Chicago's the Smith Westerns are a band looking for some teenage kicks with their home-brewed mixture of garage, glam, and punk, and they come by their youthful energy honestly. The Smith Westerns were formed in 2007, and within a year, were booked into some of Chicago's better rock clubs. In 2009, local independent label HoZac Records brought out the Smith Westerns' self-titled debut album (initially a vinyl-only release), which found the band indulging a taste for '70s glam rock along with their punk and garage influences. In 2010, the Smith Westerns released a split single on Fat Possum with the Magic Kids that featured some of their most polished music to date. ~ Mark Deming