Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
Recent: |
|
Past: |
|
There may be no crushing drums, full-stack electric guitars, or guttural screaming, but Steve Von Till's solo material is still epic. → Read More
Chicago punk trio Meat Wave celebrate their new EP with a concert at the Empty Bottle on Saturday, September 25. → Read More
The drum-machine driven duo The Austerity Program and the darkwave project Fotocrime meet up on September 5 at the Empty Bottle. → Read More
Full disclosure: Mike Lust has recorded a handful of records I’ve played on. I also played in a band with him for a while. → Read More
Nashville metal trio Yautja are a great example of how the old adage “less is more” doesn’t always apply. For ten years now, these three dudes—whose band name is also the species name of the fictional extraterrestrial hunters in the Predator franchise—have been throwing everything into their maximalist music, and getting better and better results. → Read More
It’s been almost eight years since we’ve heard new music from local weirdos Paper Mice, but their brand-new 1-800-MONDAYS (Three One G) was worth the... → Read More
Quebec trio Big|Brave have always been great at drawing things out. Most of their songs pass the ten-minute mark, and they’ve made a hallmark of deftly adding heady layers of emotion to minimal, glacial drone rock. → Read More
Twenty years after the release of their self-titled debut LP, freaky supergroup Tomahawk have returned with their fifth and best album yet, Tonic Immobility. Formed... → Read More
Terence Hannum is perhaps best known as the keyboardist and vocalist of prolific Chicago-born experimental metal trio Locrian, who blend dense, crushing drones and harsh, sweeping black metal to stir up some serious dark energy. But Hannum is also an accomplished visual artist, writer, and solo musician. → Read More
When I first heard Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods, Jason Williamson’s unhinged vocal delivery immediately captured my attention. Their minimalist music—which is simply Williamson ranting about working-class struggles over Andrew Fern’s sparse, chintzy electronic beats—could appeal to anarcho-punks, hip-hop heads, and Mark E. Smith devotees alike. → Read More
Over the past dozen years, White Suns have created a perfect marriage of folding-table harsh noise and streamlined punk, and the New York trio’s latest... → Read More
On their self-titled debut full-length in 2018, Austin’s Exhalants sounded oddly like a Chicago band. Austin noise-rock has a very specific feel: whether we’re talking... → Read More
I’ve spent a lot of Reader ink gushing about Uniform and the previous projects of their members. With the release of their new fourth full-length, Shame, the band’s sonic assault continues—and so does my adoration. → Read More
Before I first press play on an “aging punks still at it” record, I try to prepare myself for the worst. Whether the band in... → Read More
Well, look at that. The world is ending. Suddenly we’re all cooped up, we can’t see friends or loved ones, we can’t go out for... → Read More
Chicago four-piece Melkbelly are best known for playing what you might call noise pop. Though they employ guitarists with a knack for wiry, minor-key interplay, a drummer who pays homage to Brian Chippendale, and a singer who can flip the switch in an instant from sweet Kim Deal croons to blood-curdling screams, they also inject their songs with as much undeniable melody as harsh dissonance. → Read More
The Facs formula has always been stark minimalism. On their first two albums, the Chicago trio—currently drummer Noah Leger, guitarist-singer Brian Case, and bassist Alianna Kalaba—built every track on tense rhythms, simple bass throbs, barely-there guitar plinking, and direct spoken-word vocals. → Read More
Today’s biggest pop-country stars take lyrical tropes from 80s and 90s hits—drinking cold beer, driving trucks, praying, partying, feeling heartbreak—and bulk them up with hip-hop... → Read More
Apparently it pays to be yourself, who knew? → Read More
With this summer’s Bigger Than Life (Sacred Bones), Black Marble has finally given in and made a pop record. Born in Brooklyn and now based in Los Angeles, this darkwave act began in 2012 as the bleak, gothy duo of Chris Stewart and Ty Kube, but by 2016, when Stewart moved west and released Black Marble’s second album, It’s Immaterial, it had become his solo project. → Read More