While it is by no means necessary, I am personally fond of a band name that manages to elicit some sort of parallels to the music that said band makes. Not in any super overt way, rather in an intangible sense – like when you listen to Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot and think, yeah, this is exactly what a sparkly horse sounds like. Perhaps that one is too abstruse, but think Built to Spill, Rage Against the Machine, Unwound, Brooklyn based Local Weatherman – who just announced their forthcoming EP, Right One. There is something simultaneously idiosyncratic and omnipresent about the notion of a “local weatherman”; whatever striped tie clad character it denotes for you will likely be wrapped in the same blanket of nostalgia as the one that comes to mind for your roommate who grew up Central Illinois and your coworker from New Jersey. Serving as patient zero of the ‘microceleb’, the local weatherman is a household name that belongs to you in a way Emma Stone never could. A star on your television each morning, but one time you saw him buying 2% milk at the grocery store, striped tie swapped for a quarter zip. He’s legendary and he’s human and he’ll occupy a small plot of real estate in your mind forever.
Today, Local Weatherman shared “Thread”, a song seeped in the ideas that make up my introductory tangent. Though it nods to the reigning songs of frontman Fritz Ortman’s childhood, my guess is “Thread” will dredge up some sort of nostalgia for you too. Or perhaps build the foundation for future nostalgia, as its ridiculously hooky bones and unfettered vocals pave the sort of angsty and youthful experience that our brain has no choice but romanticize in some way down the line. Crammed with punchy riffs and metaphors of disastrous failed sewing attempts, “Thread” a full throttle track slated to stick with much longer than three minutes and twenty-three seconds.
About the song, Ortman says, “‘Thread’ is about having no release valve when your mind is racing. It’s the heaviest song we’ve made, but I think the bridge is one of the prettiest moments on the EP. This song also reckons with the rockstar dreams I had growing up (and maybe still have), and each verse ends with a nod to a song I loved as a kid.”
RightOne will be out January 16 via Karol Records. You can listen to “Thread” below.
The irony isn’t lost on the listener that the title of one of Samuel Aaron and Glass-Beagle’s new double singles is called “Home Again,” which is aptly timed with the beginning of their collaborative tour this October and the subsequent music video for their two tracks. The Chicago-based artists will take to the heart of the Midwest this month, traveling to Iowa and Nebraska. Maybe in ways, this Midwestern excursion does encapsulate the idea of home if you shift your perspective slightly.
The music video showcases the collaborative nature and creation of these songs, which is evident throughout their duration, as Aaron takes the lead on the first, and Glass-Beagle is handed the baton on the second. “Home Again” details the sometimes isolating aspects of being home and wanting to escape it, but also the idealization of it despite the fact that it was previously stifling. It’s evident in lines like, “This time I’m on my own, and I don’t like the way I might like this. Always wanted to find a way to feel like I can carry myself home again.” The track soars into its second half with the repeating refrain, “Home is where it’s the hardest.”
These songs complement each other masterfully, transitioning into “Storm Chaser,” which is held together by brushed guitars and steel guitar. Glass-Beagle’s vocalist, Nathan Zurawski‘s plain-spoken vocal styling expresses the uncertainty of the song’s subject, detailing his need to allow them to be free, chase that storm, and maybe that love will come back in time. “And when the rain lets up at last, will our love be gone? Will you have a storm to chase when the highway lights turn on?”
You can watch Samuel Aaron and Glass-Beagle’s new music video for “Home Again / Storm Chaser”.
You can listen to the split single now on bandcamp. Catch Samuel Aaron and Glass-Beagle on their mini-Midwest tour. Find dates here.
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
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!
the ugly hug 