Pickle the Kitten passed away last Thursday, December 5. I was with her through the very end and she left this plane peacefully, surrounded by my and Nora's love. Losing my steadfast companion of the last 18+ years has been incredibly painful, but it's also meant the last couple days have been absolutely filled with favorite memories of my time with her. And somewhere out there I can't help but feel she's found her furry family from over the years and is running around with Betty the Beagle, Lucy the Dog, Chloe the Cat, and Sasha Cat.
It's Friday. And, forgive me, that means it's also Fri-YAY! And whilst things may seem dark right now—I mean, it is the start of winter and the skies have been largely grey and gloomy—I think Neal Francis may just have the antidote to any blahs (or arghs) you're feeling today.
"Back It Up" is a slinky funk stroll that seems perfectly suited for a good ol' fashioned summer strut, hence it's lovely jam to help melt your woes. For at least the next four-and-a-half minutes or so.
Some days I'm just going to have to sit here and type until something comes to me. I have felt the growing urge to return to daily posting, but often feel like there is such a logjam of thoughts in my brain I often have no clue where to start! So today, let's just—HEY! I got it. News! NEWS!
News advice.
On election night I watched television news for the first time in eons, and was shocked at how ... terrible it is. And it was then that I realized that while I take in my news primarily in written form from a variety of sources, most folks get their news from network TV, 24-hour TV news, or long-talk format podcasts. And that is ... not great news for any of us.
Pull the plug and get out your reading glasses. And broaden your purview. It might not give you the most reassuring view of the world, but it will give you a far more accurate read of things. And you'll start to see the rhythms and repetitions and dissmeninate between turbulence and actual events.
My other word of advice is to not get pulled up into the current chaos most news outlets are currently obsessed with. In my humble opinion, we need to stop taking sides now since I predict by this time next year we will all be in the same boat, regardless of your political beliefs and affiliations.
Wow, I still remember when early Pinhead Gunpowder stuff was coming out, and how wild it felt to have the guy from Green Day in another punk band that sounded like an even punkier version of Green Day. So if you dig the catchy melodies, but don't like the production sheen of "Major Label Punk" then Pinhead Gunpowder definitely scratches that itch.
It seems the band released a new full-length album last month—their first full-length album since 1997—with little fanfare (that I saw) so I was pleasantly surprised to see the band was still active.
Enjoy UNT, may it rile you up and send you into the weekend with a surplus of energy.
I've told you about The DIFF before. Repeatedly. And while they released their long-awaited "lost" album on vinyl last year ... it was only available via vinyl. Meaning only the dedicated few fans got a chance to delve into the disc.
I'll note you can still get the vinyl version of the album, complete with cool additions like a band patch and pin and a fanzine. If you dig the digital tunes, you will love the vinyl format for this one.
In my 30+ years of working in music, there have only been two shows I really wanted to see that I simply couldn't gain access to.* This isn't a humblebrag, it's a simple fact. I've been around so long that getting access to shows was never a huge concern if I really wanted to see the show.
But there were always two shows hanging over my head that showed the limits of my access! One was Miley Cyrus and The Flaming Lips at The Riv in 2015 on their brief tour as a collaborative unit. But I've seen both The Lips and Cyrus live, so it was more the moment than anyone's live prowess that I missed. So it felt like less of a void, to be honest.
But the other was Kylie Minogue at UIC in 2009. Longtime readers will know what a huge Kylie fan I am—like, MASSIVE. But she tours the U.S. so infrequently I had given up hope I'd even see her live after not getting into that show. I even considered going to her Vegas residency!
But next year, I will finally see Kylie! EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!
Quite honestly, despite my live show attendance slowing to a relative trickle, I've been filling it with amazing concerts and feel like I'm an incredibly lucky boy right now.*
*Jeez, that really makes me sound old, doesn't it? Also, to be clear, by "access" I mean either being able to procure tickets or get on the guest list. But I have always been willing to pay for tickets to high profile, sold-out shows. Didn't want to give the wrong impression there.
**As an aside, if you'd asked me three years ago if I'd soon be seeing shows headlined by Blur, Pulp, and Oasis I would've laughed and called you cruel. And Kylie too? I would've probably turned bright red and scrunched up my face real good, thinking you were really yanking my leg. Now? Now I just consider myself incredibly lucky.
I have a draft of a really long post on a similar topic, but it keeps sitting there and staring at me as I ponder whether I reveal too much of myself in it. So, consider this a stop-gap effort to at least describe how I’m changing my process when it comes to listening to music.
In the past, I have listened to any album sent to me, always open to a new discovery, while simultaneously actively tracking down other new music I hear about to keep abreast of everything that’s happening.
This made sense when I was out and about multiple nights a week to take in shows and had a daily responsibility to find interesting things to write about for a mainstream audience. I no longer have that responsibility, and I have grown somewhat concerned about what my approach to ingesting music has done to me internally. I am always trying to catch up, rarely have time to listen new releases more than 2 or 3 times if I am in love with them, and I almost never get to listen to older albums, no matter how much they mean to me.
On top of this, since 2017 I have gone through a litany of life-events that I feel changed me so much that even some of my old faves no longer resonate, and I often find myself looking to listen to something reassuringly familiar, and then get lost in 30 minutes of trying to decide which comfort-food album will take up precious time I could’ve spent listening to “new” bands. It’s like trying a find a movie on a streaming service and being frozen by too many options and too little time. It's the opposite of rejuvenating or relaxing.
And, quite honestly, I no longer feel there’s as much interest in music writing like mine these days. Yes, I think it’s still valuable and yes, I believe there is a core group of folks who still actively seek out music beyond passive delivery via algorithms … but that group grows smaller and smaller.
So, I am pulling back and trying to make a concerted effort to adjust my music consumption. I am intentionally culling albums from my potential listening queue before they even make it to ye olde tankPHONE for listening. And I am trying to grow less concerned “I’m losing touch” just because I don’t listen to every single thing that comes my way.
Since my written output has grown more scarce—meaning all my opinions and thoughts just bounce around my head like an ever increasingly cacophonous echo chamber—it doesn’t seem prudent to keep cramming my head with new music at the same rate I have for decades and decades.
And I now realize this “stop-gap” post managed to be almost as long as the post I’ve been sitting on…so we’ll see how this goes.
I'm pretty excited for the shows, eager to see what the boys in the band have cooked up, and I am anticipating seeing LOTS of faces I haven't seen in years (and some, in decades(!!)).
But I also confess two shows in two nights is gonna be a lot for me. Especially when you factor in a third show on Sunday to see Pulp. Which is kinda hilarious if you've known me a long time, but also just the current state of things with me, and I am O.K. with that!
Y’know, the cats in The DIFF are looking awfully sprightly for a band whose debut album was recorded in 1979. This video was filmed last year at their album release show (I was there!) and lemme tell you, jaws DROPPED when that 8-Bit Girl showed up.
Weird to think that following the Republican convention in Milwaukee I had little hope for the political future of the U.S.A. Then, a month ago we were on vacation and had just learned Biden was dropping out and Harris was his hoped-for replacement. Then, two weeks ago, we all lost it in the greatest possible fashion as Kamala Harris announced her pick for Vice President.
And this week I find myself more hopeful for the future of my country than I thought was even possible at this stage of the game!
While I could do with a break from living in constantly "unprecedented times," at least this time the emotion this unprecedented time is filling me with is hope, instead of anxiety and despair. I'll take it!
Also, given how the last month has gone, I would argue we could all really benefit from an extremely truncated election season. Think of the difference it would make if most of our elected representatives could focus on doing their job instead of constantly campaigning to keep it!
How have I never, ever seen this amazing bit from the BBC of David Bowie discussing his alcoholism?! I think I would have found it really inspiring back in my darker days.
[If, for some reason it doesn't start there, fast-forward to about 4:54 in the interview for the content I'm talking about.]
What timing! I was literally listening to ht new album from musical duo The Cle Elum yesterday, and as a track titled "Old Folks" came on I started laugh-crying; the lyrics were playful and smart but also wickedly self-deprecating and rather spot-on.* I actually searched for a stream of that song yesterday—I was so impressed by it I wanted to share it immediately—but it was not yet available. Fast-forward a few hours to this morning and BLAMMO, there was an email in my inbox announcing the debut of The Cle Elum's video for said song.
More on this album to come from me on Third Coast Review closer to its release date, but I couldn't wait to potentially turn a few of you onto this tune. Enjoy!
*Inside baseball tidbit? Often when you get promos of new albums, the tracks still have the names from the mastering process, or from when there were different mixes still under consideration. So I think it's worth noting that in those files, the working title for "Old Folks" was "Old Fucks." Both titles perfectly capture the sentiment of the song.
Last weekend I turned another year older, and it was one of the best birthdays I've had in a very long time. It's not that prior birthdays were letdowns, but I think I've finally adjusted to accept my new interests, let go of some of my old hang-ups, and most importantly, I'm in my first real long-term adult relationship since I quit drinking in 2019. More precisely, it's my first long-term adult relationship where drinking never entered the picture. It would take me far more than the couple hundred words I intended to write today to go into what a profound difference that last point makes.
So, it was a wonderful day of food from my favorite places, new outdoor adventures, spending time with the person I love, and amazing gifts (the kind you didn't know you wanted until you open them up and realize how perfectly the other person "gets" you). It wasn't a day of wild events, but it was a day that wildly surpassed my previous expectations. I mean, who woulda thunk a few years ago my happy place today would be filled with plants and animals and not stage lights and rock and/or roll animals? But that's who I am now. And you know what? I dig it!
Last April, I was catching a friend’s band play an early set at Montrose Saloon, and the second band on the bill, Bur, blew me away with their energy. Bur’s set was short and sweet, but it left me wanting more. Exactly the sort of thing every music fan hopes for! And on a weeknight in an early slot? Double score!
As far as I can tell from the limited info they have online, Bur has been active in fits and starts since at least 2016 but seem to have hit a new groove since 2022, releasing material at a more regular pace. Last year’s No Brainer EP was a turning point (to my ears), locking more into the live sound I saw from the band at Montrose that night. And the group just released another live EP, Hey Now (Live On WZRD 88.3 FM), that its almost exact mirror of the set I saw!
The band's sound is aggressively tuneful, built on chords and guitar runs that feel like the group is always experiencing them for the first time, filling their delivery with an honest spur-of-the-moment energy that I find incredibly hard to resist. Give me a band that can sound loose while still charging forward with reckless precision, and I am hooked. On their hooks! So, I guess I'm now hooked on Bur.
Keep an eye out for Bur and catch them live whenever you can. But until then, digging backwards through their catalog has provided me a fair amount of pleasure over the last few months, and if you do the same, I expect you'll have a similar experience.
Funny. I used to be up in the early morning hours writing at my computer as soon as I woke up. These days I can’t seem to find that drive any more. And due to that, once I am ready to start writing I usually have a huge clog of thoughts that I don’t feel I can unravel quickly enough, with now festooned by years of detritus building up and adding complication to what were once simpler exercises.
I am trying to reconcile my newer world of trying to live in the moment, appreciate the unexpected, and delight in all the overlooked beauty in the world around me. I've always have a wide canvassing view of things and experiences, but in the years since I quit drinking, that world has grown even larger, leading me to discover countless moments of little wonder throughout my days. Sometimes it seems simpler, and other times it is unimaginably more complicated than my prior existence.
But I'm still adapting. Getting used to it. And growing.
I'm glad you're still around to grow along with me.
Continuing the recent trend of legendary Chicago groups getting back into the action, Fig Dish has announced the release of a bunch of material that's been languishing in the Million Yen vaults, and will be playing a show in September to celebrate that "new" LP!
After a looooooong hiatus Panther Style returns with their first new music since 2011's ¡Emergencia!. (Curious about what I thought of that album at the time? Be curious no more!) Continuing the tradition of long-running bands resurfacing older recordings that tragically never saw a release and cleaning them up for a new era, the Dynasty E.P. is a nice split of both old and new. The first two songs include the title track, a roaring banger of a tune, and rip-roaring cover of The Cult's "Love Removal Machine." Anchoring the EP are two new remixes of songs off ¡Emergencia! that beefs up the volume while clarifying the melodies underneath previously made more obscure in thicker walls of noice.
A few quick suggestions for this Bandcamp Friday! I had something different in mind, but some tech glitches are getting worked out ... hence a quick 'n dirty post here, just to get the word out!
Extra Arms is lead by Ryan Allen, but after hearing him on so many solo releases and side projects, this LP is clearly a group effort. Allen's impeccable pop smarts (and sharp lyrics) are a constant in all his work, but his compatriots in Extra Arms help add just a teensy extra oomph and clarity to his tunes. You literally can't go wrong choosing any project Allen is associated with, but RADAR is an excellent place to start if you're still unfamiliar with his work. For everyone else? You're gonna really enjoy this.
After seeing them play live at Lolla a few years ago, I fell in love with The Lemon Twigs. I'd heard their recordings earlier, but had unwisely written them off as paying homage to a past period of sound with little more to offer. But once I saw them live it was clear that the sibling duo at the core of the group are honest to gawd rock stars, living and breathing the music, with a stage show that left me gasping at the effort they were expending during an all too short set. Their last album—released last year—ventured more into the realms of sounds familiar to Laurel Canyon and softened their approach. But they return to some harder rocking tunes on A Dream Is All We Know, tempering it with a light psychedelic sixties approach, amped up by their ever-growing expertise keeping their tunes fresh while adding studio clarity that doesn't eat away at the energy in the music. It's a fun ride!
S. Raekwon's Steven features terrific vocals, an amazing live in the room feel, and while it's hard to pin down a single genre to describe the musical approach, I'd call it "singer/songwriter with a '70s R&B production mind, but not really R&B?" A really arresting listen though. Immersive, warm, and human. Give it a chance.
Despite attending around a bajillion festivals over the last couple decades, I’ve largely avoided livestreams of fests in progress. I know lots of friends prefer to enjoy Lollapalooza from the comfort of their couch, and given how their booking has devolved over the years it makes total sense to me that most people would want to tune in for the one or two acts that interest them instead of spending 4 sweltering days amongst adults who think spring break happens in the middle of the summer.
Is that too mean? These days, I don’t think so.
In fact, the festival scene is so glutted these days that I’m not certain why most fans of actual music would want to go … and I am someone who has greatly enjoyed a large portion of the fest I’ve attended! But the years have not been kind to the talent pool the majority of festivals have to pick from, so we now get a couple headliners you might be interested in (if you’re lucky) , supporterd by an undercard of acts who are either mostly unknown for good reason, or are currently enjoying a visibility bump via TikTok virality.
Again, I’m trying to be realistic, so I apologize if you’re reading even that as “mean.” But it does help explain how I found myself watching the Coachella livestream over the last 2 weeks, and discovered that those things are actually useful nowadays! My partner is a Coachella fan, having attended the festival for a few years with largely positive memories. I probably would have tuned in for the Blur sets no matter what, but I found myself watching (and enjoying) a few other acts via the livestream as we watched together.
For someone like me, it’s relatively easy to see a stage (even via video), scan the overall set-up, crowd, entrances and exits, estimate the environment, and create the “feel” of the total live situation in my head. So I’m not just watching video, I can imagine I’m there. (And in this case any questions I had about the set-up were swiftly answered by my partner's own experiences there.) As we flipped between sets it is true that many of them seemed pretty basic and boring. (You can dress up a stage all you want, but if the talent isn’t bringing it to the performance, that stage is only going to impress the people waaaaaaay back in the crowd.) But I did enjoy more sets than I expected, so I take that as a win!
So, here are a few random observations arrived at via the Coachella livestream over the last couple weeks...
The Last Dinner Party
I’ve heard so much about this band but was turned off by an album that felt a little flat, depending on its production to amp up melodrama instead of letting the songs themselves do that heavy lifting. But live? HOLY HELL! These cats can bring it, and yes, I now get it. They're fantastic now! They've clearly developed into a raucous and mesmerizing live act after getting some touring under their collective belt. And their drummer makes a HUGE difference to their live sound. It was a good reminder that sometimes when you can’t figure out why a band’s getting tons of buzz, you should keep space in your head to be swayed.
Blur
If you didn’t watch Blur’s week 1 set, and only read the frantic news coverage of about 45 seconds of the set where Damon Albarn discovered that perhaps U.S. audiences aren’t as familiar with “Girls And Boys” as he thought, you missed the bigger story. Blur has been playing a variation of their “greatest hits” set for well over a decade now, so it was a surprise to see set heavy on the guitars and devoid of most “hits.” Even I was thrown at first. But the band booked the gig after they decided to go on hiatus again—given their history, I think it’s silly to say they are truly breaking up .. .again—and my best guess is they either decided to play a set that made them happy or they thought something more BIG NOIZE guitar-centric would appeal to a U.S. Coachella audience more familiar with Gorillas than that “woo hoo” band.
The fact they doubled down, played the exact same set for week 2, and really threw themselves into it leads me to hope it was the set they really wanted to play, especially if they don’t get to play together again (for many years).
Tyler, The Creator
My experience goes far back to the early days of he Odd Future crew exploding onto the scene, but I haven’t seen any of ‘em live for a really long time, so I was curious to see how Tyler had evolved. And this was one set where the stage set-up AND performer were up to the task. The intro film was hilarious, and seeing Tyler explode out of the side of a trailer to start the set was amusing. I confess I didn’t stick through the whole performance, but I enjoyed what I saw.
Honestly? I really dug their coordinated Parisian Jetsons disco look.
Lana Del Rey
Another one where the stage was really cool! And since I find Del Rey’s music to be largely a snooze, I did really appreciate how much theatricality she put into her week 2 set. I do understand it’s her lyrics that are the main draw when it comes to her fans, but I have a hard time appreciating fine lyrics in a musical package I find mostly underwhelming. So that’s on me.
Bleachers
I like Bleachers, and have for a long time. And I like Jack Antanoff, despite the constantly shifting perceptions by the critical community over his production style. But this set was so similar in feel to the one he played at Riot Fest two years ago I was a little let down.
Gesaffelstein
I dug the dark beats and I really dug the silver mask/helmet they had going on. Definitely a groovy DJ set I enjoyed dipping in and out of. That said, am I the only one who thought he stole bits of the 1978 Superman Fortress of Solitude for stage dressing?
Clown Core
My partner made me watch them. She was greatly amused by their antics. But I have seen this kind of act SO many times over the years. In fact, are we sure these two aren’t also Lightning Bolt?!
Raye
Hey! It’s nice to see the label will spring for 20+ musicians to accompany her old-school jazzy pop!
Grimes
Whatever technical problems happened during week 1 were taken care of by week 2, and Grimes also had an incredibly funny, self-deprecating intro video to kick off her set, which was less a proper DJ set and more a performance with her doing live segues between preselected, prerecorded mixes of tracks. This is not a negative statement or criticism. In this, she is no different than the vast majority of people DJing shorter festival sets, but I give her credit for at least trying to be entertaining instead of pretending like she was "live mixing" in real time throughout the whole set. But it did look like it would've been a fun set to dance to in the crowd!
More to come, but I do finally understand why people travel all over the planet to see a totality when it comes to eclipse-viewing. It's just so ... different than I ever expected (or could have ever anticipated)!
Ne'er-do-well came across my radar as the one-man band of Bryan Rolli, displaying stunning talent and a masterful control of genre. Their debut was easily one of my favorite releases of 2022. Since then, Rolli has expanded Ne'er-do-well into a full band, now including guitarist Israel Doria, bassist Kyle Russell, and drummer Danny Farrington.
I've watched from a distance after the expansion of members as they've shared clips of their live shows in the Austin, TX area—serving to just increase my own appetite to see the band live at some point, should they ever venture farther north—and have enjoyed seeing the solo compositions take new shape under the influence of multiple musicians. And since then I've been patiently eagerly awaiting news of any new recordings.
Today the wait ends, as the band has released a video for the first song written and recorded as a group!
If I was worried the music would lose any of the magic created by Rolli's solo recordings, this song lays those fears to rest.* It's a raucous blend of (and I'm talking core components here) '80s metal licks mixed with sing-along hooks and choruses, driven by a health blast of that ol' punk rawk energy.
I'm also guessing once you hear it, chances are good you'll want to play the song on repeat, as you too eagerly await the next Ne'er-do-well release. So you can grab the track below, and since today is band camp Friday, every cent of the dough you spend goes to the band. Everyone wins!
*I said, "if." I wasn't actually worried. But sometimes you talk through hypotheticals to help anyone who might share a different mindset to walk along the path you're suggesting. Y'know?
DJ On in the one-man-band Non La, and their new album Like Before will be a direct hit for those whose hearts are targets for clear hooks bursting forth from its fuzzy bedroom production style. The lyrics are based in relationship-land and the difficulties oof traversing that terrain during new adventures in that realm.
But it's the sound that reeled me in first. On's songwriting is of the style that sounds simple, but that's only becasue the tunes are carefully constructed for maximum impact. The straightforward approach and ability to pop back and forth between tender moments of the low-key sort with big ol' waves of distortion that, when deployed, drop like a series of glorious guitar sledgehammers is a really satisfying listen.
Like Before is out today, so give it a spin below, and pick up an LP or cassette if it burrows under your skin like if has mine. If you dig lo-fi guitar pop that reaches for both the rafters and the heart, I think you're gonna enjoy this a lot.
So dig in and take a healthy bite as you consume her new EP below. I tick you'll find it quite filling and devoid of the empty calories that can plague some pop.
And if you do, I promise I'll stop making food metaphors if we ever talk about this EP in person.
Hopefully you will forgive my in-camera editing in real time as I shot this, but now you can stand where I stood last July and enjoy an explosive rendition of a classic track!
I am smiling widely yet again after watching this for the umpteenth time.
No I'm not in hibernation, and there are reasons for it being relatively quiet around these parts. However, I couldn't let last Sunday's Oscar. performance for Best Song candidate "I'm Just Ken," go by without marking it here. Why? Because I have a strong feeling that performance will become a permanent part of "best of" Oscar montages for the next 75 years, at least.
I mean, just watch it above. It's glorious!
And while I personally wanted "I'm Just Ken" to win for being so fun, I think the Billie Eilish number "What Was I Made For?" was the correct choice to take home the statue. While the Gosling performance will become a part of Oscars history, I think Eilish's song is on a fast path to becoming a permanent standard in the great American songbook.
Sixteen years after I saw him play Hideout, I finally got a chance to see Jon Brion perform Tuesday night at Empty Bottle. I considered myself lucky, since Brion never comes to the Midwest, and I felt like I was going into last night as a seasoned pro…until Nora pointed out she’s seen him over THREE DOZEN TIMES! I have rarely been so jealous of my own girlfriend, but if I could see him play weekly at Largo, I would’ve made it a regular occurrence too!
The Bottle show was 2+ hours of musical joy, and one of the very few times I not only stood in line ahead of doors opening, but stood right in front of the stage like a fanboy. In retrospect, it was a little distracting to be standing inches away from Brion at almost eye level.
Since I’m no longer out covering music 5–7 days a week, seeing two weekday shows is a rarity for me these days, and two consecutive shows by the same artist is nigh unheard of, but when Jon Brion makes a rare trip to Chicago, you DO NOT MISS IT. So last night we trekked to The Salt Shed for a showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind preceded by a shorter performance from the trio, and followed by a Q&A with Brion. I feel incredibly lucky—and slightly indulgent—to have enjoyed not only hours of live music from Brion—backed by / collaborating with Jay Bellerose and Jennifer Condos—AND a relatively wide-ranging Q&A I found largely illuminating.*
During the Q&A last night I did get to ask him to clarify when he was coming back to town, since at The Bottle he had hinted it would be soon. Sounds like while nothing is set at this time, he does seem interested in doing more shows outside L.A. in the near future. So, as with everything Brion, we’ll just have to wait and see if the stars align.
UPDATED 2/15: Whoa! It appears someone recorded Tuesday night's full set! Listen to the whole thing below.
*After their set last night, I saw Bellerose as he was leaving and ran up to him excitedly jabbering about how much I loved his drumming, and then I saw Condos and could only seem to form enough words to say “your bass work is amazing,” probably sounding like a fool to both. Then again, shoving my foot in my mouth around people I respect is pretty par for the course, so...
My history with Jesus Jones extends all the way back to the late '80s when the cover of the Liquidizer cassette caught my eye at a Sound Warehouse. A minute or two at the listening station convinced me I'd finally found something I'd longed for—a heavy rock band that was just as equally heavy a dance band, while retaining melody instead of turning down the more Industrial routes growing more and more popular at the time.
I first saw the band in 1991 when I was reviewing their openers Ned's Atomic Dustbin both as a fan of that band and as an excuse to see the band I really loved headline. That era of the band's sound is probably my personal favorite, and last year I eagerly picked up a limited-edition LP of a 1990 show at The Metro—I literally waited for this full show to be released for years, always hoping that the smattering of live b-sides tracks recorded then might be released as a complete concert.*
Earlier this week Jesus Jones dropped a live recording from the tour that followed, from a show the band seems to unanimously agree (art least as far as I can see) that the show from the Trocadero in San Francisco stands as one of the group's favorite live experiences ever. After buying it and giving it a listen, I cans why they would. Give it a spin blow and consider adding it to your permanent collection if you dig it too. It is an older recording, and while I believe the Metro show benefitted from a proper recording rig—I thought this was recorded by WXRT's mobile unit, but can't find confirmation of that, so maybe my brain is faulty—this recording exhibits some of the hiss and slight muddiness of the time. But it sounds like "home" to my ears.
No, it's not a typo: this is my 2022 list. I think this is the last time I’ll have to say “it’s never taken me this long to put together a year-end music list” … for real! But here you go, my best of 2022 list is finally here!
One interesting aspect of putting this particular list together was that my memory had 2022 as a slighter year for music, but once I rounded up the finalists, there were so many it took me several hours to cut this list down to the usual 20 slots.
It’s also interesting to evaluate 2022 listening at the dawn of 2024, since I have a much better handle on what actually made a lasting impression, effectively balancing out the recency bias and communal peer pressure most lists released before the end of the year they’re tracking routinely display.
There’re a few acts I was sure would be on here in 2022 that didn’t make the cut (sorry, Wet Leg) and some of those truly surprised me (I mean, The Smile released the Radiohead album many of us had been waiting for, and they're not on the list either). I also noticed there’s a lot of guitar-based stuff on here. Historically my lists are a bit more varied in that respect. Obviously, the endlessly recurring reports of rock’s demise continue to be more histrionic than historic. But I also think that the poppier spheres of the musical world never quite regained the forward momentum of the pre-pandemic years, so less from that realm made a lasting impression. But music is cyclical, and last year saw some more interesting pop releases, so let's hope that continues; but in 2022, it looks like it was rock and/or roll (mostly) saving my soul, y’know?
As always, this list is in no real particular oder (save one album) and since so much time has passed, I'm keeping the write-ups brief. But if any of this looks intriguing, please give the acts a listen ... I think any one of these albums would be a terrific addition to just about any collection.
Ne'er-do-well
Fun Days
This was the biggest surprise of 2022 for me, and remains a release I listen to frequently. As I mentioned in another recent review, I usually have one album at the top of my mental rolodex to answer the endless queries of "what's good? / what should I listen to?" and Ne'er-do-well's Fun Days was my go-to answer in 2022. These days? I'm eagerly awaiting their sophomore album and hoping that eventually they break out of the Austin scene to play a show closer to Chicago.
Tamar Berk
start at the end
The Inflorescence
Remember What I Look Like
My year-end lists historically top out at 20 releases, so to "technically" stay within those self-imposed boundaries, I've grouped a few acts together. If you somehow haven't read anything I've written about Tamar Berk, her album start at the end is an excellent place begin sampling her perfectly crafted pieces of guitar-driven pop. The Inflorescence also traffic in catchy guitar tunes, with the clear stamp of catchy '90s indie rock. Some say it's the sound that's (thankfully) sweeping the nation! And anyone who gravitated towards Matador releases in the early '90s hears a whole lotta that label's DNA in a striking swathe of similarly-minded contemporary groups. Why am I grouping these two acts together? They also share DNA—Berk is mom to The Inflorescence's singer and guitarist, Tuesday Denekas.
Keep For Cheap
Bundle
I loved this album so much I bought the vinyl right after I received the promo for it. And I've continued to regularly spin this album both on my hard disc and on my turntable. Crisp, melodic songwriting causes this one to whoosh forward to the front of the line any time I need a little upbeat reflective time.
Extra Arms
What Is Even Happening Right Now?
Ryan Allen put out an unbelievable number of solo and side projects during the pandemic, but he made enough room to also release a stunning blast of nigh-perfect hard-guitar pop by his band Extra Arms.
MUNA
MUNA
MUNA's playful pop is better-known today than when this album was initially released, so it may be less an undiscovered gem to many. But if you haven't listened to this in a while (or at all!) give it a spin today and familiarize yourself with its positive ebullient charms.
Deaf Lingo
Lingonberry
This Italian quartet turns their guitars way, way, way up while keeping the energy at a similar level. They've got big Superchunk / Bob Mould feels filtered through a new millennial lens, and its just too much fun.
The Handcuffs
Burn The Rails
Farewell Captain
Amends
Pink Frost
Until the Summer Comes
These were three excellent releases from three long-running Chicago acts, all of whom I've enjoyed following along with since each group's genesis. The Handcuffs have got your power-pop crossed with Nuggets-rawk and glammy swagger needs covered. Farewell Captain took years to finalize Amends, and that care shows in the quantum leap forward that band made (and they were already pretty great). And Pink Frost create howling vortexes of guitar squall pinned to driving rhythms creating a focused attack few will want to escape from.
2nd Grade
Easy Listening
So, yeah. This was on a ton of lists, and while it is easily identified as somewhat sentimental indie rock, their influences are aces, and the end result s familiar while being completely new.
Momma
Household Name
Super-duper catchy, Momma takes a few musical cues from Weezer while side-stepping anything too silly. They then turn up the guitars around the sweet yet powerful vocals cutting through the curtains oof the song's arrangements, and they've got me in their grasp. Did I mention super-duper catchy?
The Brontosaur
Reaver
Birth
Born
Both of these albums are awesome, and both of these albums is HEAVY. Also worth noting, both albums are heavy slabs of vinyl (and both bands clearly embrace the ethos of a time when everything was analog, album covers and LP sleeves ruled the world, and heavy prog-rockers wandered the Earth. Dig into 'em and dig 'em both!
Oddly enough, this album took the longest to get its hooks into me. But once I unlocked it for myself its genius continues to floor me.
Assassins
The Year That Never Came
I don't think this was widely released until 2023, but I picked up this final, long-gestating Assassins album the second I uncovered it online. In my case, Amazon had the MP3s for sale, so I'm counting it as a 2022 release. I am also clearly writing anything I can to not address why this album means so much to me. Instead I'll offer a fun fact: Assassins were the first band I wrote about when I was auditioning for Chicagoist! Who knew what amazing new worlds would unlock for me over the next 12 years that followed me writing that piece...
Neal Francis
Sentimental Garbage
A Chicago musician that stayed under my radar until this album, but if you're anything like me, the notion of Dave Fridmann producing a funk-pop album was too good to not listen to, and far far better than I expected it would be. Nowadays I pick up everything Francis is putting down the second he releases it.
Ghost Funk Orchestra
A New Kind Of Love
My absolute go-to for months and months and months for those days I needed to escape to a mental meadow-space and just vibe.
Gladie
Don't Know What You're in Until You're Out
I play this album a lot and it never gets old. Is there higher praise to be given that that? Augusta Koch and her crew of merry musicians kick out jam after jam and I eagerly jump right into the center of the web they're spinning every single time.
Asylums
Signs of Life
Buzzy catchy Britty brash guitars slinging against cabinets and crashing into each other while shower-hummable melodies wend their way to and fro? Yes, please.
The Backseat Lovers
Waiting To Spill
What do we get when you combine Radiohead Vox with a nod to early Bright Eyes and no fear of cranking up the volume? This is what you get. I happened to see them live on this tour and think they could be mega mega one day.
Gill Brothers Band
Gill Brothers Band
Daniel Romano's Outfit
La Luna
Gill Brothers Band might look like a bunch of roots rockers, but this is vibrant, lively stuff that effortlessly swings while rocking hard. Danial Romano traffics similar terrain on La Luna, but eschews discrete tunes for a largely seamless song cycle. Both album are just terrific.
Wild Pink
ILYSM
This is one of those I throw on to get lost in. It starts off slyly quiet and slowly draws you in so that by the time to hit the insistent repetition of title track a third of the way in, it acts as a winch drawing you tightly in line with the rest of the album's ebbs and flows.
Carly Rae Jepsen
The Loneliest Time
It's Carly Rae Jepsen in full-on soft-disco sad-girl-with-a-smile mode. Of course I love it.
The sun is shining this afternoon and it's a welcome change from the weeks of gray skies and freezing temps, driving even the hardiest of Midwesterners indoors for far longer than is probably healthy. It wasn't until a few weeks into January that I even accepted just how negative an impact the weather was having on me, until I shared my private concerns with my partner. I mean, it's winter in Chicago—who am I to complain about a known quantity? But the truth is that it's been a really hard month, and I've felt more penned in than usual. While I still hit my 10,000 steps goal every single day, there are spans of days where I never leave the house, and pace the miles in solitude, following a closed loop around the interior of my abode. I have never been so thankful to have a long hallway smack dab in the middle of my first-floor apartment. It is a lifesaver (and thank goodness there is no one below me to annoy)!
But I digress.
It's been a psychologically rough and dreary month, and I suspect I am not in the minority when it comes to feeling like that. So this is a gentle reminder you are not alone in feeling like that. And on a sunshine-y day like this one, take the opportunity to soak in the sun and store up that energy! We're all gonna get through it together, y'know?
In the aughts—between Pitchfork and the AV Club—Chicago was ground zero for music criticism and everyone writing or booking venues or playing in bands in this city at the time benefited in that collaborative community. And I'd argue that everyone in the music writing scene in Chicago at that time influenced the direction of the scene and ultimately the mainstream tastes that remain near the tops of the charts today.
I've felt no need to comment on the recent state of either of those once-mighty sites—it's not fair to constantly hold he Imperial Period of stuff like that as a reasonable measure against how they do decades later, especially when under the leadership of coldly corporate raiders.
Regardless, the news of Pitchfork being merged into GQ is incredibly alarming news, effectively killing one of the last major centers of music criticism (regardless of your opinion of said criticism, every outlet's survival benefits us all). And in full transparency, I do still have friends that work there, so I know the staff has been fighting the good fight, but I fear for all their livelihoods in the wake of this crushing announcement. Especially in a sector of the job market that is already overburdened by the overly-talented unemployed.
Thank gawd Stereogum went indie again, and there are a few smaller sites that might benefit from running more original pieces and fewer cut-and-pastes of press releases to help fill the inevitably massive void left by P4K. And of course I still believe in the power of independent blogs, and hope other individual voices and smaller arts sites find new readers hungry for their guidance. So there are still a good number of us out there fighting the good fight.
But it's still a very, very dark day for people who love music and music writing.
Welcome to an extremely brief check-in, wherein I decide that I will endeavor to get both my personal best music of 2022 and 2023 lists upon this space before the end of January 2024.
Speaking of 2024, additionally, I plan to write for Third Coast Review on a more frequent basis (I'm shooting to share at least one music-related post there a week, but we'll see how that goes).
And finally—and this will make longtime readers hold their sides as they fall over in stitch-making guffaws aplenty—I resolve to become a regular visitor to the gym this year. After this Saturday I'll be all vaxxed up and boosted to protect against the most common ailments we have to worry about these days, and I think it's time to put aside my anxiety of working out in an enclosed space with other people and embrace the return to an even healthier, stronger (and I think, happier) me!
Also, do not be surprised if you start to see more short, personal posts begin to appear as I re-embrace the kind of writing that started this site in the first place, over two decades ago.
2023 was one of the best years I've had in a very, very long time—2024 is looking to be even more amazing!
