One of the most remarkable things about Chicago is its complex relationship with crime. The criminal-justice and court system is often so flawed, discriminatory, and unjust that it can seem as harmful as the crimes it seeks to control. For more than a century we’ve also had an entire industry dedicated to sensationalizing and mythologizing […]
Tag: indie-rock
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Ben Grigg energizes his shoegaze style as Whelpwisher
Chicago indie-rockers Geronimo! played their final show in March 2015, and keyboardist Ben Grigg must’ve turned his attention to making solo recordings as soon as he got off the stage. He self-released his first EP as Whelpwisher in October of that year, and his output hasn’t slowed since: he’s been refining his sweet alt-rock tunes […]
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Wild Pink seek the divine in the sky on A Billion Little Lights
Indie-rock trio Wild Pink hail from the boroughs of New York City but sound like they’ve only ever known the quietest stretches of the heartland. Their recent third album, A Billion Little Lights (Royal Mountain), evokes the wonder of gazing up at a night sky unclouded by light pollution and getting lost in the constellations. […]
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Chicago indie duo Orisun draw power from lo-fi rock on their debut EP
Chicago indie-rock duo Orisun indulge in their lo-fi proclivities without ever giving in to slacker entropy. On their self-released debut EP, May’s This Is Orisun, multi-instrumentalist Kai Black and front person Asha Adisa artfully employ gossamer guitars, sophisticated keys, precisely programmed percussion with dampened drums, and relaxed, alluring vocals to calibrate moods that test the […]
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Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound join forces as Bachelor
Bands hyped as “supergroups” usually sound cool in theory but often wind up less memorable than the better-known projects of their members. By contrast, the pop rock on Bachelor’s debut, Doomin’ Sun, will stick to your brain like bubblegum on the bottom of your sneaker. Bachelor is the duo of Melina Duterte, a Los Angeles-based […]
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Dinosaur Jr. kick out epic melodies, hooks, and noise on their best postreunion album
Dinosaur Jr.’s second act is a feel-good gift that keeps on giving. These unwavering indie-rock lifers seem to have access to a bottomless well of arena-ready solos and riffs, brain-sticking melodies, and hurricane-force noise. In the late 1980s, the powerhouse trio—guitarist and singer J Mascis, bassist and singer Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph—became a revolutionary […]
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Chicago multi-instrumentalist Alex Cowling evokes the power of the great outdoors with Antarctica
Over the past few years, Chicago multi-instrumentalist Alex Cowling has released several solo albums that combine weather-beaten indie rock, spacious jazz, and easygoing folk, and he’s done it to little or no fanfare. When I ask him about the new Antarctica, he tells me that one of the few people who’s listened to it is […]
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Chicago rock group Sonny Falls bring a hard-won optimism to their second album
In the bad bad not good year that was 2020, optimism often felt as plausible as a unicorn. That’s a big part of why the recent second album from Sonny Falls, All That Has Come Apart / Once Did Not Exist (Plastic Miracles), lands so heavily. Ryan “Hoagie Wesley” Ensley, main man of this rugged […]
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Joan of Arc say goodbye with the touchingly esoteric Tim Melina Theo Bobby
For 25 years, Tim Kinsella has led his band Joan of Arc through a multitude of changes: members have come and gone, and the group’s sound has evolved and (occasionally) purposely devolved. Now, with the release of Tim Melina Theo Bobby, Kinsella is bringing the project to an end. Named for the musicians who comprise […]
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Heartbreak, melodic intricacy, and lush arrangements shape Owen’s tenth album, The Avalanche
Few indie-rock artists are more prolific than singer-songwriter Mike Kinsella, who’s been playing in Illinois bands since the late 80s, including Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, and American Football. The latter band reunited in 2014 following a 14-year break and subsequently released two acclaimed albums, 2016’s American Football (or LP2) and last year’s American Football […]
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Singer-songwriter Gia Margaret shifts focus to instrumental ambient for Mia Gargaret
Chicago singer-songwriter Gia Margaret makes what she calls “sleep rock.” Its mellow vibes make it well-suited for early-morning or late-night listening, while its catchy melodies and driving beats can get heads nodding—albeit gently. Margaret’s 2018 debut full-length, There’s Always Glimmer, creates inviting atmospheres with crisp production and varied instrumentation: Margaret’s double-tracked vocals glow amid a […]
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Chicago’s Retirement Party will brighten your summer with the heavy emo of Runaway Dog
Chicago emo acts helped raise the national profile of the fourth-wave scene in the early 2010s, but most of them had gone on hiatus or broken up by the time Retirement Party dropped their debut EP, 2017’s Strictly Speaking. Retirement Party not only filled a void in the city but also manifested new energy with […]
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Chicago indie rockers Cafe Racer meld psych, shoegaze, and Krautrock to summon hypnotic bliss
Psychedelic Chicago indie rockers Cafe Racer emerged from a young north-side scene obsessed with garage; in fact, guitarist-vocalist Michael Santana previously played rugged, bratty garage pop in the three-piece Grosse Pointe. When he burned out on that band’s sound in 2015, he started working with guitarist-vocalist Adam Schubert—a prolific musician with a lo-fi solo project […]
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Philadelphia indie rocker (Sandy) Alex G closes a prolific decade with the stunning House of Sugar
Philadelphia indie-rock alchemist Alexander Giannascoli understands better than most musicians who’ve emerged in the past decade how to convey the slipperiness and complexity of emotion in song. The 27-year-old kicked off his career in the early 2010s with a streak of albums he self-released or put out through small cassette labels, and they all wound […]
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After a critical breakthrough, two members of Florida emo mathletes Pool Kids decamp to Chicago
In April 2019, Paramore front woman Hayley Williams posted an Instagram story about Pool Kids, a largely unknown emo band from Tallahassee, Florida: “This is what Pmore WISHED we sounded like in the early 2000’s.” About two hours earlier, Bandcamp editor Zoe Camp had tweeted a link to Pool Kids’ 2018 self-released debut, Music to […]