Tag: GIANT—BEAT

Not Today… by Bungee Jumpers | Album Review

February 19th, 2026

Written by Matthew Weddig

Not Today… is over in under ten minutes, like an amusement park ride.

Saskia Lethin, Jack Abott, Opal and Adelaide Jones from Chicago-based Bungee Jumpers offer a lean, breakneck roller coaster ride of jangly, riot grrrl–y guitar pop that sounds like, in the best way, what would happen if your coffee grinder joined a band. Bungee Jumpers wouldn’t sound out of place among Bratmobile or Heavens to Betsy, blasted out of the worst speaker in a garage or found on a cassette tape on the childhood home of Gone Home.

It’s intentionally straightforward music that rarely lingers on an idea for too long. The opening track “Wall” has one of the album’s only moments where Bungee Jumpers allow themselves to risk staying at the party too long, as Saskia repeats “I couldn’t find a wall to hit my head”, the guitars drop out to leave it in the spotlight, then come back in to joyously ride out the album’s most striking lyrics.

Analogue elements are as much a part of the band as the instruments. Tracks are bookended with amp feedback and whirling noises that sound like tape caught in the spool, and in between there’s the inescapable lo-fi grit. These could be clean guitars, it’s impossible to know if the guitars are distorted because of amps or pedals or because the needle on the recording console was almost certainly living in the red. Not Today… sounds like it was recorded at the lowest acceptable quality – a quality that seems to be higher than Bungee Jumpers’ 2024 Demo. Two songs from Demo – “Bolt” and “Wrench” – reappear here. It feels silly to say they’re re-recorded, given how lo-fi the new versions are, but it does feel right to say that that’s the joke. “I know what I’m doing/You can trust me,” Saskia and Jack chant together on “Wrench,” letting you in on the bit.

The band’s tightness reveals this has all been intentional. They probably could have written longer songs and recorded them with greater clarity (cell phone–recorded videos of the band playing live uploaded to YouTube arguably sound “better”), but the songs don’t really need it. They thrive in this environment. As we go through this moment where we end our Spotify subscriptions and grapple with our ability to have everything, Not Today… offers an intentionally fleeting, blink-and-you-miss-it experience. If you caught a single song on shuffle, it would strike you as amateur, but you’d only be able to experience it like that if you went old(ish) school and bought and added the MP3s to your personal library. Not Today… isn’t on the streaming platforms, it’s only available on Bandcamp or via – appropriately – a handmade cassette tape from GIANT–BEAT in Brooklyn, NY. You’re either hearing these songs in their greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts whole or, if they are on shuffle in a playlist in your personal collection, you’ve already engaged with them that way.

“The Beach” might be the mission statement for why this is all like this. An unassuming song that doesn’t even clock in at a full minute (like most of Bungee Jumpers’ songs), with a chorus that doesn’t get much deeper than singing “You want to go to the beach” and “I like the beach” and “We’re having fun at the beach.” The lo-fi isn’t a gimmick or nostalgia-bait. It’s an invitation to a mosh pit captured on an old consumer-grade Sony video camcorder that probably topped out at 720p. You want to go to the beach.

Not Today… is out now and is available to be purchased on cassette.
P. Noid Stake Their Claim on Chicago | Interview

December 15th, 2025

Written by Shea Roney | Photos by Braeden Long

Amongst Chicago’s most invigorating and animated scenes comes the band P. Noid, founded by Saskia Lethin and Jack Abbott, who just over a year ago released a tape called Penelope Noid via GIANT—BEAT. These songs are wiry, but tough as the drums kick rocks and the melodies linger, live and prosper in the divots of whatever was dented on impact. It’s a crash course in infatuation; live fast, dream big, die hard, where pop songs have acne scars and the cigarettes taste like those leftovers you’ve been dreaming about in your fridge all day. Having played in several other bands around the city’s dentures, heralding fame from Bungee Jumpers, Answering Machines and several more, Lethin and Jack write songs with loose charisma, unrestricted in the realms of lo-fi recordings and day-job-daydreams. P. Noid revels in the genuine excitement of rock and roll, generous enough to capture it in a jar and share it to the rest of us to sway, thrust and jump to till the morning comes back around for one more hit.

We got to ask Saskia and Jack about one year of Penelope Noid, blending mediums and saving any residue that may be left behind.

Approaching one year of your album Penelope Noid, how do those songs fit in your lives where you’re currently at? What does that project mean to you now that it’s been out and about for a while?

Putting it out was like popping a big pimple. It was a lot of angst but now we’re feeling more feisty. And we wanna replicate what we did for the recording where we did it all in one night because the songs do well with like low-stakes spontaneity. But more rocking less rolling. Penelope Noid will forever be cherished within our hearts but it’s time to put something new out for sure.

Did you have any goals when you went to make Penelope Noid? Anything you tried out or wanted to come across?

No. Like we said low-stakes and spontaneous punk rocker vibes. But what happened happened. And life is an experience you can’t really control how the dice roll you know? Because it’s all in gods hands at the end of the day.

Do you two have prior experience making music? If so, how did that come together when starting p. noid?

We’d already written songs for Bungee Jumpers before this. I, Saskia, used to write these atrocious gay songs and it didn’t ever feel like i improved. Jack came out of the womb with an guitar and has literally never stopped shredding so honestly he legally has to play in bands because otherwise he’s just annoying and loud. After we did bungee jumpers I gained some confidence and then wrote this stuff and since jack wouldn’t shut up so i put him behind the drums. And he gets paid a hell if a lot like you don’t even want to KNOW how much money this guy rakes in.

You both are involved in different creative mediums outside of your music. Do those experiences inspire what goes in and comes out of your music? Is there anything your interested in experimenting with?

One of the most fun things about being in a band is getting to make the art. Life is an experiment and the artwork is the residue of Experience.

Playing shows frequently around the city with both local and touring acts, do your songs find their way through live shows? Do you use the space to try anything new?

Fun’s residue is simply intoxicating. Which means that wherever we go and whatever we do… Fun will follow! And rock ALWAYS follows fun. So when we’re playing shows it’s a fun time. You should come see us. We are playing at the metro tomorrow. Who knows what lies ahead. All we know is 1. Money 2. Fun 3. Residue 4. Women

The phrase “man power go” is both sampled on the album and is used in your instagram bio. Where did this phrase come from and how have you utilized it to fit what p. noid is to you?

Because sometimes a man should use his power to get out of here. But we use our power to go crazy and rock. It’s just a sentiment and a thought. A bit of residue perhaps. It used to make us laugh a lot but now it’s just sinister.

Do you have anything planned for the future? Anything you’re excited about?

Bungee Jumpers tour P Noid new tape. Actually, new tapes for everybody. In the next coming months. And we’re starting several new bands. Lock in. We’re jealous of you because you get to experience all the residue. We’re just here for the money and women.

You can listen to Penelope Noid now on Bandcamp.

Tag: GIANT—BEAT

Not Today… by Bungee Jumpers | Album Review

P. Noid Stake Their Claim on Chicago | Interview