Hardcore punks Habitat For Insanity released a new record earlier this month, following up their “Sick Puppies” EP from 2020. The album is nine tracks that blasts like firecrackers set off one after another, driven by fierce vocals, drilling riffage and barraging drums that altogether elicit nonstop headbanging. There’s a take-no-bullshit attitude channeled with the exorcism of visceral feelings and
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Emo rockers Barely Civil have a new single out – their first new music since 2020 album “I’ll Figure This Out.” The song marks a fresh, exciting return for the band, driven by melodic catharsis and liberated vocals that comes rushing out of the floodgates. Lyrically speaking, there’s a strong theme of feeling insignificant in the world and longing for
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REYNA have returned with a new EP. The sister duo/pop act unveils this project as their first since becoming independent artists again; as such, these five tracks are written from a place of intimate straightforwardness. REYNA bring a keen sense of authentic honesty and determination to find love in the little things here, embracing moments like unexpected connections, companionate vulnerability
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Comme Il Faut have released their debut full-length album. The indie rockers blend together post-rock and post-hardcore approaches for an atmospheric, awe-inspiring installation with vehemently anti-capitalist themes. Only a few of the tracks contain lyrics, and those that do ruminate on the dialectics and cycles of social conflict. The instrumentals carry palpable emotional weight relative to class consciousness, traveling from
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Rock and roll took the stage at Lilliput Records on Saturday night for the venue/record store’s newly started “Lilliput After Hours” series featuring bands Well + Good, Okay Omen and North Warren. Well + Good consists of vocalist/guitarist Devan Diefenbach, vocalist/bassist Justin Meli and drummer/backup vocalist Marcus Freeby. The alternative rockers formed in 2022 out of high school friendships, as
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Pop artist Jinx Oge collaborated with vocalist-guitarist Sarah Bhea on a new single. Driven by a tender acoustic melody from Bhea, this song is about having a lover whom you’ll always know where to find and come back to. The duality of Oge and Bhea’s voices towers with a sense of yearning, hope and desire, like unbreakable trust that aches
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Americana-folk rockers The Midnight Purchase have their second single of the year out now. This one’s about getting older but still having plenty of dreams in life. Orlando Pena exuberantly sings of grey in his beard and cramps in his hands, but he’ll be damned if anything stops him from making the most out of himself while he’s here. With
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Bonny.AF is a new artist to watch; his style could be described as hazy alternate R&B that echos as it saunters. He teamed up with hip hop artist Eli White for a new single recently where the artists are looking to party till the sun comes up, losing themselves to dancing, drinking and chasing love. While their vocal deliveries are
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Hiking Journal is the collaborative project of electronic artist OnlyFerns and Riley Pines of the bands Past Is Prologue and No Parking. They’re out with their debut EP, which is six songs of freak folk whimsy. The tracks encompass acoustic guitar and mandolin melodies hovering over field recordings that were gathered on hikes, complete with a few talking samples to
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R&B artist Charmonty released a new EP earlier this month. There’s five tracks here each with a different feature, which certainly shows off Charmonty’s versatility with different artists’ energies; Kid Foreal, Scarce Diamonds, Lex Delani, J. Von and Erilei are all part of the picture – in that order. As romance is in the air and she makes no compromises
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Singer-songwriter Panko Stankhole released a new single at the end of September. Originally co-written between Matt Runquist (Stankhole) and Chris Douglas for their old band Lotus Dinner in the 90s, it’s a protest song dedicated to those who tragically get caught up in political conflicts beyond their control; this rerecorded version features bassist Jason Sidabras. Panko Stankhole assumes a melancholy
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Wellness music artist Dennis Hawk recently released an album to accompany yoga and self-care. With three movements, Hawk summons graceful flutes, gently plucked guitars and tranquil electronic atmospheres to soothe the soul, perfect for accompanying meditation or spiritual exercise. Too often we’re hard on both our minds and bodies, and it’s important to allow yourself decompression with blissful ambience –
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Chicago-by-way-of-Milwaukee act Kent Avenue Carpool dropped a new single last month. This bouncy guitar pop tune wears a jovial face but carries an anxious heart, lyrically touching on being unable to stop thinking about a love interest. There’s a palpable sense of urgency with “Arizona” that Kent Avenue Carpool tackle with a sweet swirl and restless anticipation. Check it out!
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Restraint Malfunction has his first new tape out since April. The prolific experimental noise artist delivers a grinding, buzzing, infernal composition that follows the arc of his previous work. There’s a sense of terror and apocalypse that oozes with static and voltage, shifting form from time to time. It can be listened to either as one single piece or as
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Indie rockers The Pulltops keep their ambitious year moving with a new single dropped at the end of September. It’s a tune about the love of your life and how the yearning for them never stops. Amending their style with an ambitious electronic approach that professes from the highest mountain, The Pulltops promise forever on “With You.” It’s a slow
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Veteran singer-songwriter Willy Porter has returned with a new album. It’s twelve tracks that carry folk pop sensibilities with a most affable presentation and knack for adventure. Porter and his band (Carmen Nickerson, Dave Adler, Eric Madunic and Dave Schoepke) embark into kaleidoscopic horizons on topics personal to him, taking bluesy and rootsy turns and evoking warm Midwestern imagery to
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Tae & the Neighborly released their fifth single of the year. The soul-pop outfit take on a doo wop flavor here as Tae expresses sentiments of being your own best friend. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others, as they say, and “Self Help” drives such a notion home with cascading pianos, radiant
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YaYa Biggs are a new act to watch, bringing notes of soul and R&B to their tender flavor of indie rock. They released their sophomore single last month and it’s all about opening your mind and heart up to others. The song’s tender stride carries the weight of meeting one another as human, somberly conveying the hardships of emotional disconnect.
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Half Moon HideAway are a new band spearheaded by singer-songwriter Matt Froelich, and they’re out with their debut EP. These five songs represent moments of profound clarity akin to light piercing the darkness – hence the title. As such, it’s an indie rock record brimming with hope and effervescence, from the bright sway of “Bengal Tigers of the Crystal Shire”
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Indie pop artist Benny Koziol released a two-piece earlier this month. It’s his first new music in six years and arrives just in time for fall, as these songs have a brisk beachside feel to them. The lo-fi psychedelia brings imagery of chilly sunshine, brown leaves in the wind and crashing waters, all carried by the artist’s feathery voice. Benny
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Death is a Business are out with their long awaited, highly anticipated debut album. The nomadic ensemble recorded and produced these songs between Milwaukee, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Mexico City, Peru and Argentina. Fusing elements of jazz, soul and funk, the band marries groovy, zestful instrumentation with vivid storytelling from vocalist Sonia Erika, conjuring a magnificent sonic exhibition of companionship, liberation
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Garage rockers Orange Costanza released a new record last month. The band’s loud, rowdy style shines over six tunes, channeling arena-sized riffage and notes of pop punk with lawless vigor. This EP sums up the band’s creative exploits over the last five years…with a surprise hidden after the sixth track. Orange Costanza rip and howl with “Polyamorous Cactus.” They play
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Falcon Bowl hosted a spooky Friday the 13th show put on by author and event organizer Tea Krulos this weekend. Vendors and artists tabled while bands Lavish Waste, Spidora and Delicious Monsters took to the stage for an exciting evening. Lavish Waste is the duo of Emily Evans (vocals, keyboards) and Steven Look (vocals, guitar, Vocoder, programmed electronics). Their style
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Samuel Huston, formerly known as LOVEPeso, is out with the debut single under his new name. The R&B song is driven by a palpitating rhythm that resembles someone panting under the sun, fitting for the tune’s title and cover art. Huston contemplates disconnects in a relationship and expresses what he needs from his love interest; she’s got to make the
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Choke Chain has unleashed a new record. The electro-industrial act goes full throttle with seven tracks of brutally agonistic vocals, clattering rhythms, gothic textures and horror-tinged atmospheres. Nihilistic themes of pain, fear, hatred and failure comprise the lyrics with unrelenting fury and anguish. Choke Chain channels visceral despondency through brooding electronica with “Mortality.”
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