Well if you need to know how our week is going let us start by pointing out we’re posting our “get your week started” post at the end of Monday. Yeesh, looks like this one is going to be a tough one. Lucky for us and you we have “The Weather” by Split Parasite to help us through. Melodic and mathy, its a tasty slice of Midwest emo influenced alternative that is both fresh and catchy while still harkening back to classic genre tightrope walkers of the 90’s and aughts. There’s the essence of Braid and Minus the Bear here without actually sounding like either one of those bands. Today was rough but a jam like this gives us hope just because of how good it is.
November 21, 2022
Week Starter – Split Parasite
October 21, 2022
Friday 5×5
Once again it’s time to microdose those reviews and let the music speak for itself. Five tracks so good we only need to drop five words to accentuate them. Check out the latest from vern matz, Markus Nikolaus, Sista Bossen, Brandon Isaac & Free Mind and fearofmakingout.
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October 19, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
Today we have not one, not two, but three instrumental tracks for you to enjoy (read in Sesame Street’s The Count voice for seasonal appropriateness). Check out the latest from Micah Frank & Chet Doxas, whoiswelanski and Sic Wip after the jump.
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September 9, 2022
Friday 5×5
TGIF amiright? You know what that means. That’s right, it’s Tunes Goodenough Itsdumbto Fillyourscreenwithwordsbecausetheyspeakforthemselves. Check out the latest from Jessica O’Donoghue, Blue Lupin, Lukka, Hunter Ellis and Niall Summerton and our micro reviews of each after the jump.
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September 8, 2022
The B-Side: Wreath
Y’all remember Midwest emo? Specifically that genre’s version of a power ballad? Sensitive and thoughtful yet still mathy with squiggly guitars and unconventional rhythmic elements? Well, whether you do or you don’t Wreath is here to drop a fine example on your eardrums with “Voodoo Doll.” Patience is a virtue and this one is most upstanding. Slowly building and then receding into quieter moments, all the while teasing a big bombastic release that…never comes. Waves rise and fall throughout and things get churny at the end of the song, but no big crash upon the beach. Musical edging or masters at their craft avoiding an easy payoff? Either way it leaves us feeling funny inside in a good way.
August 24, 2022
The Midweekly – Russian Circles
The Midweekly is our column from Mike Jeffers; lead singer of Chicago punk stalwarts SCRAM, music junkie and all around righteous dude.
Close your eyes and visualize great armies of monsters, or fleets of space ships colliding into each other in slow motion. This of course needs a soundtrack, and Russian Circles is always ready to provide. The metal trio from Chicago has done it again with their eighth LP Gnossis. It’s been said that vocals help connect the listener to the music because of the shared human experience through lyrics, even in a genre where the words are incompressible. But RC routinely deliver a style of impressively produced instrumental rock that holds your attention. Seemingly standard breakdowns that’ll break your brain when the polyrhythms invade. Most of the progressions are filled with dread and frenzy, although they do switch it up with beautiful melodies, like reflecting on the destruction the chugga chugga unleashed. If riffs could snarl, these tracks would be mean mugging all day.
August 19, 2022
Friday 5×5
You know the drill, five songs so good they don’t need us boring and blabbing about them. We keep it succinct and let the music do the talking on these stand out tracks from Kowloon, Dome Dwellers, Killer Bee, Kevin George and Sharkorama.
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August 12, 2022
Friday 5×5
Today we keep our lips mostly sealed with micro-reviews of five songs so good they speak for themselves. Check out the latest from Melanie MacLaren, Credit Electric, Vangelism, General Admin and Gonzo Lebronzo after the jump.
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August 10, 2022
The Midweekly – Giraffes? Giraffes!
The Midweekly is our column from Mike Jeffers; lead singer of Chicago punk stalwarts SCRAM, music junkie and all around righteous dude.
In a studio, sure you can get a lot of stuff going at the same time with technology and what. But take it to the stage and things get trickier for a rock duo from Massachusetts. Giraffes? Giraffes! They make it happen? They make it happen! (Looping pedals help). On their fifth LP, Death Breath, with Ken Topham on percussion, and Joseph Andreoli on guitars, G?G! produce a solid set of experimental post-rock tracks. There’s a modern flair of polyrhythms and math, and a good dose of classic melody that harkens back to the songwriting of 90s alternative. Moments of high energy, mixed with softer, more subtle numbers give the whole album a dynamic feel that keeps your attention. In the past, their work has been mostly instrumental. But now they’re singing like it’s always been a well built tool in their box. There is a question and an answer. It’s really good? It’s really good!
August 3, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
We have a trio of new instrumental tracks so good that it’s hard to keep it to five word reviews, but being the pros we are, we manage. Check out the fresh cuts from Morus, Iran Iran and After Nations after the jump.
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