Presaging the new-millennium rise of shadowy indie Americana by about eight years, Chicago's own Red Red Meat were like a house band on the outer bounds of indie-rock Armageddon. A noted influence on the likes of Microphones and Modest Mouse, the group meshed a stuttered, whiskey-soaked country warble with finger-picked banjo, alt-rock guitar, industrial bangs, and bizarre electronics. While singer Tim Rutili went on to craft similarly acceptable oddities with electro-folk outfit Califone, he's never been the same; after all, Red Red Meat were the inspired seeds from which the latter band was born. Reunited for a series of summer shows, the group hits its home base tonight before flying off to Seattle in honor of Sub Pop's 20th-anniversary soirée.