The Handcuffs are one of those bands who will play live shows relatively frequently, but feel no rush to release their albums. I think part of this is grounded in the band being a tad old fashioned, carrying the notion…
Blunt Bangs describes themselves as an “indie-supergroup” in their description of their new album Proper Smoker, and that is not incorrect. Especially if your view of “indie” is rooted in the mid-aughts blog-rock period, and I find particular delight in…
Chicago’s Gal Gun released their second album Critical Hit last December, which was clearly an excellent time to release music. Not. But I am of the strong opinion that in the dark vortex that sucked away attention from most music…
It’s been a couple years since we’ve heard anything new from the band, but we have some exciting news: The Kickback has started to make noise publicly again! Currently, the group is releasing a single track of new music at a…
You might know Mike Lust as the frontman for Tight Phantomz, whose Silk Prison still stands as an impressive entry into the battle of the double albums over the decades. But most in the Chicago music scene also know Lust…
It’s been a while since I last wrote about AWEFUL, but the Chicago power trio hasn’t been sitting idle. They may not be able to play live or tour right now, but that’s not gonna slow them down! So while…
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary a few years ago, I did a long piece on Triple Fast Action’s sophomore album Cattlemen Don’t, making the argument it is a largely undiscovered classic album that deserved far more attention than…
The buzz on Slow Pulp reached me via friends before their traditional publicity push, and the snippets I heard excited me, but none of that could have prepared me for how excellent the album is as a whole. It took…
Melkbelly, the somewhat genre-less and thrilling Chicago-based band that Miranda Winters sings and plays guitar with, is truly a monster of the local scene (in all the good ways). So when I heard Winters had a debut single coming out…
Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL) is a coalition of more than 20 Chicago music venues who initially banded together to fight developers threatening the scene with corporate venues, and have redirected their efforts towards saving the entire independent music scene…
Yesterday Governor Pritzker shared his viewpoint that all summer events should be canceled, though Mayor Lightfoot is less comfortable making that call … yet. My personal history with Lollapalooza goes back to the fest’s inaugural tour in 1991, and I’ve…
ROOKIE is the latest Chicago act to emerge from our house party / DIY scene as real contenders for the rock and/or roll crown that seems up for grabs lately. I’ve mentioned it before, but we are experiencing a delightful…
On his latest album, Kevin Barnes returns of Montreal to its one-man-band roots on UR FUN, yet still manages to create a Technicolor thrill ride making the most of his experience manipulating a studio to his whims in order to interpret…
Cupcakes formed in the mid-’90s and seemed destined for superstardom. They were signed to DreamWorks near the tail end of the initial label feeding frenzy that swept through Chicago during that period, and paired up with Stephen Street—the producer behind…
It is a really good time to be a fan of Chicago music right now. Our scene is always vibrant, but we appear to be in another of those mini-movements (that I certainly hope grows larger) where more and more…
Stonefield’s Bent was written primarily while the Australian quartet was touring America last year. It’s the group’s fourth album since 2013, though I’ll forgive you if you’ve never heard of them before. They’ve opened for bands from King Gizzard and…
In 2017, White Reaper released an album proclaiming them as “The World’s Best American Band,” which was hilariously tongue in cheek coming from a band that is actually incredibly modest in interviews and offstage. But to this listener’s ears, that…
The New York city scene regained dash of its danger in the early aughts during that era’s resurgence of rawk, but as the spotlight of fame softened those rough edges, the sound of downtown grew more polite as it broadened…
Sloan is coming through Chicago to play Bottom Lounge tonight. I’ve put together this point-by-point presentation to pique your interest and then convince you to attend this evening’s concert. Sloan has had the same four members since its inception in…
Jonny Polonsky hasn’t put out that many albums since his debut Hi My Name Is Jonny in 1996, but he’s still been pretty busy during that whole period of time. Last year’s release of his odds and sods collection of…
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