I first saw Sloan in the mid-‘90s, and have seen most every tour they’ve played since then. The most remarkable thing about the band is that they haven’t picked up an inch of rust to blunt their explosive live shows…
LOTEC began their existence as Land Of The El Caminos, and remained active through the late ’90s and into the aughts. They garnered acclaim for their hard-charging sound, grafting Fanelli’s tuneful growl over songs whose percussive natures were often at…
I was introduced to The Lemonheads right around 1990, since someone at my college record store was clearly a fan and kept the Taang! releases in stock and prominently displayed. At the time I found their mixture of hardcore punk…
The Backseat Lovers‘ Major label debut Waiting To Spill dropped into my inbox a few months ago and I was immediately struck by two things: a) how had I never heard of this band (?!), and b) how unusual is…
Music critic Dan Ozzi is well known for his sharp insight and even sharper wit in his writing. So I was excited about his decision to tackle a topic largely foreign to today’s music fans—the notion of a musician “selling…
We lost many talented artists unexpectedly over the last few years of the pandemic without the ability to actually come together as a larger group and celebrate their lives. To me, it’s these celebrations that help those left behind find…
This current era we’re in has been quite an adjustment for a person like me who spent decades seeing hundreds of bands play every year. As of today, the only live show I’ve seen so far in 2022 was a…
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…
Join Our Newsletter today!
