Father John Misty returns to Iowa tonight on October 1st at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines for the first time since performing at 80/35 festival in 2022, a show I was not only at, but also vaguely remember.
Last week, Chicago’s emo sweethearts Your Arms Are My Cocoon returned to Iowa City (again!), this time in the basement of someone’s house.
Iowa punks BOOTCAMP record release show exemplified the huge impact that even small music communities can bring.
Amidst 2025’s exciting alternative rock scene, Irish trio NewDad released their second studio album on September 19, Altar. Expanding on punk and soft rock elements from their first studio album Madra, the band also pulls from shoegaze with the explosive, distorted guitars and airy vocals that build the new record’s atmosphere.
Bluff Street, a new band from Cedar Falls is bringing their heartfelt indie rock and to Iowa City, only at the James this Saturday.
Iona Zajac made her way across the pond from Glasgow with The Pogues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their record “Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash”. We discussed touring with this historic band, the best music coming out of Ireland, and her debut album “Bang” releasing this November.
The results are in! Check out what brand new artists and albums have been most-played by our DJs this week.
From SPIN, to SNL, to Pitchfork, Sleigh Bells has been getting a lot of deserved attention lately. Check out our “Track of the Week” feature to find out why!
Need some new music in your life? We’ve got you covered! Check out what KRUI’s DJs have been playing lately for some recommendations. You’ll be glad you did!
Rank Artist Recording Label User Supplied Version 1 BLACK KEYS El Camino Nonesuch 2 GUIDED BY VOICES Let’s Go Eat The Factory GBV 3 CLOUD NOTHINGS Attack On Memory Carpark 4 FIRST AID KIT The Lion’s Roar Wichita 5 LAURA GIBSON La Grande Barsuk 6 M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Mute 7 REAL ESTATE Days Domino 8 GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost True Panther 9 FEIST Metals Interscope 10 WAR ON DRUGS Slave Ambient Secretly Canadian 11 MAYER HAWTHORNE How Do You Do Universal Republic 12 YOUTH LAGOON The Year Of Hibernation Fat Possum 13 CASS MCCOMBS Humor Risk Domino … Continued
Tomorrow, January 24th, Cleveland’s Cloud Nothings’ new album Attack on Memory will be released. But if you’re one of the many who have already downloaded it, you’ve probably listened to stand-out track “No Sentiment” a dozen or so times. Produced by the famed Steve Albini, the new album leaves behind the Times New Viking-esque lo-fi mess of Turning On to capture the energy and intensity of various John Reis bands, like the Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu. “No Sentiment” contains the albums’ thesis statement – “No nostalgia/no sentiment,” lyrics bellowed so purely, you have to believe in it.
Everyone’s a music critic nowadays, and this fact is never more apparent then at the end of the year, but we’ve taken care to make sure our Top 10 Albums list is fairly representative of the listening habits of Iowa City.
Rank Artist Recording Label 1 REAL ESTATE Days Domino 2 M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Mute 3 TOM WAITS Bad As Me Anti 4 MATES OF STATE Mountaintops Barsuk 5 FEIST Metals Interscope 6 MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND All Things Will Unwind Asthmatic Kitty 7 LOS CAMPESINOS! Hello Sadness Arts And Crafts 8 BEETS Let The Poison Out Hardly Art 9 BEACH BOYS The Smile Sessions Capitol 10 CHILDISH GAMBINO Camp Glassnote 11 DAVID LYNCH Crazy Clown Time Sunday Best-Pias 12 CASIOKIDS Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen Polyvinyl 13 DEER TICK Divine Providence Partisan 14 ST. VINCENT Strange Mercy 4AD 15 PETER WOLF … Continued
Rank Artist Recording Label 1 GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost True Panther 2 WILD FLAG Wild Flag Merge 3 WILCO The Whole Love Anti 4 ZOLA JESUS Conatus Sacred Bones 5 TWIN SISTER In Heaven Domino 6 TY SEGALL Goodbye Bread Drag City 7 DRUMS Portamento Frenchkiss 8 DJ SHADOW The Less You Know The Better Verve 9 DUM DUM GIRLS Only In Dreams Sub Pop 10 PORTUGAL. THE MAN In The Mountain In The Cloud Approaching AIRballoons-Atlantic 11 SLEEPING IN THE AVIARY You And Me, Ghost Science Of Sound 12 NEON INDIAN Era Extrana Mom And Pop 13 TALLAHASSEE … Continued
Rank Artist Recording Label 1 WILD FLAG Wild Flag Merge 2 MEGAFAUN Megafaun Hometapes 3 GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost True Panther 4 CAROLINE SMITH AND THE GOOD NIGHT SLEEPS Little Wind Self-Released 5 PIETA BROWN Mercury Red House 6 HALLOWEEN, ALASKA All Night The Calls Came In Amble Down 7 MALE BONDING Endless Now Sub Pop 8 ZOLA JESUS Conatus Sacred Bones 9 WILCO The Whole Love Anti 10 DRUMS Portamento Frenchkiss 11 BLITZEN TRAPPER American Goldwing Sub Pop 12 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS Mirror Traffic Matador 13 DOM Family Of Love Astral Werks 14 TY SEGALL Goodbye … Continued
By Max Johnson For fans of Iowa music, The Poison Control Center require no introduction. The Des Moines based group have released 3 full-lengths and a handful of EPs full of excited indie rock. Tomorrow, July 30th, their Never-Ending Tour will take a much-deserved break after two shows at The Vaudeville Mews. Let me cut to the chase — PCC’s newest album, Stranger Ballet, is my favorite album of 2011 (so far). The fingerprints of other excellent indie rockers are everywhere, but the band never lose themselves in their influences. It seems more like they’re honoring them. Imitation isn’t the … Continued
