In March, Meat Wave barreled through a pandemic-era dissection of the American labor market with the sardonic, sawtoothed “Honest Living,” laying bare the corrosive effects of depending for your survival on a morally bankrupt system that treats you like a disposable nobody. It’s an apt first single from their fourth full-length, October’s Malign Hex (Swami), […]
Tag: Chicago band
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Ganser find the freedom beyond despair on Nothing You Do Matters
Dread can be suffocating, but Ganser make it work like a spark. On their new EP, Nothing You Do Matters (Felte), the Chicago postpunk four-piece take cues from dance punk for their end-of-the-world party music—they’re trying to build something worth living for in a hellscape that constantly finds boring new ways to make everyone feel […]
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Chicago indie sensations Dehd go big-time with Blue Skies
Chicago trio Dehd sound like they’re trying to levitate by fusing the ineffable but often incompatible powers of frigid postpunk and wispy indie rock. Dehd are dedicated minimalists: their lonesome, echoing guitars and sturdy, straightforward rhythms tend to show the seams in their songs, but they don’t reveal too much of the magic that makes […]
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Three albums in, Chicago underground supergroup Rlyr are still having fun
I heard a lot about the glory days of the Fireside Bowl even before I moved to Chicago, and I loved the way the venue brought together bands from disparate subscenes with almost every show. Chicago instrumental trio Rlyr exemplify that freewheeling spirit: in their wondrous thrashing, I can hear the residual effects of growing […]