may have gone enough line-up changes to form four different bands, but the group's sound—ultra-heavy metalcore with furious riffs at breakneck speeds—remained consistently identifiable throughout the years, anchored by vocalist Jonathan Hunt's guttural growl. While everything about Dead To Fall may have been heavy to the core, songs like "Major Rager" showed a wicked sense of humor, too. In April 2008, Hunt announced the outfit's break-up online, citing "financial, personal, and emotional strains" and declaring the "Dead To Fall machine broke beyond repair." Its former members have since moved on in Blue Ox and Much Worse.