Gossip Wolf has been on the record as a fan of Lollygagger since the local glam-punk goofballs dropped their debut EP, Life on Terminus, in 2018. The band followed it in 2020 with the hilarious sketch-comedy-style video album The Lollygagger Family Fun Variety Hour, but lately this wolf has hungered for something to slap on […]
Category: Gossip Wolf
Posted inMusic
Metro hosts a joyful send-off for the late Cynthia Plaster Caster
Legendary artist and writer (and onetime Chicago mayoral candidate) Cynthia Plaster Caster passed away in April after a lengthy illness, but Gossip Wolf isn’t done mourning. Future generations of local musicians and fans won’t get to bask in the splendor of her warm, glowing personality—thankfully her famous plaster casts of the private parts of musicians […]
Posted inMusic
Ne-Hi alum Mikey Wells drops a mellow, summery new album with Flamingo Rodeo
Chicago postpunks Ne-Hi split in May 2019, and since then guitarist-singer Mikey Wells has expanded his palette of delightful pop hooks in two standout projects: Spun Out, which is indie dance oriented, and Flamingo Rodeo, which plays choogle rock a la 1970s AM radio. On Flamingo Rodeo’s new album, Pontoon (due this month on Shuga […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago country craftsman Dan Whitaker decamps to Texas
Gossip Wolf has long admired local country-music craftsman Dan Whitaker, whose considerable discography includes folk-tinged solo work and recordings with his combo the Shinebenders that combine hillbilly jazz, country blues, honky-tonk stompers, and working-class ballads about booze, trucks, and lost love. By the end of this month, Whitaker will have relocated to Martindale, Texas (between […]
Posted inMusic
Bev Rage & the Drinks ring in Pride with a kaiju rampage
Queer garage-pop band Bev Rage & the Drinks have become one of the city’s most entertaining acts since coming together in 2015. Mixing hilariously forthright lyrics, spitfire riffs, and the second-to-none showmanship of lead singer and guitarist Beverly Rage—a seven-foot drag queen, counting hair and heels—they put on a show that’s not to be missed! Over […]
Posted inMusic
‘Brutal prog’ maestro Weasel Walter debuts a Chicago lineup of the Flying Luttenbachers
Guitarist and drummer Weasel Walter, the “brutal prog” purveyor best known as longtime leader of the Flying Luttenbachers, left Chicago in 2003 for San Francisco and later moved to New York—but he sure has been popping up around here an awful lot lately. This wolf is starting to suspect he’s living in our town once […]
Posted inMusic
The Pride Bands Alliance celebrates 40 years with a symphonic-band blowout and two world premieres
In October 1982, members of seven LGBTQ+ concert and marching bands from across the U.S. met in Chicago and formed the Lesbian and Gay Band Association. Though the LGBA changed its name to the Pride Bands Alliance in 2021, it still provides “an international network of LGBTQ+ and affirming bands in all stages of development” […]
Posted inMusic
Emma Hospelhorn of Ensemble dal Niente releases a scintillating solo debut as Em Spel
Gossip Wolf always likes to hear about a new solo album from a member of Ensemble dal Niente—the long-running local contemporary-classical corps has built a spotless reputation for adventurous programming and technical excellence, and its members often pop up in far-flung musical contexts around town. Among the most prolific is multi-instrumentalist Emma Hospelhorn, who has […]
Posted inMusic
Mystery Actions debut a new blast of anti-war punk rock
Local four-piece Mystery Actions remind Gossip Wolf of the cool, slightly intimidating kids from the Chicago street-punk scene in the late 80s and early 90s, when it centered on Clark and Belmont—specifically Punkin’ Donuts and the Alley. Perhaps that’s because the band—vocalist Nikki Mouse, guitarist Lucy Dekay, drummer Rose Beef, and bassist Mikhael Hell—crank out […]
Posted inMusic
Sound artist Rocio Zavala debuts with an album of otherworldly drone
In May 2020, during the isolating depths of the first large-scale U.S. COVID-19 lockdown, Gossip Wolf caught a live online performance by Rocio Zavala as part of Experimental Sound Studio’s Quarantine Concerts series. A sound and visual artist from Mexico who’s now based in Chicago, Zavala crafted an alluring, otherworldly drone with her own handmade […]
Posted inMusic
Indie-pop goofballs Baby Teeth ratchet up their reunion with another single
Gossip Wolf doesn’t like to speculate about which band breakups will stick (it’s no fun to be wrong), but when local indie-pop goofballs Baby Teeth announced their final show in 2012, it seemed unlikely that Chicago had heard the last from them. In the years that followed, singer-songwriter Abraham Levitan, front man of the trio, […]
Posted inMusic
Angela James’s big voice fills her new album with wide-screen melancholy
Gossip Wolf doesn’t parent any wee pups that need nighttime lullabies, but the gentle hush of the children’s music on Angela James’s 2019 album, Quiet Nights, is enrapturing no matter your age. On Friday, April 22, the local singer-songwriter releases her fourth LP, Now That I Have You, where she returns to making outstanding music […]
Posted inMusic
Experimental Sound Studio unveils an archive devoted to beloved saxophonist Fred Anderson
On March 22, 2022—what would’ve been Fred Anderson’s 93rd birthday—Experimental Sound Studio and its Creative Audio Archive announced the acquisition of a collection devoted to the beloved Chicago saxophonist, venue owner, scene anchor, and mentor. The CAA describes itself as “formed for the historical preservation of recordings, print, and visual ephemera related to avant-garde and […]
Posted inMusic
Half-Ukrainian musical jack-of-all-trades Pasha Pear drops a hallucinatory new dance single
Born to a Ukrainian mother and a Russian-Armenian father, Chicago-based musician Pasha Petrosyan grew up living in Moscow during the school year and Kyiv every summer, till his family moved to the suburbs of Chicago when he was 11. Since moving into the city in 2013, Petrosyan has become a jack-of-all-trades in its independent rock […]
Posted inMusic
Venerable jazz guitarist George Freeman celebrates 95 years with a new compilation
Legendary Chicago jazz guitarist George Freeman has been honing his dynamic, explosive style since the 1940s, working with dozens of the genre’s hall of famers, including Charlie Parker, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Gene Ammons, Jimmy McGriff, Buddy Rich, Shirley Scott, and his brothers Von and Bruz Freeman. On Sunday, April 10, Freeman turns 95, and to mark […]