Chicago’s own, Josephine, the project of Josephine Luhman, has always been one to cherish reflection and growth. Making bedroom pop under the name Joz in the late 2010s, Josephine has since taken to the Chicago circuit as a full band, bringing a large established sound to the sincerity and grit of Luhman’s songwriting. Today, Josephine returns with “Does It Pay”, a lush track of eagerness and discouragement caught in the mess of financial stability.
“Does It Pay” takes quick control with a head turning drum fill, soon becoming a slow burn of indi-pop romanticism and disparagement in late stage capitalism. As rearing guitars melt away, Luhman doesn’t hold her breath as she sings, “Did you get the job you wanted, do you love it, does it pay,” blasting through corporate wishy-washyness with intuitive dynamics and sincere deliverance. Is it a song of sympathy towards that world? Kind of. But “Does It Pay” also leans on this feeling of relief that Luhman feels in the face of expectations. The line “who am I to say?”, with time and repetition becomes less of a question, and rather a statement of deliberation, what is to be desired in a world caught in the defeating presence of financial strains. And in the noise, crafting dynamic shifts amongst swooning guitar lines and an invigorating rhythm, Josephine’s vocals become a point of reflection, wielding both strength and tenderness as the melody leads with its whole chest, breathing the slightest sigh of relief, as she sings, “I do not envy you”.
Listen to ” Does it Pay” now!
You can listen to Josephine where you find your music.
I used to avoid employing “lived in” as a descriptor for anything music related. Partially because I deemed it a bit overdone, partially because I worried it was too synonymous with “flawed”. However, the most prominent reason I had expelled “lived in” from my vernacular was because I found it reductive, and felt that it inhibited a need to expand upon what is ultimately so compelling about music that resembles the sensation of wearing that “well-loved” utility jacket that never leaves the front of your closet. The reality is, there is no impression quite like the fingerprints left by “lived in” music, and yesterday, as I meandered through an MTA tunnel plastered with advertisements for AI companionship, I realized “lived in” might be the highest form of praise art can receive today. “Lived in” dwells amongst the positive descriptors that swarm my brain when I listen to Guitar, as amidst moments of rich shredding and unforgettable hooks, the Portland project is teeming with pockets that touch on what it feels to be human – in both a complex and fundamentally simple sense.
This past summer, Guitar announced forthcoming record, We’re Headed To The Lake – sharing lead single “Pizza For Everyone” and eliciting hunger cues from anyone nurturing an appetite for power pop spreads and finger-licking riffs. “Every Day Without Fail” followed last month, and as Saia Kuli’s gravely vocals reach an intensity that rivals the face-melting soundscapes it co-exists with, the flammable second single proved that the Portland based project is beyond worthy of its name. Today, Guitar is back with the third and final single off We’re Headed To The Lake, offering a more tender side of the project as Kuli’s signature earnest vocals are replaced with his wife’s singing.
While “Chance to Win” enters with less immediacy than the singles it succeeds, the track parallels their intensities (and windswept feels) through other means. Controlled chord progressions trickle in and escalate gradually, as Jontajshae Smith’s honeyed vocals unfold a poetically disheveled stream of thought. Frenzied feelings of exhilaration, sometimes referred to as “butterflies”, are kindled through lines of “Sit still / First place / Record pace / Long game / Okay” and “Just wait / On the / Count of three / Breath in / One two”. The track is stunning and tousled – much like the adrenaline rush of possibility, and the lingering anxieties that anticipation fosters.
“This song is about the excitement of an opportunity, feeling electricity in the air and trying to stay cool and not fumble,” Kuli says.
We’re Headed To The Lake will be out October 10th via Julia’s War. You can listen to “Chance to Win” below.
In the latest case for East Coast country music, Chico States shares “A Dozen Beers”, the first single from their upcoming album I Saw A Galloping Horse Cover No Ground out October 23rd via Anything Bagel Records. With two albums already tucked in his pockets, songwriter Joseph Barresi continues his hunt for new uses of language, mopping up his daily affirmations and one liners off the dirty floor and draining out what’s left into a pail. Accompanied by Hannah Barrett (vocals), Alex Silver (bass), Garrett Linck (drums) and Ben Rodgers (pedal steel), “A Dozen Beers” spills over the edge with boozy hooks, dry wit, and a whole lot of toe-tappin’, to the point where he should have brought a second pail.
“A Dozen Beers” revels in a sweaty bit of twang, a cowboy’s holy prayer, one to be saved for when the liquor is flowing and spirits are high. “Me & you, we’re just blundering on through, a dozen beers ahead of most of the rest of the world,” Barresi drawls out amongst rusty guitar licks, both keen to weigh the empathetic with the obscure from the day-to-day’s friendly stakeholders. Stumbling to the motion of the pedal steel and swaying to the nifty hooks, “A Dozen Beers” becomes a celebration of the little things we remember. “Rip off some dumb country star / just the harmonies, straight from the heart / as I’m walking out the door”, is just as anthemic as any ol arena-mantra, yet gets us closer to who really ripped off who. This track embraces the bare bones, finding grace in the comradery, its loose melodies linger into the nightlife, a collective harmony you sing to the moon hoping it joins in for one last tune before you close out the tab.
You can listen to “A Dozen Beers” premiering here!
Carry Ripple is the Memphis-based project of artist, video creator and music producer, Carter Earheart-Brown, who has been releasing music under the project for a few years now. Today, carry ripple returns with, “Ailanthus Altissima”, the first single off of his upcoming record carry ripple 2, the sequel that has been in the making since the debut carry ripple was released back in 2024. Now accompanied by Kaleb Collins (The Louisville Orchestra), Sofie Pedersen (candynavia) and Heaven Schmit (Grumpy), Earheart-Brown continues to experiment with songwriting and new sonic flavors as “Ailanthus Altissima” becomes a song reeling through obsession and ecological and personal disparages.
With a dribble of acoustic guitar, “Ailanthus Altissima” seeps into the soil, steady and patient as a harmony of strings begin to nourish the dense roots that will soon make up some heavy ground. Referring to Ailanthus Altissima, or commonly known as the tree of heaven, a native plant in China that has become an invasive species here in North America, Earheart-Brown laments in its ecological havoc, singing “you’re more like a tree of hell”. The track waivers between natural whimsy and eager chaos as warming runs of woodwinds sprout underneath Earheart-Brown’s vocals that begin to grow erratically amongst the track’s flourishing melodies. At the same time, these natural elements begin to be overrun by alien-like effects and electronic fixations, wrapping around his words as Earheart-Brown sings, “Now every time I see a tree, I’m bound to think of you,” where these intrusive plants begin to be a disruption in not just space, but in thought as well.
Listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” here:
About the song, Earheart-Brown shares;
“The song idea started when I learned some people call it the tree of hell because of how annoying they are! It is an invasive plant that is often a host for the spotted lanternfly! While some of the lyrics are metaphorical, it really is about the actual plant.
I wrote it last summer when Kaleb and I were practicing for two acoustic shows opening for villagerrr and Tombstone Poetry. Tracked my vocals and the guitar with my friend Spence Bailey. Heaven, Kaleb, and Sofie recorded their parts remotely. We reamped some of the clarinets through guitar pedals for a glitchy sound. I attempted to write most of these songs without drums, so I wanted the sound to lean into that.”
You can listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” anywhere you find your music.
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo Courtesy of carry ripple
Today, Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory share Songs of Hope for Gaza, a collection of songs by 33 artists written in solidarity with Palestine. The comp consists of artists such as Little Mazarn, Thanya Iyer, Tashi Dorji, Ava Mirzadegan, Lady Queen Paradise, Ther, Adeline Hotel, and many more. In his essay titled “Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide”, Fargo Tbakhi says, “creative work readies us for material work, by offering a space to try out strategies, think through contradictions, remind us of our own agency.” That agency becomes the benchmark of our community, to be able to gather in shared space, utilize our tools, to connect, to listen, to lift voices, to create and to call for collective action.
You can pre-order the full album on bandcamp now for any amount you can give. The full compilation will be released on October 28th. All proceeds from this compilation will go to ANERA to support humanitarian aid and emergency relief in Gaza and beyond.
In a mission statement by the compilation’s curator, Liza Victoria, she says;
“Songs of Hope For Gaza is a compilation organized as an effort to join together as a music community to write music in solidarity for Palestine. Each musician was given a call to action to write a protest song of their own interpretation, in solidarity with Palestine. The cover painting & title is a nod to Bottles of Hope For Gaza, where in Egypt, bottles containing rice, flour, and beans were thrown into sea in hopes that they would reach the shores of Gaza. In organizing this project, I hope to offer encouragement to anyone in the music community, to speak up in song and to utilize our collective power. I believe it is vital to our own hearts, and our lives as artists, to empathize and show empathy to this cause.”
The track list of Songs of Hope for Gaza is a collection of 33 original songs written in solidarity with Palestine. The collection was mastered by Hamilton Belk.
Katie-Krysta
In The Olive Tree- Thanya Iyer
In Palestine- Christy Armstrong
Worse Than Bombs- Matt Bachmann
Sunbirds- Will Stratton
Carolina Wren- Ava Mirzadegan ft. Jason Calhoun
It Is Within You Where The Falcon Sang/ May All The Ancient Olive Trees Return Tashi Dorji
Epitaph- שאַנדע (Shande)
Nana’s Story- Guy Capecelatro III
This Very Hour- Little Mazarn
Sunbird- Stephen Kerr
The Economics Of Despair Pt. 1- Ther
The Economics Of Despair Pt.2- Lady Queen Paradise
Twila Ping- Blood Things
Sand Castles- Lisa/Liza
Precious Memory- Liam Grant
Bound To Live-Adeline Hotel
Enduring Silence – Peter McLaughlin
How Do We, Country – Ava Brennan
Nothing Fire in the Sky part II- Dee Dee and the Weeds
Two Parts-Tremolo Fields
BREAD- Young Moon
Setting Ourselves on Fire- Sam Pawlowski
All On The Lake- Amelia Riggs
Humanity- Good Good Blood
A Balm For Those Hearts Burnt and Burning Still- Mellifer
Ice Fall- Florida Ghost
The Birds Never Ask if They Deserve to Exist – Slow Hymn
Live Triptych for Gaza- Haven’s Den
Weird Dream- Glass Machine
Sending Heart- Josh Burkette
Arena- Jacob Augustine
War Cry– Asher Platts
Listen to Songs of Hope for Gaza now premiering here!
There are also statements from the artists that are featured in this collection about their own interpretations of a protest song and what it means to be in solidarity.
“This song is actually bits and pieces of conversations had about the flood in Central Texas a few weeks ago in which many children perished. One of my friends offered a prayer to the grieving parents, that children’s spirits fly to the afterworld faster than most. This conversation has been deeply intertwined with many conversations here about climate change and the need to grieve the natural world we once knew in order to adapt and live into the future. When asked if I would write a song in solidarity with Palestine, these conversations glowed bright in my mind as we here in Texas grieve the catastrophic loss of life from the flood. We are all connected in our joys and sorrows, the marrow of our days. May we walk together towards peace. This very hour.”
– Lindsey Verrill of Little Mazarn
“and the lens is a gun
hope like the sun
resistance in the make up
of water and love
water and love”
– Lyrics from “Blood Things”, Twila Ping
“This song is about the lengths that people/news media/the US and other countries countries will go to avoid witnessing genocide. But also, the ways I too unsee Palestinian death; how reading about starvation is now part of my morning routine, but my days go largely unchanged. I appreciate being a part of this compilation and other actions in solidarity with Palestinians as a way to feel less alone in my witnessing and hopefully bring some mobilization, no matter how small, towards change/relief/ending genocide and occupation.”
– Matt Bachmann
“Anas Al-Sharif was assassinated by Israel. In his last will, he said, “If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles.” We can decide to always be this clear about what we stand for.”
– Lady Queen Paradise
“songs, like history, often rhyme. when we bring struggle home and in our hearts, we create echoes of dreams that predate us, we carry them best when we do it together“
– Ther
“When care and safety is an innate human right of all people, it is such a moral imperative to speak up when that is actively being taken away and deprived of through the use of violence, starvation and murder. At this stage, the accounts of injustices enacted by Israel onto the Palestinian people are near innumerable. All people deserve safety, and all children deserve a childhood. Hearing the suffering cries of a baby which cannot be soothed due to severe burns and shrapnel wounds should be enough to mobilize anyone to act and to use their voice. This sound alone I know I will carry for the rest of my life. This is not a war, this is a genocide, and it must end.”
– Christy Armstrong
“The song is a repeated mantra peeking out from the corners of a meditative but jagged soundscape—to kill the body, but not the idea, which is bound to live. I took the words from an old labor poster that sits beside my desk and contains the quote: “it is true, indeed, that they can execute the body, but they cannot execute the idea which is bound to live.” No violence, no war, no terror inflicted by the oppressor upon the oppressed can ever truly destroy the bonds of solidarity or extinguish the flame of liberation.”
– Adeline Hotel
Victoria continues about the comp, sharing, “it was a privilege to work with each of these artists and hear their perspectives and heart show through. I am so grateful for the dedication and time they each put into this. Free Palestine. Thanks to Dear Life Records, Frank Meadows, Peter McLaughlin, Chel Painting, Hamilton Belk, Pretty Purgatory, Ava Mirzadegan, & to all the musicians involved.”
You can preorder Songs of Hope for Gaza via Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory now with all proceeds going to ANERA.
Modern Nun, who describe themselves as ‘queering their religious upbringing’, have developed a type of spirituality brought out by refinement and shared experience as they navigate their place in music, community and identity. But as they have continued to grow, now composed of Edie Mckenna (guitar, vocals), Haley Webster (drums), Lee Simmons (guitar) and Sam Peifer (bass), Modern Nun hold an edge to progression, a searing bit of hindsight and a little caution to the wind, as the group cuts through with both ambition and empathy. Today Modern Nun is sharing their new single “Lunch”, the second track released ahead of their upcoming EP It All out November 7th.
The band comes in as a rock n roll force, playing with a noticeable punch as “Lunch” soon breaks for immediacy amongst heavy instrumentation and gritty textures. The song feels heavier than previous Modern Nun tracks, not one solely in debt to any malice, but rather laying out an array of options for the picking as McKenna’s voice soars with deep intention. Combing through the give and takes of a soured relationship with a thinning bristled broom, McKenna sings, “I’m fantastic and you’re just alright/ I keep my sunglasses on at night”, searing with self-worth as the track collects up anything less than what is expected. These feelings are messy and sometimes unforgiving, but “Lunch” leans into it, like glue on the tips of your fingers, becoming an obsession as you peel off piece after piece. And as the guitars grumble and the drums crash with such intensity, there is some relief that comes from shedding something that was lucky enough to be a part of you for just a second.
Listen to “Lunch” here;
It All is set to be released November 7th. You can listen to Modern Nun’s other single “Unkind” as well as all their previous releases anywhere you find your music.
Dan Knishkowy, the creative stamina behind the New York project Adeline Hotel, recently announced the project’s return with his new record Watch the Sunflowers out October 24th via Ruination Records. Today, the ugly hug is premiering the second single “Just Like You”, a stunning display of attachment and self-agency in the face of a deeply rooted patterns.
“Dog tooth violence, rare blood run. Where’s my wild rose? Where will I become,” Knishkowy begins, his words linger like footsteps in an empty hallway, each step more and more pronounced as the direction and distance becomes more clear. As the track falls into its groove, ruminating in varying textures of strings and rich colors of instrumental shadows, a defiant guitar solo breaks through, dripping with distortion and unaligned with any classic structure, as “Just Like You” becomes a dynamic exchange, a transfer of self as Knishkowy pulls from this deep need to disengage with what he knows best. It’s a song that grapples with the ghosts that we have yet to become acquainted with, but Knishkowy’s writing has always held an edge to perspective, animating their presence with both curiosity and foretold hindsight when the moment comes to look those ghosts in the eyes. And in classic Adeline Hotel commotion, he shakes out the dust of folkloric expectations as the fluent instrumentation, the crack of the drums and the weightless harmonies begin to pack up their belongings and make their way to the door.
About the single, Knishkowy shares, “We started Sunflowers and left it unfinished for years. On returning, we felt inspired to totally reimagine it, ripping it apart to its bones and rebuilding it into a kaleidoscopic experience. We very much took the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot approach of ‘well, we made it, so we can also destroy it if we want to.’
The song itself mirrors that process, taking a hard look at ingrained patterning and the attempt to grow beyond that. Whether inherited generational trauma (‘in the hallways of my skin’), or the safe appeal of culturally sacred institutions, the narrator decides not to acquiesce any longer to the ease of familiarity (‘I cannot kneel’).
The titular line remains elusive still, even to me. Is it ‘I’m just like you’, a self-aware acknowledgement of how deep that conditioning goes, or ‘I just like you’, the rare feeling of connection you find with a person also committed to breaking these cycles?”
You can listen to “Just Like You” anywhere you find your music as well as preorder Watch the Sunflowers on vinyl.
Today, Motocrossed share “Drown (Country Girl)”, the second single off their upcoming debut self-titled record out October 3rd via the legendary Trash Tape Records. Coming up through Charlotte, North Carolina, this band is nothing new to the surrounding scene, although there have been some notable changes. Originally named sayurblaires, the project was formed by songwriter Blaire Fullagar, leaning into territories of digital soundscapes and emo inspired song structures. But sayurblaires soon became a project embedded with collaboration, as Colin Read (guitar), Caroyln Becht (drums) and AJ George (guitar) joined the live crew, before shortly offering to the writing process for new songs between 2023 and 2024. What came out was this newfound level of alt-country chaos as Motocrossed became the next step for the NC musicians.
In a clash of noise, Fullagar asks, “Do you wanna walk and laugh along the streetlights? We can just talk and pretend everything’s fine,” her voice falling into the motion with both confidence and an underlying layer of trust that there is something below to catch her in case she gets ahead of herself. And with that, “Drown” becomes a team effort, a culmination of distinct voicings that each bring something unique to the track, and cultivating this scenic dispute of love, curiosity, heartbreak and comradery. In the same way that we all know that Walmart parking lots have the best sunsets, the amount of noise put into the environment brings out the best of each color; loose harmonies shooting the shit amongst distorted guitars, a fiddle doing what it does best, and the rich tones from a few sax runs pull us closer into the ruckus. “Country Girl, you’re my world. But I’m not sure you should be just yet,” feels messy, but pure, and you can’t help but admire that feeling.
We recently got to talk to Blaire and Carolyn about “Drown (Country Girl)”, shifting genres, and what this project means to them.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
You made music under the name sayurblaires for a while, but now shifting genres completely and now writing and performing under the name Motocrossed, what sparked you to want to reset everything?
Blaire: So, in 2023, we started the sayurblaires band, and we would play renditions of songs on the sayurblaires album as a full band. They were fun to play, but I feel like we kind of got detached from them and we started to write new songs. They were all just way different, because I switched to writing on guitar instead of just on my computer. They turned out a lot different, of course. And so, sayurblaires just didn’t feel right, especially because we formed the band, and then it felt like we all wrote these songs together by the time that they were actually written as a full band.
Carolyn: And it was so sonically different from what we were doing as sayurblaires, which was like, a digital, emo, screamo project, and this is, way different conceptually, unrelated almost. Not unrelated, but… we’re calling ourselves alt-country now.
Blaire: The songs that we would play, the songs that eventually became Motocrossed songs, we’d play them in the middle of the sayurblaires set, and it would feel really bizarre, honestly. So, it just felt right to switch to Motocrossed, and we’ve just played shows under Motocrossed, and we’ve only played Motocross songs since then.
Did you find that there was a shift in the shows you were playing and the crowds that were coming out?
Blaire: Yeah, when we were sayurblaires we played with bands like Your Arms Are My Cocoons and Awake But Still in Bed, which I don’t think we would have gotten those shows now. They probably wouldn’t have reached out to us. It was cool, I like those bands, and I do like emo, but ultimately, now, bands that I like a lot more are reaching out, and I feel like I’m just more in the scene that I’ve always listened to.
As that original four-piece, was it natural for everyone else to adjust to this all-country route?
Blaire: Yeah, I mean, I think everybody was super down for it, especially having the ability to write their own parts instead of the ones that I wrote for them. I think it naturally played out well. Like AJ [George], our guitarist, listens to a little bit of alt-country, but mainly they listen to a lot of really, really heavy shoegaze, so what they provide for the band is all the heavy parts. And then I feel like Colin [Read], our other guitarist and lap steel player, listens to a lot of everything, so Colin’s playing just kind of goes off of whatever the thing calls for. I think that it just naturally worked out perfectly.
With these singles, it sounds like there’s so many different voicings that you’re trying out, that it feels like it should be chaotic, but it works really well. Especially going from a 4-piece to 6 members and counting, how does this inclusion of new players represent what you wanted this project to be as you were continuing to shift and evolve and try something new?
Blaire: When we started recording these songs, I already had in mind that I wanted it to be a big band. I mean, I still want to keep adding people, I’m not against going up further. I just started reaching out to people to record on these songs that I had written. Like, the 8 songs that we have right now have probably gone through 6 or 7 versions each, just sounding different from having different people record on them.
With your new single “Drown”, you’re writing about a relationship of love and worry and complexity. What did this song mean to you as you were choosing singles and how did it come together?
Blaire: I write songs in a way where I will write one part, and then that part kind of sticks with me for a while. And then eventually, I’ll find another part that goes with it. So, this song existed as three separate parts. There was the beginning, and then the middle part, the country girl part, and then there was the end. And it came together nicely once I sat down and really wrote it. But, I’d say, more than anything, it’s just a love song. I’ve had a long on-and-off relationship for 10 years that’s messy and complicated, and that’s ultimately what it’s about. The album in general is a lot of love songs, but more than anything, it’s an album about being in love with music and the people around you. “Drown” doesn’t really feel like it’s specifically about one person in any real way, but I think it’s a good representation of the album.
You can listen to “Drown (Country Girl)” anywhere you find your music. Motocrossed is set to be released Oct 3rd via Trash Tape Records which you can preorder now!
Written by Shea Roney | Photos by Valentina Calderon
Edging is a Chicago based four piece comprised of self proclaimed “Landscaper Punks”, who make (Ugly Hug proclaimed), really fucking awesome music. Yesterday, they shared “Scam Likely”, the single the latest addition to a discography packed with overripe frustrations, charged vocals, animated riffs, and plenty of innuendos. The unapologetically explosive “Scam Likely” is a vibrant punk track that confronts late stage capitalism and the piggish mercenaries upholding unjust systems that are, well, a scam. Lines of “You take what you want”, and “you wish I wasn’t born”, and “suck up all the money”, are whacked with charged repetitions “scam likely” that beg to be sung along to. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities for this, as Edging leaves for tour this week supporting Lambrini Girls.
Recently, our photographer David Williams took photos of Edging in Chicago. Listen to “Scam Likely” and check out the photoshoot below!
As the dog days of summer have come and gone, the newly formed Bloomington-based band Just Penelope is here to stay as they share their debut single “June, July”. Just Penelope, consisting of University of Indiana classmates Ella Curiel (vocals/guitar), Ethan Cantrell (drums/vocals) and Drew Goforth (bass), recently signed to Angel Tapes, the Chicago-based imprint of Fire Talk Records. Upon the release of their new single, Just Penelope lay it all out within their type of midwestern exceptionalism, where the blend of dynamic noise and earnest storytelling find revelries in the caricatures that live and foster life in the middle country.
Singing the praises of the power pop connoisseurs and starry-eyed romantics alike, Just Penelope enters rattled, but not deterred, as Curiel breaks ahead, singing “June, July / My shoes untied”, and leading the calloused guitars and clotted percussive motion on a mission. Written about a skateboarding injury following a parental spat, the song levels that teenage potency, where emotions feel too big to put into words and heavy distortion and scrapped knees both hold a place of fondness for rebellion and self-determination. As the song builds, embracing the heavy undertones and the melodic strains, the break in the song’s dynamic pacing showcases the intentionality behind the gives and takes of our day-to-day actions, throwing caution to the wind as we relish in that invincibility we feel in the moment.
Watch the music video for “June, July” directed and edited by Keegan Priest.
You can listen to “June, July” out everywhere you find your music. Keep an eye out for more to come from Just Penelope.
Written by Shea Roney | Photo Courtesy of Just Penelope
the ugly hug 