Tankboy resides in the body of Jim Kopeny and lives in Mayfair with Pickle the Kitten and a beagle named Betty (RIP) who may actually be slightly more famous than most of the musicians slogging through the local scene. He's written about music for much longer than most bands you hear on the radio have even existed. He also swears that it wasn't him who did that and has learned that "deny everything" is a basic tenet of existence.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
