Search Results for lisa mrock
BROTHER ALI
BY LISA MROCK PHOTO BY ADAM STANZACK If you want a little blues to go along with your hip hop the next time you hit up Metro, place Brother Ali at the top of your list. While his lyrics have always been poignant, deeply personal, and always a thoughtful commentary on his life and the […]
BJ THE CHICAGO KID
BY LISA MROCK If you don’t reflexively turn up BJ the Chicago Kid the moment he comes on the radio, you’re living your life wrong. He’s rap, he’s gospel, he’s talented, and he reps Chicago as much as his more famous friend and collaborator Chance does. Another collaborator is the one and only K-Dot, who […]
ADULT.
BY LISA MROCK If “Stranger Things” got you back into analog synthesizers, take your ass straight down to Empty Bottle and check in with ADULT. (or check them out at this year’s Do Division Street Fest.) Their latest album Detroit House Guests (yes, they’re from Detroit) is full of eponymous “house guests” such as Lun*na […]
WAVVES
BY LISA MROCK Former solo project/current Nathan Williams-led band Wavves have a new tour in support of their most recent record, You’re Welcome. And from what we can tell from the title track and “Daisy,” the boys haven’t lost their touch. “Daisy” is a fun surf punk jaunt with playful riffs that checkmark the group’s […]
PANAMA WEDDING
BY LISA MROCK Panama Wedding’s music is so damn addictive it might as well be a proverbial can of earworms. (See what we did there?) Fronted by Peter Kirk, their most recent EP Into Focus boasts a collection of synth-pop ditties with subtle references to ‘80s pop in the music and hope in the lyrics, […]
KEHLANI
BY LISA MROCK Kehlani’s been on everybody’s radar for a while, dropping mixtapes and high-profile collaborations with Chicago’s Chance the Rapper and BJ The Chicago Kid. She released her debut album SweetSexySavage filled with songs concerning love, trying to find Mr. Right (Now), and speaking on her own work ethic such as in “CRZY.” She’s […]
FRUIT BATS
BY LISA MROCK Throughout Eric D. Johnson’s many years working on his delicately beautiful indie rock project Fruit Bats, he’s also taught at the Old Town School of Folk Music, been a part of The Shins and Califone, and scored films like Our Idiot Brother. We can’t help showing a little favoritism toward local artists, […]
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL
BY LISA MROCK Eagles of Death Metal will never escape its instant association with the unspeakably horrific Bataclan massacre, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still want to have fun. The high-flying collaboration of Jesse Hughes and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme is of course not a death metal band but, misnomer aside, […]
BETTY WHO
BY LISA MROCK Aussie indie dance pop phenom Jessica Newham, better known as Betty Who, has a new album called The Valley that she’d like you to know about. Her debut LP Take Me When You Go was released back in 2014, but she made waves last year for her fun and outgoing cover of […]
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE
BY LISA MROCK Needing them now more than ever, Japanese psychedelic rock outfit Acid Mothers Temple are blessing these United States with their weird presence once again. Founder Kawabata Makoto and the rest of the legendarily out-there five-piece primarily focus on the otherworldly, the strange, and the unheard-of sounds of yesteryear. Basically they’re experimental…times a […]
THE TOSSERS
BY LISA MROCK The Tossers, self-proclaimed as “The World’s Loudest Folk Band,” are making their way up from the far South Side of Chicago to the North Side to play Metro this St. Patrick’s Day. Watch these South Side Irish folks tear through the latest songs off their new album Smash the Windows, released from […]
THE REVIVALISTS
BY LISA MROCK Ingesting good rock music is a lot like eating a good ass slice of pie, with insides sweet enough to make the teeth chatter under a deliciously savory exterior. That’s just what The Revivalists’ album Men Amongst Mountains is like to listen to. The seven-piece New Orleans outfit blesses us with soulful […]
THE CHAINSMOKERS
BY LISA MROCK Regardless of your personal opinions of Alex Pall and Drew Taggert, the frat-looking dudes who make up The Chainsmokers, you gotta admit they’ve got a knack for coming up with massive bangers. And they choose their collaborators wisely, from the lesser known Rozes on “Roses” to alternative pop queen Halsey on “Closer.” […]
PHANTOGRAM
BY LISA MROCK Just a few months after a successful show at the Aragon as part of WKQX’s “Nights We Stole Christmas”, Phantogram are coming back to Uptown yet again…this time at the Riv. The dreamily cinematic synth pop impresarios’ most recent album Three is (cruelly) only 10 songs, but let’s cross our fingers for […]
MOON DUO
BY LISA MROCK Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada have taken a turn for the otherworldly in the first part of Moon Duo’s two-part opus, Occult Architecture. Enlisting the inspirations of magic and mythology within their expansive psychedelic sound, they mix it all together with synthesizers to create a deliciously creepy sonic adventure. Opening track “The […]
HURRY FOR THE RIFF RAFF
BY LISA MROCK PHOTO BY SARRAH DANZIGER Chicagoans always hope that April will bring with it warm sunshine, but don’t freak out if all it brings is the usual assortment of cold rain and grey skies. Instead, grab a cold drink while listening to the cool folk tunes of Hurry For The Riff Raff and […]
ERIN MCKEOWN
BY LISA MROCK PHOTO BY MERRI CYR She hasn’t released a new album, but last year’s EP According To Us is still enough of a treat to hold us over. On According, veteran indie singer/songwriter Erin McKeown takes a turn for the gospel in the opening and ending tracks titled “Once a Bomb, Always a […]
DEAD MEADOW
BY LISA MROCK Though there’s a new tour, Dead Meadow has stayed mum about any kind of follow-up to 2013’s Warble Womb. The D.C.-based psychedelic rockers have a new tour though, so maybe that means something? Or maybe it doesn’t. We can only guess when it comes to these sludge-drenched stoner rock kingpins. Maybe something […]
WHY?
BY LISA MROCK Why? may be an acquired taste for some. (For the longest time, the only thing I knew of them was from a friend who described them as “really weird.”) However, their fanbase is loyal and diehard, and it’s been that way for over a decade. They’re hip hop, they’re folk, they’re rock, […]
THE ORWELLS
BY LISA MROCK Local band/critical darlings/David Letterman favorites The Orwells have outdone themselves yet again with Terrible Human Beings. The rising garage rock group’s third album packs a snarky punch with “Black Francis,” where every other line in its verses are sung in a high-pitched mocking tone. When asked, “Have you heard that band?”, the […]