ALBUM REVIEWS
february 2020
Beach Bunny
Honeymoon
Mom+Pop Records
First off, the 9 songs on Honeymoon will blaze by in 26 minutes, so it is worth a listen from start to finish. Put it on right now. You won’t regret it. Unlike that one ex that will go down in the “what did I ever see in them” history. In classic Beach Bunny style the music is tight, catchy AF, and emotionally charged. I've been looking forward to Honeymoon since it was announced back in October. Knowing that our favorite soother of heartbreak and social anxiety was going to take on love felt like a dangerous turn towards the positive. But no need for concern, when you strip away the hearts and flowers of love, there’s plenty of emotional turmoil for them to express. Many people try to play it cool and hide the crazy that being in a relationship can bring, but not Lili Trifilio. She takes all those feelings we don't want to admit and puts them into a bouncy catchy rock. From “Cuffing Season,” “Feelings fade, It's a fear, What you meant to me, not here, Sometimes doubt, Reappears, Everything's become unclear, But that's love, That's not love, Maybe we are getting too close.” Because love is intoxicating and confusing and painful. There are so many ways a relationship can fail. And if you are prone to anxiety, dwelling on the seeming inevitable end is hard to avoid. It can be so easy to give in to our insecurities self-sabotage what we love. Song after song the language is so much like a breakup. "I can never get to you, You always seem closest in the rearview, You love me, I love you, You don't love me anymore, I still do, I'm sorry, I'm trying, I hate it when you catch me crying." “Rearview” plays off the idea of feeling closest when you are about to split up, of knowing what you want when you feel like you’re about it lose it. The album ends with a double dose of optimism. With some caveats. “Dream Boy” reminds their lover how hard it is to make ourselves vulnerable to heartbreak, to give us romance and remember our fragility. “Cloud9” revels in the amazing feeling of being seen and loved. It also has what might be one of my favorite lyrics in any love song. The realist (how I and most pessimists describe ourselves) yet sentimental optimism that there is something about this love that will make it stand apart. Even when it ends. “Even when we fade eventually to nothing, You will always be my favorite form of loving.”
Beach Bunny is playing a sold out Metro show on Feb 22
The Weekend Run Club
Zoo
The Weekend Run Club
Zoo begins beautifully with “Always,”providing the listener with a chance to really drink in the band’s pitched guitar and vocal prowess. It crescendos at the final minute with soaring soundscapes so you travel into what the rest of the album has to offer...
The Weekend Run Club packages easily digestible music throughout this album. “Beck” and “Casually Dancing” fantastically showcase these talents through perfectly-timed vocals.
“Tired” brings the band’s strength on guitar to light followed up with “Sometimes” that gives me the impression it’s a great track to see live yielding to the band’s potential give-and-go between their talents. With that, “Let’s Think Back” has a brilliant breakdown and is yet another testament to The Weekend Run Club’s prolific sound.
This album is pretty damn great. Listen to it now, but then package it up and bring it to the beach with you when Chicago thaws. The Weekend Run Club does with their second album what Green Day couldn’t do with their latest incantation; make it sound good.
Check out The Weekend Run Club at Sleeping Village on March 2nd with Tara Terra and Ghost Soul Trio for $1 beer night! Tix are $5.
Air Credits
Wasteland Radio New Archives
Wasteland Radio New Archives is a quintessential concept album, and it is the best new music coming out of Chicago this year, right now. This free flowing expressionistic art smashes bombastic bass beats with brilliant lyricism.
The EP opens with a Wasteland Radio DJ reaching out to all those Dusties in the land of the Dusties similar to the DJ in the ‘70s cult classic, “The Warriors.” Each song punches a roiling caution to the dooming apocalypse with a comforting backdrop of sick fucking beats.
“Wall” is magmatic, with deep bass beats and unparalleled lyrical procession. “Nuke Party” is nasty as fuck. But I guess when you are one part ShowYouSuck and one part The Hood Internet, your shit better be tight. I’m glad Wasteland Radio New Archives is a thing.
This isn’t just an EP. It’s a message to the fans in Chicago and beyond. Air Credits has the straight up credibility to unapologetically push a badass offering like this. I can’t wait to see these mother fuckers live.
Bad Ambassadors
Bad Ambassadors EP
Walkingshoe
The duo of Rich Jones and Walkingshoe as Bad Ambassadors is a centerpiece in the Chicago electropop scene and their early January self-titled release is a great example as to why.
As you listen to the album, “Up For You” is a nod to turntablism with Jones’ bitchin lyrical mastery mashing together with Walkingshoe’s breadth of soundbeds garnering a dance troupe vibe two songs in.
“Mornings With You” is soft and smooth and is an incredible showcase of what Bad Ambassadors can do with a soft beat. That said, “Pardon” is their standout Chicago anthem. It outlines a bottom line discussion of street construction with an up front mention of Belle Plaine that leaves no imagination to where their loyalties lie.
It would be asinine to deny the party groove you get from listening to this album. Do yourself a favor and get out to see these cats live. I can’t think of a bad reason not to.
The Hazy Seas
The Hazy Seas
The hazy Seas
The Hazy Seas is a post-sabbatical listen, no doubt. Given the depth of their sound, one could find themselves rendering a raucous raid through their own inner psyche on a long trip in the wilds of the upper Midwest.
It’s worth noting that “922” and “Angles is the Heat” showcase their seminal sound, but this four-piece brings a lot more to the table. “Leaving Soon” is an expressionistic crescendo of creative sound and treble-infused guitars.
With more playful dirges like “Marquis’ BBQ'' on the album you get that same feel us kids of the ‘80s got when we’d listen to a Cure album and hear all the great shit that wasn’t always played not the radio. They close the album with “Flexor” which in its purest form is a straight-up choose your adventure soundtrack.
The Hazy Seas are as anthemic as they are prolific; fight me. If you’re a fan of regional sound, you will not be disappointed.
The Hazy Seas are opening for Okey Dokey and Faux Furrs at Schubas on May 8th. Tix are $12.
Engine Summer
Back-Street Boys
Air Scotia
Back-Street Boys is the latest EP from the Chicago post-punk trio Engine Summer. No, this is not an EP full of Backstreet Boys covers (as entertaining as that would be.) Seriously, who wouldn’t want to hear an ironic post-punk version of “I Want It That Way”? Just me? Anyway, Engine Summer have been active in the local scene since 2016 and have been steadily gaining momentum over the past few years. During this time, they have recorded 1 full length album, 3 EPs, and have had the pleasure of playing with acts like Ra Ra Riot, Bodega, Acquaintances, and Baked (featuring members of Titus Andronicus).
Back-Street Boys is a relatively raw recording that stays true to all of the common post-punk tropes of the late ‘70s and ‘80s. The EP starts off strong with the single, “Carol is Dead,” a catchy track reminiscent of The Fall and Parquet Courts that was recorded live at Treehouse Records. “Groovin’ on 63rd” delves into dance-punk with a funky bassline, syncopated drums, and Ben Kostecki’s uncharacteristically caffeinated vocals. “Likes” takes the band’s post-punk sound and filters it through a Pavement lens. “Spice Boys” is the most psychedelic track on the album with calm, hypnotic riffs that have arrived with impeccable timing since pot is now legal. Back-Street Boys ends equally as strong with the Sonic Youth-esque “Night School”.
Overall, a solid post-punk EP to ring in the new year! Engine Summer’s album release party was last Saturday, January 4th at Schubas. No worries if you weren’t able to make it out, these guys are staples of our local music scene. I am confident that they will have another show near you in the not too distant future!
-Eric Wiersema
Engine Summer is hitting Chop Shop on March 5th opening for Spacebones. Tix are $9.
Space Gators
Intergalactic Swamp Songs
Midwest Action
Coming at you from our friends over at MidWest Action, Chicago’s Space Gators have arrived out of the great inky twilight above to clamp their snaggle-toothed grin around your soft, pliable brain. Their debut LP Intergalactic Swamp Songs is incredibly refreshing in its contemporary embrace of the mid-century modernist conception of folk and pop. It’s a goopy synthesis of The Ventures, Herman’s Hermits, and Frankie Valli, warped by space radiation and baked into a King Gizzard mold. It’s really astounding how many subgenre’s of early rock they manage to perforate and fill with odd mossy charm. The melody of “Mad Love” sounds borrowed from a Shangri Las waltz about how your crush rode his motor-bike off a cliff near make-out-point, complete with a wounded-heart spoken-word coda in the bridge; and a big, organ backed outro, all of it gripped by leafy outgrowths of cool cosmic reverb and warm fluttery, backing vocals. The Gators double down on the doo wop on the fuzzy and forlorn letter to the late great planet Earth, “Wah Wah Warhead,” as well as the sweetly psychedelic “Is It Right? Is it Wrong?” Surf rock variations are served up on “Surfin’ Gator” (of course) and the country tweaked and thoroughly twisted “No No, Not Today” is the closest I feel like we will ever get to a solid Violent Femmes single this side of the Millennium. The Beatles even get a big warm hug on the meandering sonic stroll of “Liturgy of the Hot Club,” while “Nice Little Saturday Morning” gives us an itty bitty taste of what could have been had Courtney Barnett and George Harrison been born in the same decade and had the mind the collaborate. Intergalactic Swamp Songs is a heck of a trip and welcome addition to Chicago’s growing rock revival scene.
Space Gators are opening for Waltzer’s Video premiere on February 7th at Sleeping Village. Tix are $10.
Blaqrock
No Love For Blaqkid
Blaqrock
At first listen, Blaqrock’s No Love For Blaqkid EP is a dynamic soundscape combining hints of hip-hop, metal, and rock. The Chicago four-piece touts influences of Rage Against the Machine and Linkin Park, and these sounds pour through on their freshmen EP. “Boyfriend,” the second track on the EP shows this in spades, with Gardner McFadden III’s brooding vocals and Myles Bacon’s metal hints on guitar.
“Teenage Schemes” brings in funky bass lines laid out by Austen Goebel, reminding us of those days when Digable Planets brought organic soundbeds to the hip-hop community. For a five-track EP, there’s no shortage of variety. Closing with “Southside” shows that Blaqrock has deep influences in the hip-hop community. It’s also about as Chicago as a song can get yielding props to a seminal location in the city’s social political landscape.
Subliminal Excess
2020 Demo
11pm Records
New year, new you, right? Not likely. 90% of all resolutions are doomed to fail within the first few weeks. Not dissimilarly, all civilizations are fated for ruin. Some later than others, but none can escape the cold hand of fate forever. Maybe it's for the best. Western civilization hasn't been doing much for the benefit of its citizenry as of late. 2020 won't bring us flying cars, robot servants, or commercial space travel, but the techno dystopia is in full gear and running smoothly. Say goodbye to privacy, and hello to a surveillance state maintained by mega-corporations in service of a corrupt and facile elite. No release captures the rage and anxiety of waking up to a new day full of the same old sh*t at the outset of this year quite like Chicago's corrosive hardcore group, Subliminal Excess. Their 2020 demo is like an 8 ball through the black mirror. Punching through the contrivances that shackle us to the drudgery of daily living to get to the raw, bleeding heart at the center of our increasingly augmented reality. Tracks like "Unified in Pain" lash out like a lion released from its enclosure, with thick jangling guitar chords and sharp serrated distortion, while the churlish "Temporary World" feels like a fateful slide down a greased shoot into a waiting mow of a trash compactor, and the plodding pugnacious "Psychotic Break" feels endlessly hungry in its blind grasping rage. The album wraps up with the unbearably slow singe and restless twisting of "Burning Feeling" with its muscle dividing grooves and metallic sputtering feedback; it's a cathartic scalding that will make a masochist out of even the most squeamish of listeners. 2020 is here. And, no, Marty, there are no hoverboards, no self-tying shoes, and there is absolutely no going back to the future you once thought you were promised.
The Keener Family
Tender Beast
The Keener Family
The Keener Family's extended play, Tender Beast, opens with the soft growl of distorted strings that tragically hush into the reverb of a plucked guitar and Christopher Keener's emotional tenor drawls, "Well, I was raised on the roar / Of a woman scorned..." The lyrics are from the first track, "Raised on the Roar," which tells the tale of children raised in the midst of their parent's tragic and toxic relationships. The song is brooding in its cruel acknowledgement of cycles of abuse that pass between generations: Some children born to abusive parents may grow into adults themselves that abuse their own children. However, Keener declares "But I'll be damned to let it happen again."
The cyclic themes between familiar roles are pronounced on the title track as well. Keener asks "How can a boy know how to love if we don't take him by the hand?" There is too much said about the culture of toxic masculinity, which is often defined by a man's callous aloofness to reveal any gestures that may be interpreted as weakness. Keener asks the listener to look at this differently by singing, "How could a man show me how to love if he never knew where to begin?"
In "Bright Lights," Keener sings about traveling through a freeway where each passing light is a "life we pass." Likewise, the sounds and lyrics in all the songs on the EP are passing lights that "build but then they pass."
The Keener Family as a whole, create an intimacy that is emotionally cathartic on Tender Beast. The intensity of songs swell and ebb effortlessly. There are only six songs on Tender Beast with a total running time of around 26 minutes. Yet, each song carries the weight of an epic poem.
-Douglas James
Dead Lucid
Desolation EP
Dead Lucid
Dead Lucid takes us on a psychedelic road trip pulling together fury and beauty with their latest effort, Desolation. If you liked their 2016 EP, aptly named EP, then you will be happily surprised they’ve kept that garage-psych sound going with a post-industrial backdrop to singer/guitarist Jon Grammer’s cavernous voice.
Album-opener and single, “Head” plays to the gritty, ‘70s Proto-punkrocker with driving guitar and distorted vox. “Rain” and “Ambrosia'' both showcase their moodier intentions on the EP with “Rain” bringing in doom metal-esque riffs. This five-track set is a glimpse into Dead Lucid’s capabilities that would make any concert-goer want to buy tickets for their next show. I can only imagine how powerful this three-piece sounds on stage.
Dead Lucid is playing BernieFest 2020 on February 23rd at the Auxiliary Art Center. Tix are $10.
The Band Royale
The Band Royale
Stylus Collective
The Band Royale has been steadily dropping albums almost yearly since 2015, beginning with their freshmen foray into huge metal riffs “... As Long As The Money Lasted.” There’s no doubt Joel Bauman’s dripping wet, sexy voice is a cornerstone of The Band Royale’s sound. His timing and delivery create an instrument of his own which mimics the band’s musical gifts.
With their latest self-titled record, they didn’t stray much from the formula that has made them a success over the years. “Stranger Things” adds vocal depth behind The Band Royale’s signature slamming riffs and driving drums. They do have a more subtle, yet polished sound.
For seasoned fans, songs like, “Under Control” might supply that comfort-food feeling like the very first time you heard “Inland Sea.” For anyone new to The Band Royale, you’ll get what the rest of us get: metal mixed with hot sex. That said, if the Godfathers of Chicago Yacht Metal keep this up, they’ll be reaping the fruits of their labor for years to come.
Dan Deacon
Mystic Familiar
Domino Recording
Mystic Familiar opens with a track that is a masterful attention grabber. "Become a Mountain" starts with the piano urging us into a happy forward momentum with glistening arpeggios layering over and over, on top. The vocals are husky and whispered, but bare. Natural timbre. The first hint of the electronic is a harmonized vocal effect that sings, "all of time, is right here, is right now." It morphs and fans out around Deacon's voice. The pure piano sound becomes all-the-more grounding when contrasted by the ethereal vocals. When a symphonic arrangement breaks out, it feels like a culmination of an album. A truly breath-taking first track.
So how could Deacon follow that? With the bagpipe-like dirge of "Hypnogogic," bringing us back to simplicity before taking off into an electronic wonderland of tracks. You get my other favorite, "Sat By a Tree." Such crunchy goodness! It recalls Deacon’s earlier work and really gets me moving. It's worth letting the album spin on. The four tracks, "Arp I…" to "Arp IV…" work together to make a long-form electronic composition. Each of the songs develop in movements more familiar to the symphonic arena of music than pop, unfurling and doubling back to floats by like a dream. A refreshingly modern take on that old school musical tradition. A sense of wisdom comes from an artist who can bring elements of music and personal past into an album that is so clearly looking to the future.
Deacon is bringing the craziness April 2nd at the Metro Tix are $19.
Beach Slang
The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City
Bridge 9
Let me start off by saying that I have been a big fan of Beach Slang since their 2015 debut, The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us. I was completely blown away by that album and fell in love with their raw punk energy and uncanny ability to write great pop hooks. James Alex and co. exuded so much passion that it didn’t really matter if they wore their influences on their sleeves (The Replacements, early ‘90s Goo Goo Dolls, Jawbreaker) a bit too much. I can’t think of a single bad track on that album and I credit The Things We Do…, alongside Japandroids Celebration Rock, for keeping loud, anthemic rock alive in the ‘10s.
Unfortunately, it appears that Beach Slang are struggling with diminishing returns. Their sophomore album, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings, was good but not quite great. The songs simply did not pack the same punch as their debut and were ultimately less memorable. The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City sadly continues the band’s trajectory toward mediocrity for many of the same reasons why A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings didn’t quite measure up. The passion just isn’t there. A majority of these songs feel uninspired and forced- akin to pulling an all-nighter to write a paper that is due the next day.
The overall sound of The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City appears to be contradictory as well. About half of the album resembles ‘80s butt rock and hair metal. Hell, the riffs on “Stiff” sound like they should have been on a Kiss song and James Alex’s vocals ever so slightly emulate Gene Simmons. Ditto for “Born to Raise Hell,” and “Tommy in the ‘80s” sounds like a cheesy Bryan Adams song. This is definitely a far cry from the punk and alternative rock of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s they were originally inspired by.
Fortunately, this album isn’t all bad. “Let it Ride” is a solid pop-punk tune that nearly recaptures the energy of their debut, and I found myself bobbing my head to “Bam Rang Rang” even though it sounds a bit too much like a rewrite of “Atom Bomb.” “Nobody Say Nothing” isn’t a bad acoustic ballad, and The Replacements worship is back in full force on “Kicking Over Bottles.” While I don’t see myself revisiting this album anytime soon, there are enough bright spots amidst the drivel that I am not ready to write off Beach Slang just yet. If they happen to be reading this, I just want to remind them that they put out one of my favorite albums of the past decade and that they are capable of so much more.
-Eric Wiersema
Catch Beach Slang at The Cobra Lounge Friday, April 10th! Tix are $18.
Anti-Flag
20/20 Vision
Spinefarm
The Pittsburgh punk veterans return with their 12th album. Anti-Flag are now over 30 years into their career and have rightfully earned their place among the elder statesmen of skate punk alongside legends like Bad Religion and NOFX. Justin Sane and co have consistently delivered high-energy punk tunes railing against corporate greed, corrupt politicians, bigotry, war, and countless other societal ills. This has been both the band’s greatest strength and greatest downfall.
Anti-Flag have continued to fight the good fight against the proverbial system and have inspired many other young punk bands and fans to follow suit. They have done excellent work, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. That being said, this 2020 punk album could have just as easily been released in 1996, the year Die For Your Government came out. While every lifelong punk, (myself included), is all about fighting the power and rallying against corporate greed, the message has become a bit cliche, so bands like Anti-Flag run the risk of essentially releasing the same album every 2-3 years.
While 20/20 Vision is far from the most original politically-charged album, it still demonstrates that Anti-Flag are reliable punk workhorses skilled at their craft. Opener “Hate Conquers All” is an especially kickass track that harkens back to their raw ‘90s sound that is sure to get your blood pumping! “Christian Nationalist” is a fun, pop/punk tune that takes a predictable jab at Vice President Mike Pence. “A Nation Sleeps” is another great 2-minute blast of hardcore that rails against the daily grind, “We are cultured/Commute work/Commute sleep.” However, the highlight on 20/20 Vision, “Un-American,” is an acoustic folk-punk track lamenting the death of the American Dream.
20/20 Vision is essentially what you would expect from an Anti-Flag album; it likely won’t win them any new fans, but it doesn’t really need to. 20/20 Vision is guaranteed to satisfy their loyal core fanbase of old-school punks who stuck with them from the beginning. While Neoliberalism continues to destroy our country, let’s all listen to Anti-Flag a bit more closely this time and get organized!
-Eric Wiersema
Anti-Flag are hitting Cobra Lounge on May 7th. Tix are $20.