I was off and running at 11:00 where I went to the Allianz stage to see a bit of Her Leather Jacket, who I would be interviewing later that day. Hitting us hard and fast for the first set of the day, the Nashville based duo played through nine songs including their latest single “Death Train” that features Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens. They will be opening for The Used later this month. 

I made my way to the press lounge to interview The Plain White T’s ahead of their slot at 2:45. We spoke about their upbringing right next door to my hometown in Lombard, Illinois and our shared love of Death Cab for Cutie. Sticking around for their set later that day, they played their hits “Rhythm of Love”, “Hey There Delilah” and a surprise cover of fellow Chicago area natives, Fall Out Boy’s “Dance, Dance”. A splendid set as they kick off their “Delilah vs. Juliet” tour with We The Kings.

I got my steps in as I was running between stages trying to catch as many artists as I could. I stopped by to see The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, who I would interview later that day, at 12:10 and split their set with Destroy Boys who tore up the Pink Stage starting at 12:20. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus played their latest single “Slipping Through (No Kings)” off their 2025 record “X’s For Eyes”. This was their first record in 7 years as they were welcomed back to When We Were Young for the second year in a row. Destroy Boys continued to wrangle in new fans as they cement themselves as new pillars in the scene. Their 2024 record “Funeral Soundtrack #4” was well represented with 4 of their 9 songs on their set coming from that record. 

In 2025, Mayday Parade is celebrating 20 years as a band and releasing a 3-part album on top of the festivities. Having released the first two albums, “Sweet” in April and “Sad” earlier this month, you can hear these tunes live as they join All Time Low for the “Everyone’s Talking” tour that will stop in Iowa on October 29^th. Rallying back and forth all day, the Pink Stage and 7-Eleven stage continued serving each other pop punk and emo favorites with Boys Like Girls, who followed next. Recently releasing their first live record, the Massachusetts quartet will take a well-deserved break after their “Basements to Bleachers” tour comes to a close. Boys Like Girls final date this year will be at Warped Tour Orlando. 

If you had any built-up energy inside you, waiting to be released at the right moment, DRAIN would have been the time to do it. A live act that you feel through every bone in your body, fans were treated to three tracks off their latest record “…IS YOUR FRIEND” and a cover of Descendant’s “Good Good Things”. DRAIN is on tour supporting Kublai Khan TX this fall on tour. Straylight Run began their all-to-be brief set with a personal favorite, “Mistakes We Knew We Were Making”. Playing heavily from their self titled LP, it was a joy to see a band that has only performed seven shows since 2009. On a busy weekend, playing a side show as well, the New York indie rockers were well worth the wait. Fellow New Yorker Adam Lazarra from Taking Back Sunday came out to celebrate with Straylight Run, performing their closing track “Existentialism on Prom Night” together. An incredible set to witness. 

We The Kings and The Cab were a great back-to-back combo at the Ghost Stage. “Check Yes, Juliet”, “Secret Valentine”, and even a cover of Las Vegas’ own The Killers with “Mr. Brightside”, We The Kings gave the crowd everything they had in the tank. Travis Clark sounded phenomenal, leading the band through a dynamite set. If you’re dying to hear more We The Kings like myself, you can see them on the “Delilah vs. Juliet” tour with The Plain White T’s this fall. I had a chance to chat with Travis, Coley, Hunter, and Sebastian after their set, stay tuned to 89.7 KRUI for the interview. The Cab soon followed, continuing on their first tour in 11 years. Their limited run will include opening for All Time Low on the “Everyone’s Talking” tour, coming to Vibrant Music Hall on October 29^th. While watching The Cab play at When We Were Young, I was hit with the realization that I knew exactly where I was going to be on the 29th.   

Simple Plan has been on my list for a while, so I was thrilled to see that the pop punk veterans bring the same energy and excitement I had heard so much about. Lively and live is the best way to see music, and the Montréal natives delivered. Bringing out dozens of Scooby Doo’s and all their hits like “Perfect” and “I’d Do Anything”, I couldn’t imagine When We Were Young without them. On the neighboring Pink Stage right after Simple Plan was “the scariest band at this fucking fest. Act accordingly”. Those words came out of Bryan Garris’ mouth, frontman for the Kentucky’s Knocked Loose. Known for their destructive pits, brutal wall of death, and torrential crowd surfers, this was a must see set for me. I began to lose track of what song they were on because I was so lost in the nauseatingly good riffs. Hitting five songs off “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To”, there was no shortage of this breakout album. Go see Knocked Loose, you will want to see them again. They will be supporting Metallica in Europe next year and have just been announced that they will be returning to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds for Sick New World on April 25^th, 2026. 

With amps covered in New Jersey fanfare and the sun beginning it’s decent behind the Spring Mountains, there was no better time to hear The Gaslight Anthem. Bringing a softer and older vibe to the festival compared to other bands sharing the bill, this was a welcomed change of pace being serenaded to the tune of “Positive Charge”.  Quickly ending the more laid-back vibe was Bad Religion. Swiftly moving people’s feet and frying their vocal chords to the tune of “American Jesus”, the oldest band at the festival made waves like they were 20 years old playing in a basement. The punk legends will be opening for The Offspring on their “Supercharged in ‘26” tour that will come to Sioux City, Iowa on February 7^th. 

Set Your Goals was one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend. I have been dying to see the California duo of Jordan Brown and Matt Wilson for years and they did not disappoint. Making their return to the stage this past February, Set Your Goals made it seem like no time had passed by bringing the same energy you would feel at a house show of theirs 20 years ago. The band is celebrating two decades of music and will continue next year at Slam Dunk Festival in England. Something I really appreciated about Set Your Goals was their changing of the setlist. While in Las Vegas, the Bay Area hardcore outfit played three shows, and each one carrying a different collection of their tunes. Hitting tracks from “Mutiny!”, “This Will Be the Death of Us”, and even a deep cut off “The Reset Demo”, it was everything a fan could have dreamed of. The Saturday crowd was treated to the song “This Will Be the Death of Us” accompanied by Vince Caruana from The Movielife. I had a chance to sit down with Jordan and Matt, talking about new music they are working on, favorite movies of the year, and much more. Stay tuned for the interview on 89.7 KRUI. 

Chiodos tore through their set as they continue their “20 Years of All’s Well That Ends Well” tour with support from Hawthorne Heights, Holywtr, and Big Ass Truck. This tour will be stopping at the Val Air Ballroom on December 7^th. Not long after was letlive. who continued the streak of heavy hitters on the Aliianz Stage. The Los Angeles group disbanded in 2017 but came back this year for the “sincerely yours” farewell tour. A proper goodbye to the guys who played in every backyard and basement possible.

All Time Low had an incredibly busy weekend with the release of their latest record “Everyone’s Talking”. The scene legends continue their jam-packed year as they’ve joined The Jonas Brothers on stage, accompanied The Savannah Bananas at Camden Yards, and played their latest single “The Weather” on The TODAY Show. The Maryland natives show no signs of slowing down as their “Everyone’s Talking Tour” crosses the country, including a stop in Iowa at Vibrant Music Hall on October 29th. The Maryland rockers began their weekend on Friday night with a show on Freemont Street to celebrate their 9^th LP’s release. Being lit up by thousands of Freemont Street light bulbs, the band played 17 songs including a live debut of “Little Bit”. All Time Low’s sets at When We Were Young also held surprises in hand as they played “Hate This Song” with Eric Vanlerberghe from I Prevail along with performing “Monsters” with blackbear. Closing their set with “Dear Maria, Count Me In” under a heavy forecast of confetti, All Time Low was a standout at When We Were Young.  

California punk rockers, and doctors, The Offspring took to the 7-Eleven Stage at 6:05. Brandon Pertzbron began hitting the high hat, Noodles reminded the crowd that “You gotta keep ‘em separated”, and the band broke into “Come Out and Play” off their 1994 breakthrough record “Smash”. The Offspring continues to impress today with an energetic live performance that stirs up images reminiscent of their 1994 Woodstock gig. Giving love to their record “Americana”, Dexter Holland sang “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and the fun, ska adjacent “Why Don’t You Get a Job”. For the most famous track off that record, The Offspring held a surprise in store. The original “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)”, Guy Cohen was brought on stage in his famous red hat and light blue football jersey. Dancing along to the 1998 hit, The Offspring continues to tear down the house live. They will be on the “Worldwide in ‘26” tour this winter with Bad Religion promoting their latest record “Supercharged”. They will be playing the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City on February 7^th.

Pop punk princess Avril Lavigne appeared atop over a dozen amps with the iconic drum hits of “Girlfriend” accompanying her entrance. Playing through all the fan favorites like “What the Hell” and “Sk8er Boi”, Lavigne also dove into her most recent record, 2022’s “Love Sux” playing its lead single “Bite Me”. This album was produced by blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and alternative producing legend John Feldmann who has worked with everyone from Good Charlotte to Korn. Pierre Bouvier from Simple Plan was brought out to sing “Young and Dumb” on night one while Derek Whibley from Sum 41 came out of retirement to play “In Too Deep” on the second night.  

At 8:00, Andrew McMahon appeared and settled in behind his baby grand piano. A long time coming, Jack’s Mannequin has been elusive for over the past decade. This year, McMahon gathered together with his band for a lengthy tour that celebrates two decades of this project. Comes after the reunification of McMahon’s other project Something Corporate last year, there is a desire in the air for piano led pop punk. He played a historic gig at Red Rocks this past July, in which Andrew McMahon was the opener, direct support, and headliner playing with all of his bands. Andrew was kind enough to sit down with me before his set to discuss that gig, his tv new show in the works “Aught To Be”, and our shared love for The Lonely Island’s movie “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”. Stay tuned for the interview on 89.7 KRUI. 

Weezer came out to the opening of their song “Sheraton Commander” off their 2022 “SZNZ: Winter”, a tune that I’ve yet to hear utilized by the rock veterans before. This creepy and cold orchestration led way into the riff that started it all for Weezer, “My Name Is Jonas”. Weezer blasted through 5 songs from their debut record and kept all 11 tunes from 2008 and before. Fans were treated to a Pinkerton B-Side, “I Just Threw Out the Love Of My Dreams” with guest singers Blondeshell on night one and Lynn Gunn from PVRIS on night two. Anticipation is high among Weezer fans as their 20^th album is well underway. When We Were Young was Weezer’s final North American stop in 2025 as they embark on South American and Australian tours later this year.  

“Breathing deeply and walking backwards” Mark Hoppus made my dreams come true by playing “Roller Coaster” near the end of blink-182‘s setlist. Filled with deep cuts, tunes from their latest album, and the hits that made us say “damnit, that was good”, it was a set that brought smiles to the faces of everybody in the crowd. The boyish banter and spiked hair haven’t changed in over 3 decades of this band, and there seems to be no signs that it will change. I, for one, am happy about that fact. Blink-182 will hit the snooze button as they wrapped up their “Missionary Impossible Tour” with these final Vegas dates and will come out of hibernation at Arizona’s Innings Festival in February. 

Throughout the day on the 7-11 stage, there were small glimpses of the headliner. Right above the screen I could make out a cursive name in lights that held the months long anticipation of the crowd. Slowly it was raised in front of the screen. Throughout all of blink-182’s set, eyes were occasionally drawn to a drum kit being rolled on the adjacent stage and screens that were being tested. Green Day’s Insomniac deep cut “Panic Song” played over the speakers as a countdown appeared on the screen. Fans in top hats and circus attire were waiting all day for this cabaret of lights, dancing, and music.  

The clock hit zero, and the long-awaited return of Panic! At The Disco finally occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 18^th. With a bang and a flash, Brendan Urie and his backing band blew the nonexistent roof off the place sliding from “Introduction” to “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage”. This landmark 2006 record etched itself into emo history with a speed that very few have ever done before. From its biggest hit “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” to the instrumental “Intermission” and “Introduction”, this record is a journey that I am always dying to go on. When We Were Young was the first time many of these songs have been played in over a decade. Fan favorite “Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” for the first time since 2016, “Build God, Then We’ll Talk” for the first time since 2010, and “Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks” for the first time since Panic! wrapped its “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out Tour” in 2007. This was a long time coming for so many fans, and Urie delivered. All thirteen tracks off the record were played, and when its all said and done, we weren’t even halfway through the set by the end of the album play. Sixteen more songs spanning the career of the band were featured as this trip down memory lane extended right up until curfew. With tracks including “Nine in the Afternoon”, “House of Memories”, and a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, this was an absolute knockdown set. After playing  their highest charting hit, “High Hopes”, I thought this incredible day had come to an end. To my surprise, the band stayed on stage except for an empty drum kit. “I want to bring my oldest friend out on stage” Urie announced as Spencer Smith, the original drummer for Panic! At The Disco, appeared from stage right. Playing the song that got them into all this, the cello began the opening riff of “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” once again. This was Smith’s first return to Panic! since leaving in April of 2015, and the performance was well worth the decade long wait. With a ceiling of fireworks lighting up the Vegas Strip, Urie and the band took a bow.  

When We Were Young provided everything a person would need, and much more, to have a memorable day at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. There was a feeling in the air and a glow in the face of all 85,000 attendees on Saturday that said there was no place they’d rather be. Under the shadow of The Strat, we heard all our favorite songs and picked up a few new ones too. A day I will remember forever. I can’t wait to see what rabbits When We Were Young will pull out of it’s hat for 2026. Until then, we will wait with high hopes.  

All photos courtesy of When We Were Young Festival.

The post When We Were Young Recap appeared first on KRUI Radio.

White Reaper

White Reaper was the final headlining act and closed out the night with a bang. Pulling partially from their new album and partially from their old hits, the hour worth of consistently engaging music Louisville alt rockers made the room extremely lively and fun to listen too. White Reaper have been pushing out good stuff in the Indie music scene for the last decade with albums like The World’s Best American Band and You Deserve Love. Their new album Only Slightly Empty maintains this consistency while also introducing more mature theme’s about relationships, fame and our world at large. If you want a more in depth review of the album you can read our review of it by KRUI writer and reporter Will Clair.

World’s Worst

World’s Worst first opened up the show phenomenally pulling mainly from their new album American Muscle. With a variety of influences from genres like Shoegaze, Emo, Grunge & Slacker Rock they had a really great performance filled with a nice mix of more relaxed and more high energy songs. My favorite from the set was their last track Rockets. It ran pretty long but I would’ve listened for 10 more minutes because of how it used its repetitive drumming, hypnotic bass lines and beautiful guitar tones (shoutout fuzz peddles) to create this really powerful and addicting wall of sound. After the set was over I got to speak with two of their band members Zach and Jake and had a nice conversation about some of their origins and influences. They all met in the skateboarding scene around University of Utah and formed Worlds Worst in late 2019, after having to split up briefly during covid they reformed towards the end of 2020 and have been going really strong since. If you wanna hear more about their story you can check out the interview KRUI’s own Logan Melia did with them. Great work and thanks for doing an interview with us World’s Worst!

Lip Critic

Lip Critic really amped up the audience for their half hour. Coming in with two drummers, a power electronic set and a lead singer who you would’ve thought was on coke. The pit went into a frenzy. Moshing, walls of death, crowd surfing and general high energy dancing made for a really fun set. The lead singer added to this quite a bit with running into the crowd multiple times and other crazy hijinks. Their mix between styles of dance and electronic music with more traditional American hardcore and metal makes for a really interesting boundary pushing music.

I wanted to highlight their unique style and genre blending that was seen across their performance and music as a whole. Their set consisted mainly of their 2024 album Hex Dealer which I got to buy a CD of afterwards at their merch stand. After taking it home to listen I immediately felt the same rush I felt at their show within the first few tracks and this kept going for the whole album

Kicking off the album with It’s The Magic, the track starts with a powerful bass and initially calm vocals before slowly introducing more instruments. Going into the second chorus the songs continues to intensify until the screeching vocals and heavy drums in verse three, carrying on for the rest of the song. 

Track two Love Will Redeem You wasted no time amping up. The heavy repetition and vocal effects are extremely effective at creating this chaotic almost manic vibe. This theme of manic anger continues on into the song The Heart, which is seemingly about an inescapable feeling of pain rushing through someone’s heart. The scattered vocal lines mixed with lyrics such as “Is beating inside me, a feeling untimely, can’t fight it off, can’t fight it off” effectively induces this feeling of anxiety and paranoia within the listener.

When speaking with the group after the show they discussed some of their influences within industrial hip hop artists such as Death Grips and Danny Brown, the latter of which they’ve actually opened for. These influences really show within their next two tracks. Starting with Bork Pelly we get a fun posse cut with underground rappers GHOSH & ID.Sus and continuing onto the very catchy Spirit Bomber. Both of them are the first fully rapped songs on the album and feature these very manically delivered non linear lines akin to MC Ride and other industrial hip hop artists.

The second and final feature on the track comes from DJ Izzy Da Fonseca on Death Lurking. The repetitive vocal lines create a very hypnotic yet fun and catchy atmosphere leading perfectly into Milky Max. Their most popular song delivers perfectly on what so much of what makes this album so great from front to back. The infectious riffs, the manic yet catchy lyrics, the insane vocals combining with intense electronic production and live drumming create such a fun and powerful song that was both amazing live and amazing to listen too at home.

The next three tracks are where you can see their hardcore roots blossom further. The heavy drumming in the Sermon outro, the breakneck pace of I’m Alive and the screeching vocals on My Wife and The Goblin really push the listeners stamina with nonstop high energy songs. In The Wawa (Convinced I Am God) in it’s own unique way tells what I believe to be a story of a man rejected by conventional society and norms and turning to find his own truth, ie: convincing himself he’s god. I think this perfectly exemplifies how many of the songs lyrics (despite being seemingly nonsensical) have some deeper ideas and meaning behind them. This concludes with the final track Toxic Dodger a braggadocious track that I see as the group almost manifesting their success within music. Repeating “If you wanna stop me you’re gonna have to kill me” until you believe it as hard as they do, and to be quite honest after finishing this record I think I do.

Even a year after its initial release Hex Dealer still remains one of the most exciting and boundary pushing release’s within underground music and this show was living proof of that. Their high energy genre blending sound and undeniable production talent lead to great albums and even better performances. I think its valuable for music audiences to challenge their ears by listening to music that doesn’t neatly fit into specific genre labels which is why I think artists like Lip Critic are so important. And I would definitely keep them on my radar of up-incoming talent within Electronic, Experimental Hip Hop and Noise music.

The post October 4th: White Reaper, World’s Worst & Lip Critic at Gabe’s. Lip Critic’s Hex Dealer Album & Show Review. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The performance at Gabe’s is put on by The Englert Theater as a part of their Track Zero Series, more information on tickets can be found here from the Englert Theatre (tickets discounted for students). Opening acts will be performed by Dearborn, a four piece alt-rock band straight out of Iowa City, and pianist Sam Blasucci, a founding member of California-based indie band Mapache.

Dearborn

Dearborn playing in someone’s basement, from left to right: Jonah Marcussen, Aaron Knight, Elijah Mickey, and Elias Smith. Photo via Dearborn.

The funky mask-wearing fellas in Dearborn are hot-on-the-block, forming just last year and released their first EP June 20th of 2025. Leaning heavy on resonance and reverb, Dearborn finds a balance between heavy noise and space to breath. The band features Elijah Mickey on vocals and guitar, Elias Smith on bass, Jonah Marcussen on lead guitar, and Aaron Knight on drums.

Sam Blasucci

Sam Blasucci comes from the avenues of Ojai, California, breaking off from his band Mapache in 2023 to pursue music as a solo artist. His latest album, ALL BLUE, was released last June 6th of 2025, a vulnerable album that invites love through smooth vocals and instrumentals that will fill your ears.

Night Moves

Night Moves has been turning heads since their inception in 2009, and with their latest album Double Life, whole bodies have been contorting to get closer and get their ears on the sound. John Pelant plays his beloved Gretsch guitar and belts out starry vocals, Micky Alfano slams down the bass, Mark Hanson bounces on the drums, and Charles Murlowski gets to twang his own guitar. It was with this ensemble that their latest album Double Life took shape, taking sound fonts from the likes of MGMT, Daft Punk, and Tame Impala. Pelant’s vocals reminds me of a younger version of myself, in a way, setting apart their vibe from those artists. But what is the vibe? According to Pelant, it’s “cosmic twang-rock pop sludge.” Makes sense to me. 

Pelant graduated high school in 2009, his band moved away from the music scene in Minneapolis. Alfano and Mark Ritsema were in the same boat, so the three got together and started working on their vision. As they were on tour, drummer Jared Isabella was recruited to play after talking with Alfano. Two and a half years of work later, and Night Moves released its first studio album, Colored Emotions. They were quickly picked up by Domino Recording Company, an independent record label known for signing other acts like Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys. The next four years were swathed by tours, and it was during this time that Pelant discovered legendary indie music producer John Agnello. Agnello went hard on Pelant to push his voice and feel comfortable in it, resulting in their next album Pennied Days from 2016 and future vocal work. They kept on, adding drummer Mark Hanson and guitarist Charles Murlowski to release their third album in 2019, Can You Really Find Me. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic intercepted their momentum, leaving Night Moves paradoxically still. It would take six more years until their next and latest album, Double Life, which just released on July 25th, 2025.

I’m most excited to hear their new material from Double Life. The first track, Trying to Steal a Smile wastes no time busting a killer groove. State Sponsored Psychosis slows it down, eliciting the feeling of fading away, in a good way. White Liquor is a fantastic blend of folk-rock with their current style, being the main stand out for me. Especially with that soothing harmonica…. Though they have made no promises on their lineup, whatever they play is going to be mega swag money. It will be 3 years and 12 days since Night Moves has played at Gabe’s, so I think we should all be there to give them a warm re-welcoming this Wednesday the 15th.

Tickets are still available from the Englert Theatre (tickets discounted for students), or may be purchased at the door.

The post KRUI Big Room Show & Concert Preview: Night Moves at Gabe’s this Wednesday, Oct. 15th! appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Dearest Davenport: If you were at this show wearing a long-sleeve shirt and had dark hair pulled in a bun, I have something of yours, contact me.

San Diego metal icons Deafheaven graced the people of Iowa with their divine presence on October 9th, at the Capitol Theater in Davenport. This performance was a part of their massive North America & Europe tour following the release of their 2025 album, Lonely People With Power. They were supported at this show by Chicagoan metal band Harm’s Way and Texan hardcore newcomers I Promised the World. I Promised the World performed like house show, the stage might as well have been a basement and we were all friends together in the small crowd, watching two dudes skipping and hurling themselves down the runway of a pit while the singers above screamed and collided together on stage. Harm’s Way brought a violent overpowering set, industrial tones and performing metal in a way that felt like the burning taste of iron in blood. Both bands put on killer shows opening for Deafheaven, completely full of energy to loosen the crowd and intensify the stage.

Incidental I

“Are you a lonely person with power?”

Spotlights flitted to pierce into the audience, covering the deep blues of the shifting stage as five men walked out. Mechanical groans leaked out across the silence of the theater, soft plucking guitars built over an informercialic voice echoing:

“We need to talk. You need more excitement. You need something live. Real people to connect with. Explore your darkest thoughts. Confess your private desires. Experience the incredible.”

Metal rained a storming sound across the audience. From that moment on, the concert hall was flooded with energy between the band and audience. Black metal integrity rules that, ideally, music should never end. Songs overlapped into each other for nearly 20 minutes before a curt, “Davenport, how are we doing tonight?” from the singer, diving straight back into screeching vocals a moment later. Without further incident, the first half of the set passed through in a clamor of noise. Much like the band’s discography throughout the years, the music played that night underwent constant evolution, the shifting waves of sound ebbing and flowing until pulling away completely. The band walked off stage, disappearing into an uneasy tension like the drawback of a tsunami. Silence.

Incidental II

“When you say, “Baby, come to me,”
Who am I, one who cannot see”

From beyond the empty stage, a quiet song began into the silence. A rasping woman’s voice echoes a slow spoken melody, accompanied by a guitar strum. This newfound quiet intimacy brewed instinctively discomforting, following the past hour of constant sonic onslaught. Static and groans encroached into the song’s soft melody, entering alongside the band as the five drifted back on stage in complete control of the growing anticipation. The tsunami wave loomed dead ahead. A final breath.

“I think I might be hiding from myself,
It’s so good to be alone, alone with someone else”

Lightning leapt out the sky and thunder erupted from the stage surface, the concert hall completely destroyed and replaced by pure noise. Singer, guitarist, and bassist stood raised above the crowd, leaning as the wave crashed into their wall of the most oppressive sound I have ever heard.

The show continued with a reinvigorated brutality, the torrent hurled into half-moments of pause until breaking down straight back to blistering sound. Controlled by blinding, tyrannical drums, the two guitarists pulled around and in-between each other, a brawling dynamic something in between synchronization and a fistfight. George Clark’s inhuman voice screeched into surreality, whispers and cries spun across the merciless pattern. He was a conductor, pulling the sound into existence and manipulating the wave by a movement of his hand. With each vicious swipe of Clark’s hand, the music shuttered and turned over, a living creature trapped in writhing death throes within his grasp.

In the past years, I’ve grown admittedly bored with metal. There’s certainly no lack of revolutionary artists in the genre, it’s an art undergoing constant change and reinvention across the world. Maybe I’m not going to enough good shows, but I just have not experienced any of those revolutionary out-of-body moments that I expect from quality music, until October 9th. Until Deafheaven, throughout the hundreds of shows I’ve seen, nothing came close to awakening the same feelings I had when I saw my first metal show with Lorna Shore at Deadwood. That was my first experience with live metal, my body exposed to the live wire intensity and new indescribable feeling that metal can fill your spirit with. This show reminded me what metal can be, and why I love it. Noise mixed into a concoction I had never experienced before as the sound boiled into a wholly new oppression that clutched at my nostalgia.

Shredding apart a sound through every moment, just to construct a new noise to tear into within the next breath, Deafheaven was a violence as new as it was familiar, dually creation and desolation.

Davenport, IA was one of the final stops on Deafheaven‘s U.S. tour, which will soon resume with an array of sold-out shows across Europe into December. I eagerly await the next album (even if it takes another four years) and for a chance to experience this band’s energy all over again. More information about upcoming shows across the Davenport/DSM area can be found here from First Fleet Concerts.

The post Are you a lonely person with power? Deafheaven in Davenport at the Capitol Theater, Oct. 9 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

They are supported tonight by Harm’s Way and I Promised the World. Harm’s Way is a hardcore band originating from 2006 in Chicago, building their music with industrial and experimental electronic elements. Though beginning in their youth with “kill all frat kids” lyricism, they’ve lately gone down the more serious black metal inspired route, and have recently performed alongside bands such as Basement and Knocked Loose. I Promised the World (formerly named Sinema) are a young hardcore band out of Texas, currently touring along Deafheaven throughout most U.S. states (except Texas). Their music builds on hardcore with a nostalgic screamo quality, and are sure to put out a great performance tonight.

Deafheaven returns back to heavier and darker tones of their past in Lonely People With Power, while their classic pained catharsis flows and powers through each song. Throughout their discography, the band has experimented between genres of metal, rock, and pop, living and making music from the underlying grooves connecting them all together. The influence can be heard throughout each release, with some albums clearly drawing their inspirational ties tighter and looser as the band evolves. It’s been fascinating to follow this band throughout the years, and to notice the distinct evolution that lives underneath their constantly changing sound. Lonely People With Power is both a return to that deepness of their past and their genre-defining Sunbather, changed by a clear pop influence in the musicality, instrumentation, and song structure. This album stands far on its own as another era of the band, another fantastic point in the evolving and genre-defying Deafheaven.

Given the intensity of this show, I advise all attendees to come prepared with earplugs. Their setlist tonight will likely focus on Lonely People With Power, with tracks from Sunbather and New Bermuda likely sprinkled in. I do fret and worry, that should Incidental II be perhaps performed tonight, my soul may be inclined to escape the confines of my body.

Tickets for the event are for sale from First Fleet Concerts here.

The post Concert Preview: Deafheaven in Davenport at the Capitol Theater, October 9 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

On Saturday October 4th, Salt Late City’s World’s Worst took the stage at Gabe’s ahead of Lip Critic and White Reaper as a part of The Englert Theater’s Track Zero series. The four piece heavy and moody rock band, comprised of Andy Aronson on guitar and vocals, Jake Phillips on bass and backing vocals, Jackson Wise on guitar, and Zach Mayo on drums, took some time after sound check to chat with me. They discussed their latest record “American Muscle”, how they got started playing music, and The Real Housewives of SLC.

Logan Melia: Let’s get rocking and rolling here. World’s Worst, how we doing guys?  

Andy Aronson: Dude, doing well. Stoked to be in Iowa City.  

Logan: Your first time, right?  

Andy: Yeah, first time playing Iowa at all. Ever, really?  

Logan: Okay, how are the vibes? What are we, what’s the feel?  

Andy: Dude, good. We walked around the little main street down there briefly. Beautiful. There’s a lot of people out. A lot of bananas. People are wearing banana costumes  

Logan: Banana bar crawl today.

Jake Phillips: Yeah, we saw a lot of bananas.  

Logan: We have one about once a month. Different themes, different costumes.  

Jackson Wise: You think the bananas might make an appearance here?  

Logan: I have seen a banana here before. I’ve seen a monkey costume here before. I’ve seen many things. An alien, a blow-up alien that crowd surfed.  

Andrew: Dude… If you get the monkey costume and the banana costume in the same room, that sounds dangerous. That could go south.  

Logan: That’s a good one, that’s a good one. Did you prep that one?  

Jake: No, no, no, no, he’s quick.

Jake: Andy’s a shit talker.  

Andy: Something’s speaking through me right now.  

Jackson: His comedy juices are flowing.  

Jake: He’s really good at shit talking. Is he the funniest one of the group?  

Andy: No, I think that depends on the day. I think morning time, Jake is the one ripping. I probably didn’t talk for the first four hours of the day. So it’s Jake’s free range.  

Jake: Yeah, I’m a morning person for sure. 

Logan: Okay, are we talking like long-form jokes like you’re setting up or just, you know, off-the-bat, you know, monkey banana jokes?  

Jake: Just kind of just tweaking, saying like crazy shit, you know? 
 
Andy: Yeah, just let… Just no buffers. 

Jake: Stream of consciousness.

Logan: Okay, yeah, yeah. Is it a pretty cohesive stream of consciousness amongst the four of you?

Andy: By the end of this tour, we gain a hive mind sort of thing where we can all look at the same object and have the same joke immediately, probably. But we’ll get there. I don’t think quite yet.  

Logan: And that’s a family. Now, the tour’s just started. We’re already at day three right now. Milwaukee, Chicago, Iowa City. With some really cool bands.

Jake: We played a couple shows on the way out here too, just to get to Milwaukee. We played Omaha and Minneapolis.  

Jackson: This is day three? Holy shit.  

Logan: It’s been a hike for you guys from Salt Lake City, correct?  

Andy: Yeah, yeah.  

Logan: The scene out there, how is it? As someone who doesn’t really know too much about it, what’s the vibe?  

Andy: It’s great, I love it. I feel like I was talking to someone on this tour about it, that Salt Lake is such a… It’s a pretty isolated place in a way. It’s like far from every other major city. So like the scene feels very tight-knit, where it’s like everyone kind of knows everyone. It’s hard to tour, so it like builds a really strong community in Salt Lake, which I love. It’s like we have so many friends in it that are like, I don’t know, going on years now of like everyone’s bands, iterations and all that. It’s like the same kind of people that you see every time. It’s really nice.  

Logan: That’s really sick. The West Coast, obviously things are more spread out. You mentioned that. Do you find yourself touring the West Coast a lot more? Yeah.  

Jake: It for sure feels like easier for us too, because we have like a lot of friends in California, and we’re like put out… One of the record labels that put us out is from Oakland. So it’s like we have a lot of support in the Bay Area. So California and the West Coast is just like super easy for us to do that loop.  

Zach Mayo: It’s really accessible compared to getting out to like Kansas City. 

Andy: Yeah, it takes us like a few days to get on the East Coast to do it right. But West Coast we can kind of tap in pretty quick. But we really, I mean this year we’ve done, this will be our second time going through the East Coast. But last year we did the West Coast like three or four times. We did a lot.  

Zach: Yeah, too much maybe.  

Logan: You mentioned the Bay Area. I mean what a scene for music. I mean Jawbreaker. 
I mean just like all these incredibly influential bands. 

Logan: What was on your playlist growing up?  

Andy: Yeah, growing up it’s like I think skateboarding, like skateboarding movies and videos. That is like my early exposure to a lot of music. And I found like Dinosaur Junior, Sonic Youth, like all of those that are like still to this day, bands I listen to pretty constantly 
like I found when I was like 11 watching like an Alien Workshop video or something. So that was like my entry point into like music that felt like mine. Not just like things that maybe my parents were putting on the radio or something.  

Jake: I really liked like pop punk and emo when I was like younger. My like older sister liked like Warped Tour music. And so like the suggested videos on like the family computer YouTube would be like blink-182. And I just bumped that like hella. 

Logan: What about you guys?  

Zach: Oh, um, yeah, it was a lot of the kind of pop punk, like Fall Out Boy and sort of the mainstream alternative music that was on the radio. And then kind of like Jake would like recommended shit on YouTube just from looking at that. Yeah. And then I had a drum teacher that had a pretty good taste in music and would like… He knew some guys in Thursday. And so like he taught me how to play a Thursday song. 

Logan: Like Tucker Rule?  

Zach: Oh no, the Car Crash one. Yeah, which I don’t know if people like that much, that’s the one he taught me.  

Logan: They’re crazy. They opened up for MCR. Was that a MetLife or whatever? I’m from the Chicago area. They played this really small venue out in the suburbs to like 200 people or something like that on a Wednesday night. It was one of the most electric shows I’ve ever been to in my life.  

Andy: That’s awesome.  

Logan: You got anything, you know, out of left field?  

Jackson: Well, yeah, I mean, I grew up just listening to whatever my dad had in his car and then started skating. And my first CD I bought was the first song that played on our local skate park’s website. It was One-Armed Scissor by At The Drive-In. So “Relationship of Command” was my first CD and that kind of started my blueprint with a lot of my life. Something that no fifth graders should listen to.  

Logan: Well, I mean, you wouldn’t be here without it. Maybe, maybe.  

Jackson: But you know, At The Drive-In inspired me to start learning guitar and start taking it seriously. The Mars Volta, I don’t sing in this band, but they inspired me to sing. 

Logan: When did you guys start playing your instruments?  

Andy: Dude, I was kind of late to it. I learned like open chords when I was younger. Just like very, but then I like kind of didn’t really care that much and I just wanted to skateboard. And then kind of started teaching myself how to like get around the guitar when I was like 18. Yeah, I had like a little background, but kind of didn’t really pursue it much. Like through high school, I didn’t play like guitar at all.  

Jake: Yeah, I started playing guitar like pretty young. And then I played in the orchestra like in middle school. Like I played the bass in the orchestra and then stopped playing around freshman year. And I actually kind of, the orchestra made me hate music. So I kind of stopped for like, you know, like, I don’t know, from like 16 to 19. I didn’t really play music. Like when I went to college, like I didn’t bring my guitar or like anything.  

Logan: Really?  

Jake: Yeah.  

Logan: I mean, drums are a little harder to take to college.  

Zach: Yeah, absolutely. I started playing the drums when I was like 13 and then stopped at 17. And then I didn’t bring the drum kit out to Utah. I’m from Ohio. So I didn’t bring that out until I think we got a house like our junior year. And then didn’t play the kit at all until like a year later. And when Andrew and Jake wanted to start playing music, so.  

Logan: How about you? When did you start playing guitar?  

Jackson: I started playing guitar somewhere in elementary school. My brother got the red, I guess it was a Squire Strat. I don’t remember. It was some off-brand red, it was a red Stratocaster. And I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. So I essentially just took it.  

Logan: I peeked through your guys’ blog on the website. There was mention of a Stratocaster that inspired, what was it? “No, I’m Not”. Yeah, that’s. Is that going to make an appearance tonight? Is that a on-tour guitar?  

Andy: That’s been my mainstay for a little while now. I love that guitar. It’s so fun, but yeah. I love a Strat. I love the, I like that if you Google guitar, like a Strat is the first image that shows up. It’s like the most normal guitar.  

Jake: It’s like the guitar emoji. 

Andy: Exactly. It’s like the most normal guitar. It’s awesome. 
 
Logan: Yeah. All right. So new record this year, very exciting stuff. You brought acoustics, shakers, a whole bunch of stuff. When you’re recording, do you ever have any off-the-wall ideas where you’re like, “let’s get a mandolin in the mix”? Or any big things you want to bring in later?  

Andy: I had an idea and Jake executed it, but we used a shotgun for a sound.  

Logan: Nice. That’s awesome.  

Jake: Yeah, there’s a song called “Angus” and it goes like, “bow-bow (shotgun sound)”. It’s me playing the shotgun.   

Logan: Is that going to make an appearance?  

Jackson: I don’t think, yeah, I don’t think we can bring that in.  

Jake: Yeah, I don’t think they’d love that one.  

Andy: Venues don’t like that. That sound checker, like, can we check the shotgun? They don’t know how to do that one.  

Logan: Ask “how many mics do you need”.

Jake: We brought up the idea and the guy, we were recording it with this guy named Rocky in his basement and he was just like, oh yeah, hold on. He grabbed his gun.  

Zach: “Yeah, let me get my 11 gauge”.  

Andy: Yeah, we threw a lot of ideas around. He had like all kinds of like kind of toys and random music gear in his basement.  

Jake: We had this pedal steel, or not pedal steel, lap steel. Nice. And like synthesizers and like.  

Andy: Yeah, a lot of things that like we don’t, like we don’t, we knew going into it, it’s like we’re not going to do any of this live. It’s like we’re just using this to like flesh out an idea here. Yeah, but yeah, that’s kind of the whole idea with the record is like we fleshed out all the ideas as like a live performance and then see what holes we can punch in with like different ideas, different, like a new guitar track that we probably can’t play live or like a new synth pad, like, you know, things like that. Just to kind of flesh it all out.  

Jake: Tambourines and shit like that.  

Andy: Yeah, shakers.  

Jake: There’s a couple, we knew we wanted to like take a couple, like I know it’s pretty normal in the grand scheme of music, but for us, it’s a bit of a little like, like, you know, something different.  

Andy: Experimental. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we’re pretty bare bones, at least in the past when we record, it’s like. Guitars. Guitar track, bass track, drums. Let’s get vocals on it, call it a day. But yeah, we spent a lot more time with it on this record.  

Logan: When you bring in someone like a steel guitar, who plays that? Do you bring someone in to play that or do you guys figure it out yourselves?  

Jake: The guy who produced our record, Rocky, played the steel guitar and he actually knew his way around like the synths and drum machines and like tambourine and shit. He’s just like a crazy dude who has a lot of, a lot of weird music knowledge, you know?  

Andy: Yeah, he, yeah, he played the synths, played like a white noise machine essentially at one point. Like he, he was awesome. It was really fun recording with him. He kind of can know, he knows how to get around just about everything. It’s cool.

Logan: How long did it take you to record this record? What was the, how long did it take you to write, you know, all that stuff?  

Andy: The writing process is like probably slowly over a year, I would say. And then recording, we kind of like, we didn’t do it in the traditional sense of like studio time, quote unquote, where it’s like we all had the time off and we all got there and we like muscled it through. We kind of all just like fit in our like work schedule, like head to Rocky’s for like a couple hours after work, try and get a guitar track down kind of thing. Yeah. So probably took around a month.  

Jake: It did take exactly a month.  

Zach: It was like 40 hours. 

Jake: 40 hours in the studio. But like over, over a month. You know, like Zach played, Zach played the drums in like two days and then it was kind of like went and played the bass. Guitars took a lot longer, you know, just a couple hours here, a couple hours, because it was just like a friend’s basement, not like a real studio.

Logan: Oh, that’s a real studio.  

Andy: Yeah. I mean, it’s a real studio to us. We love it. 

Logan: It gets the job done.  

Andy: Exactly. Yeah, it’s awesome. Feel more comfortable doing it like that than maybe going somewhere where, a studio where it feels like you kind of put your money into the machine and it’s like parking meter. It’s like, all right, the clock’s ticking. Get your drum take down. I don’t know. That feels a little stressful. It was, took a little bit of the stress out of it to just be hanging out with your friend in the basement, you know?  

Logan: Yeah. When you’re on tour, I saw the Bedridden inspired kind of the “Gas Hands” riff. When you’re on tour, do you write a lot? Do you find yourself writing riffs, or is it kind of like you’re too busy?  

Andy: I mean, there’s like been times where, you know, you’re just messing around at sound check and a riff comes to you, but I wouldn’t say we’re ever like setting aside time to write or do anything like that. We, uh, I think just with like the exposure to like, like I mentioned the Bedridden thing in the blog, it’s like playing with that band and seeing them play every night for like three weeks or so. It’s like you start to pick up on those things that the tricks or the magic that makes that band sound that way. And like, whether you like it or not, you’re going to start like absorbing that and maybe it seeps its way into your writing. And like, I feel like that song, I found myself being like, oh, this is kind of like a Bedridden type beat because of that. Maybe like not even intentionally. So just, I had heard so much of it that that’s where it ended up with.  

Jackson: I think it’s like inspirational to just like be in all these new places and like you’re sleep deprived. So you’re kind of like emotional, you know what I mean? Like I’d like you come out of it with like, it’s just inspiring in a way, you know, like staring at the fucking plains, you know, like staring at the woods for like hours and hours, you know, in a car. 

Logan: You mentioned just, you know, like the bands and everything. You mentioned Blink-182. Those guy’s over there, White Reaper, opened up for blink-182 like two years ago. That’s kind of insane.

Zach: That’s awesome.

Jackson: I got to interject. Is this White Reaper on house music?  

Logan: They are on the playlist.  

Jackson: The voice, I was like, that’s got to be White Reaper. They’re playing their music at their show.  

Andy: That’s awesome. That’s how you know he made it, man. Yeah, you’re on a dime. 

Jackson: I was like kind of losing. I was like, there’s no way. 

Logan: I’ve heard everything from Miley Cyrus to like Judas Priest on this thing. So it’s, you know, we got a variety here.  

Andy: Yeah, we played some pool. It was a good playlist when we were playing.  

Logan: Yeah, they hold an extremely competitive pool league here on Monday nights. It’s, I’ve never participated, are you guys pool players?  

Andy: Here and there.  

Jake: Jackson’s all right, but we like to play.  

Andy: Yeah, good way to pass time, you know, playing a lot of bars on tour. You end up like, “oh, we got two hours till soundcheck”.  

Jake: It’s better than looking at your phone, you know, playing pool with the boys.  

Jackson: It’s a good money exchanging for time. Yeah, a dollar could be five minutes, could be like 20.  

Andy: Yeah, absolutely.  

Jake: That’s a good way to think about it.  

Logan: But it’s fun. And as long as you’re having fun, you’re winning.  

Jake: 100%.  

Logan: I won’t keep you guys too much longer. I got one final question for you guys. Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.  

Andy: Oh, yeah. 
 
Logan: That’s an insane show.  

Andy: Yes, absolutely. 

Logan: What are your guys’ takes on Salt Lake City Natives? Once again, saw a touch of it in the blog. What’s the, give me your unfiltered thoughts here.  

Andy: I love it. It’s cool. I honestly don’t think my girlfriend put me onto it. I think I put her onto it, which is funny. I love it. It’s great. I think it’s gotten the nation to maybe lend their eyes to Salt Lake City, Utah in a way that they haven’t before. It’s cool. I started it initially being like, I just want to see what businesses they go to. Like, kind of like, do I eat at the same places as them? 

Logan: Did you notice any local spots?  

Andy: Oh yeah. It’s a small city. There’s plenty of overlap. But they’re a little bit of, they live in a different tax bracket than me. So they’re going to a little bit more expensive places. But yeah, it’s great. I love it. New season just started. I was only able to watch one episode before heading out on this tour. I’m definitely going to binge through some once we get back. But I’m excited to see where things go. Seems like Britney is already stirring the pot, man. Classic Britney. We’ll see how that ends up. But we’ll see.  

Jake: I’ve honestly never seen it. This is mainly like, but my older sister really likes it. And so anytime there’s a blog or something, she’ll comment on it and be like, “oh, blah, blah, blah”. 

Logan: Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you guys. It was an absolute pleasure.  

Andy: Thank you so much. This was fun. 

Jake: Yeah, thank you man. 

Zach: Thanks man. 

Jackson: Logey-bear. 

Logan: I’m looking forward to a great show. It’s been a pleasure.  

Andy: Hell yeah.  

World’s Worst made a statement with their performance, setting an incredibly high bar for the bands that followed. Their first journey to Iowa was impactful and bold. I walked out with an anticipation for the next time I will see them live, and a song dedicated to myself. Tune in now, and see them in a small venue while you can. World’s Worst are a can’t miss as they continue their tour across the East Coast with White Reaper and Lip Critic. Their newest record “American Muscle,” is out now.

The post Interview: World’s Worst on their past, present, and the Real Housewives of SLC appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This show will be one of White Reaper’s first since the release of their 5th studio album, Only Slightly Empty. The current members of the band are Tony Esposito as lead singer and guitar, Ryan Hater on keyboard, and Hunter Thompson on guitar. This album marks the first release since the departure of drummer Sam Wilkerson and his twin brother and bass player, Nick Wilkerson. Even with these founding members leaving, they were able to create an amazing alt-rock album that can energize you throughout its 29-minute runtime.

When I first heard about Only Slightly Empty, I was very hesitant and had low expectations since they were missing their rhythm section, but after hearing the first song on the album, all my worries were pushed to the side. The first song on the album, Coma, is a song that throws you in the deep end, with a very soft intro that immediately turns into a wall of heavy guitars and lyrics about distaste for the world and how no matter how hard they try to make it better, the bad seems to beat it out. The next song, Blink continues with the theme of the world rejecting them with the lyrics, “They all hoped I would die in here / So I pulled my punches and took my meals / For a waiting man that’s a life left cold.”

In the songs Honestly and Freakshow the lyrics move from how he is victimized by the world to how he won’t sit back and take it anymore. The way he strikes back at those who have wronged them is addressed in Eraser, talking about how they will get rid of those around them who only bring them down. These themes are representative throughout the album as a whole and signify a metaphorical end to the first half of the album, from theme to overall sound.

The next two songs in the album explore confusion within a romantic relationship. Blue 42 dives into the problems that the singer is admitting to in the relationship, from neglecting their partner or making them feel lesser. It continues with the sound of strong guitars from the previous songs, but that quickly changes with Pocket. The guitars change from aggressive to almost having a calming effect as the songs become more personal. Pocket deals with the singer coming to terms with the end of a relationship and wanting to end things. Rubber Cement and Touch let us see deeper into his mind and how he feels and yearns for another person, wanting to go back to them and equating them as home.

This album holds a lot of great music and is just one of many amazing albums from White Reaper. This album marks a turning point in their careers as an almost brand-new band. To see them as they are now, come visit their show this weekend at Gabe’s. Detailed show and ticket information can be found here.

The post Concert Preview: White Reaper w/ Lip Critic and World’s Worst at Gabe’s Oct. 4. An open-eyed look into the new record Only Slightly Empty appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Origami Angel’s Feeling Not Found stays true to their ethos of deeply expressive, raw emo rockers; all with a tinge of geeky goodness. Opening with as soft-spoken of a track as “Lost Signal”, they immediately contrast it well in “Dirty Mirror Selfie” with gritty guitar riffs, passionately vulnerable vocals and lyrics that follow. The harmonic changes in songs like “Where Blue Light Blooms” and “Living Proof” flow into the ears the way butter spreads so easily on bread. Guitarist and vocalist Ryland Heagy’s tenor voice fits the bill of a classic emo-rock whine, which is nothing short of impressive. Drummer Pat Doherty’s versatile chops also remain top notch. Everything up until “Fruit Wine”, I just can’t get enough of. 

From a songwriting standpoint, both Heagy and Doherty are at the top of their game so far. It’s lines like “Tell me something good, I wanna smile one more time/Tell me I’ll be safe from the virus in my mind” from the track “Viral” that complement the emo instrumentals well. “Fruit Wine”, “Dirty Mirror Selfie”, and “Where Blue Light Blooms” were the singles released ahead of the album’s release on September 27th. At the same time, these are also among the standout tracks. These are the tunes that in my journey with this album have stuck with me the most. However, tracks like “secondgradefoofight”, “HM07 Waterfall”, and the album’s title track are so much more lightweight than the first half of the album. While the second half’s tracks add their fair share with respect to the album as a cohesive unit, they were only as good to me as their first few listens. They’re nowhere near as memorable as the first half of the album.

As you could probably tell from the titles of the tracks, Feeling Not Found is based on the isolation and disillusionment in the digital age of today. The question is, does the album tackle the subject well? So much of its lyrics are far from contrived and feel like candid glimpses into the digital lens of Ryland and Doherty. I applaud the creative commentary on the internet age we find ourselves in as social media and doom scrolling are a couple of major topics explored. They even cleverly tackle the struggle for Spotify artist’s pay in the track “Sixth Cents (Get It?)”. I can’t help but feel nostalgic in “Where Blue Light Blooms”, as it harkens back to a more innocent time where CRT displays may as well have kept the vast frontiers of unexplored webpages condensed into a singular box — “Just waiting for the cue to go outside/So I can lock up every single door and/Hide behind these firewalls.”

“Underneath My Skin” tells the story of being caught in the crosshairs of social media anxiety, expressing concerned over arbitrary follower and like counts with a line like, “Bigger number, better person/Bigger picture, better mercenary tactics get you where you wanna be.” Origami Angel is sharing these experiences with the listener, an audience of people who’ve also been raised by the internet. They have astutely centered their writing beyond this album on having grown up in the 21st century, and it’s no wonder their fanbase gel with that. In Feeling Not Found, they and their audience are now a group of digital mountain men reminiscing on what was, and at the same time, resenting the development of what that land has become now; the Las Vegas strip that is big tech. 

The album excellently captures the rage we feel living in these virtual times. However, while jamming to tracks like “Where Blue Light Blooms” and “Underneath My Skin” today, I’m curious to see where this album finds itself in discussion thinking back on the 2020s. Does Feeling Not Found explore these themes beyond the frustrations we feel with it now? Not so much. Of course, this album falls under emo, so why wouldn’t there be such raw emotion and whine in the lyrics and vocals? But when I think about living in the digital age, there’s more to be said outside of the anxiety we feel wasting time in front of screens. This album just speaks so much in the present tense.

Origami Angel’s audience, with them being perhaps late Millenial or early Gen-Z in age, are still so young. We’ve still got a lot to live for, and we’ve grown up like this for damn near our whole lives. This album doesn’t show much on what they think this anxiety now will mean in future. They’ve invested so much in the concept that I’m not sure what stopped them from exploring even a tad further. Their writing chops have blossomed so much since Somewhere City, and these dudes totally have the wits to go even further in the concept album department. In this candid conversation with Origami Angel, I’m curious to know their opinion on where we’re headed in the future, because as far as Feeling Not Found is concerned, they’re too busy moping about the now. 

Nevertheless, I have a feeling that this album has the capacity to be an important, if not at least interesting time capsule for our frustrations on the trials and tribulations surrounding social media use, especially for us Gen-Z folk. It still covers heaps of emotional ground on the topic, while supplying a stellar deal of mosh material that’ll last fans years (I really want to get my foot broken next time I show up to a Origami Angel gig). For fans of Origami Angel, this album is right on par with Somewhere City and will for sure keep you satisfied. For patrons of pop-punk or emo, as well as all those feeling some lost signal themselves, Origami Angel’s Feeling Not Found is well worth your time.

The post Origami Angel Feels 21st Century Anxiety in “Feeling Not Found” appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In March of 2020, Washer was preparing a tour, and had formulated songs for a new album. As it did with everything, the pandemic shut down those aspirations and postponed a new release. Washer stayed busy during that time improving the album, nearly rewriting every song on the record, which only pushed its release date further back. In that time, those experiences seeped into the essence of this release.  

Quigley (Left) and McShane (Right) Image via Washer

It’s time that defines this record. Quigley reflects on all the weeks, months and years that have drifted by him. He describes the effects that it has, such as creating a decomposing shell of a body, tattered by years of a hard living lifestyle. He also recalls all the faces that have cycled between strangers, acquaintances, friends and back again. This is while dealing with all the new inconvenient horrors in our modern lives that reveal themselves each day. 

It feels like a deep lament to the reflection of oneself in the mirror behind a bar. Spewing out drunken regrets and nostalgic recollections to whoever is willing to hear them. It’s an account of those who live their lives engulfed in an indie scene. Eventually the ecstasy wears out, and most have to confront the brute of reality. Time twists and contorts things. People age, are forced to find real jobs society deems acceptable, and then abandon the carefree ways of their youth.  

The somberness of this realization is reflected in the music itself. The songs “Answer To Hell” and “Blammo” are slower in pace and put the listener into a ponderous mood. Like staring into the glare of stop lights, and trying to decipher why things unfold the way they do. Quigley’s voice cracks and warbles as he sings out these blues.  

But the songs, they don’t stay subdued. Like any great Washer song, they build until they become a swirling whirlwind of intense zealous energy. “King Insignificant” and “False Prize” do this. All that desolate energy burns an angry hole into Quigley’s soul until it blazes in a passionate eruption. As it flows out, Kieran matches the energy in tandem, like they’re soul bounded. This fervent shouting is where Quigley shines brightest. 

Washer, on this release, doesn’t stray away from the sound they’ve had throughout their time as a band, but they try to add in some new elements. Kieran can be heard screaming along in the background, while Becca Ryskalczyk of Bethlehem Steel contributes vocals on a few tracks. Despite little change the songs are still invigorating.  

Image via Washer

The stretch of songs from “The Waning Moon” to “Not Like You” on the front half of the record is a string of rippers that flow very well together, only broken up by a guitar harmonic resembling a clock bell’s chime. The songs traverse from jangly, western style riffs that can be found throughout Washer’s discography, to blown out gravely tones featured with “Grift On Repeat.” This song is accompanied by a feedback heavy, abrasive guitar solo that plays over a spoken word delivery. It then switches up to a chant of “I take my time and throw it away,” in the chorus, reflecting the common motif.  

This high vitality is what defines Washer. Despite everything that would bring them down in life, they are still able to have a good time. Even though what may be considered the glory days of youth are fading, Washer can still enjoy and express themselves through music. Like on “Fail Big” singing the cynical line, “It’s clear, this year ain’t the first to get bad,” at the top of their lungs. 

“Improved Means To Deteriorated Ends” is out now via Exploding In Sound Records. You can listen to it on the Washer Bandcamp and other streaming services. You can see what shows they are playing here.

The post Washer Count the Passing Moments on “Improved Means To Deteriorated Ends” appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Katherine Paul is the multi-instrumentalist indie rock artist behind Black Belt Eagle Scout. Based in Portland, Oregon, the artist draws influence from post-rock, indie/alternative, and traditional Native American music of the Coast Salish. She grew up dancing and singing with her family band, her family belonging to the Swinomish Tribal Community.

Black Belt Eagle Scout’s third album, The Land, The Water, The Sky (2023) arrived in February of this year. The album channels the artist even more directly inspired by her heritage after a return visit to the indigenous community from which she hails. The album reflects her connection to the titular natural features as well as her family members and ancestors. Paul’s previous projects as Black Belt Eagle Scout include her debut Mother of My Children (2018) and her previous record At the Party With My Brown Friends (2019).

This is the artist’s first performance in Iowa City and the first musical act to kick off the weekend’s festival. The night’s events take place at Hancher Auditorium. Black Belt Eagle Scout’s performance will begin at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 6th. Full passes to the festival are available here as well as single day tickets.

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