A beautiful building stationed in the heart of the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago is Thalia Hall. Originally built in 1892, this roughly 900 capacity room is the venue of choice for many artists on their stops through town. I entered the limestone building, admiring each chisel as it sits on the corner of 18^th and Allport. Walking up the stairs past the iconic chalkboard painting the names of the artist playing each night, the warmth of this venue wrapped around me. A balcony hung comfortably above my head as the space grew larger the further I stepped in. This room was special, housing the best of today, yesterday, and tomorrow. In a city of incredible venues, Thalia Hall prides itself on repeat customers. Taking in the old and weary Henry Rollins (4 times), giving a huge stage to the then-young Ratboys in 2023 (4 times), and have kept big names like Waxahatchee (5 times) coming back. Building itself as a pillar of arts in the community, it hosts the “Thalia Hall Free For All” twice a year. With stellar lineups, it opens its doors free of charge to see some top local and touring acts. This is a special place to take in some music. 

I made my way to Thalia Hall to see The Lemonheads and Erin Rae on December 15^th. A cold Wednesday in the winter made a little warmer by the atmosphere. I have been lucky enough to see Erin Rae before, opening up for Jake Ewald of Slaughter Beach, Dog on his solo acoustic tour in 2024. Playing in a smaller setting to only about 100 or so people, I vividly remember Erin joining Jake for a great cover of Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain”. We caught her whole set, playing tunes off two of her records, 2022’s “Lighten Up” and 2018’s “Putting On Airs”. With a sprinkle of singles in their too, including “On Her Side”, it was a great set and a pleasure to see her accompanied by her full band. The three piece, that had Chicago legend Jeff Tweedy’s son Spencer on drums, produced a bright and calming sound just days ahead of the winter solstice.  

The Lemonheads made their way on stage with Evan Dando leading the charge. Touring their first album of original music since 2006, “Love Chant” was a riffy release with a wide collection of collaborators including opener Erin Rae. Their tour was not for the weak. Stretching from early November through December 20^th, this gauntlet had shows five to six nights a week. These weren’t short sets either, playing 28 songs in Chicago including six acoustic tunes near the end. “It’s a Shame About Ray” was represented the most of The Lemonheads albums with five tracks, followed by four from “Come On Feel The Lemonheads”, and another quitnent from the touring album including 2 of the lead singles “Deep End” and “In The Margain”.  

Arguably, their biggest hit is a cover of “Mrs. Robinson” originally by Simon and Garfunkel, released in 1992. Charting in the top 20 singles in the United States, Australia, and the UK, it helped launch The Lemonheads to prominence on the radio while it was shunned in their live shows. Only being played 36 times in the almost one thousand gigs under their belts, it doesn’t crack the top 50 most played songs by them. While that cover was omitted from the setlist, 10 others made their way including The Townes Van Zandt, Whitney Houston, and Chicago’s own Cheap Trick.  

Dedicated fans traced the balcony of Thalia Hall, enjoying this set by a band that has been making music on and off for the past 40 years. This constant touring develops a loyal fanbase, which is why their 29^th show in Chicago welcomed a steady stream of fans in the midweek of December. The Lemonheads will continue their tour in Europe this fall and will open for The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks this July, you can find tickets here. 

The post The Lemonheads and Erin Rae at Thalia Hall appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Logan Melia: Hi. How are you doing?  

Jaret Reddick: I’m doing great. How are you?  

Logan: I’m doing well. How’s the tour been? You’re out with Simple Plan, Lolo, and 3OH!3 right now, how’s that been?  

Jaret: Man, it’s, you know, in one way it’s like a family reunion because Simple Plan have been our little brothers since 2002, you know, when we first brought them to Texas and then took them to the UK and now they’re taking us all over the USA and so, yeah, it’s great. And then 3OH!3, we just love those guys so much and Lolo as well and so it’s just, it’s been a lot of fun and the crowds have been absolutely amazing, you know, kudos to Simple Plan for putting this thing together and taking us out and really, really bringing it.  

Logan: Yeah, they are, to you guys too, but incredible live bands. I mean, they are jumping all over the place, they’re a joy to see.  

Jaret: It’s a really, really energetic and fun night. I mean, and that’s, you know, that’s, again, kudos to them for picking the right bands because it’s, man, everybody is leaving with a big smile on their face and that’s what it’s all about.  

Logan: Yeah. Do you have any tours that you remember where you’re just like, God, this lineup was just, you know, if we could do that tour again, you know, is there anything that sticks out in your mind?  

Jaret: Yeah, I mean, there’s so many of them. You know, we’re pretty lucky in that for the most part, our entire career, we’ve hand selected who it is we tour with and, you know, we really haven’t supported many bands. It’s usually been our thing and, but the two co-headlines we did, one with Less Than Jake and one with Real Big Fish are definitely up there with this one as far as the best tours we’ve ever done.  

Logan: Are you a big ska guy? I mean, I wouldn’t say that I’m a big ska guy, but I mean, I love those bands as their music and people. I mean, you know, it’s really to me, it sort of fits in.  

Jaret: I don’t even think about it as ska, I think about those guys as being warped tour bands, you know, because that’s where we all grew up, you know, and seeing each other every summer and that’s where we got to be close and stuff. So it’s funny. It’s really until that I read it every once in a while, I’ll just be like, yeah, Less Than Jake just played our hometown of Dallas and I saw a bunch of posts about it and was like, the ska came to, I forget that they’re a ska band, you know, but yeah, they’re a rock band to me, you know, and, and they’re my buddies and they’re, I can’t think of any band that I like watching more than I do Less Than Jake. Maybe Bad Religion, but, but Less Than Jake being definitely one of my favorite live bands ever.  

Logan: Yeah. Now you mentioned Warped. You have an insanely busy year, you’re touring with Simple Plain, you’re doing a Warped or Bus Tour, you’re hitting Warped, Four Chords, Aftershock, you got a million things and then on top of it all, Wembley. 

Logan: It’s a huge year for you guys. 

Jaret: Huge year for us. I mean, and coming off of our biggest touring year ever and now, you know, doing some of these rock festivals for the first time and just really loving it and, and as I said, as you said, Warped Tour is back. So we have those three weekends and then, yeah, our biggest headlining show ever, Wembley Arena, December 13th and, you know, it’s looking like we’re going to sell it out. And that’s just one of those achievements that, you know, it’s, it’s much like, you know, I guess, you know, we’re sort of stacking those up, you know, we’re Grammy nominated, we just crossed a billion streams and now we’re going to headline Wembley Arena, you know, so it’s like, those are, those are like doctorates, you know, it’s, we’ll always have those things.  

Logan: You mentioned Grammys and the blue tuxes. I did some research that you guys won an award that didn’t win the Grammy, but you won the worst dressed that night from a fashion reporter. 

Jaret: We did, yep. From two actually we won it. We were named Joan Rivers “Worst Dressed” and People Magazines actually.  

Logan: Now in retrospect, would you wear the same, going back in time, would you wear the same blue tuxes? Because I personally think that they’re probably one of the best of the night, but would you have taken it up or would you have kept with the blue tuxes?  

Jaret: No, we would have done it again. I mean, we got so much press out of that, you know, I mean, Jimmy Kimmel even pointed us out on his show before we would ever, we’ve done him three times now, but you know, before we were ever even on there and he pointed out to our tuxes and so yeah, we got a, we got a lot of miles out of that. And also we looked so fun that Brad Paisley was there, he was at his first Grammys and he was, he was walking through and he was like, he was like, hey, I’m here by myself and you guys look fun. Can I just walk through this red carpet with you? And I’m like, yes, Brad Paisley, you sure can, you know, it’s super fun. Yeah, it’s super fun.  

Logan: Now you mentioned Warped earlier and you said like, you know, your bands come up together and stuff like that and I mean, this is the first Warped in, what is it, seven years at this point? Is it a lot of familiar faces?  

Jaret: Yeah, it’s definitely, as I said, it’s like a, you know, like a high school reunion or summer camp reunion or, you know, family reunion or whatever, but it’s, yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s, you know, it’s not quite the same in that, you know, originally your Warped tour for however many years we did it, we were on it for about 15 years, I think. And you know, you’re on it the whole summer and so, you know, you’re, all the buses are parked together and you’re, you know, that’s where you, you’re all hanging out and stuff like that. It’s a little bit different since most of us have to fly in for the shows, you know, and so you see as many people as you can. It’s a little bit overwhelming, but it’s, you know, it’s great to see everybody.  

Logan: I saw Dan Povenmire made an appearance and like, you know, many kids my age, my introduction to Bowling for Soup was, you know, through Phineas and Ferb and everything. So how did bringing Dan out come to be?  

Jaret: That was cool. You know, he’s done that a few times. I can’t really remember the first time we did it. We did it at the Anaheim house. Oh no, I do remember.  

Logan: Is that When We Were Young? 

Jaret: When We Were Young.   

Logan: That’s right. 

Jaret: We did that the first time and he loved it, had so much fun. So then he and Swampy both came, oh, and Vincent, who plays Phineas, all came to our Anaheim House of Blues show last year and we did a little thing and then, but yeah, this one was really cool because Phineas and Ferb, it was the week of the day of the debut of the new episodes.  

Logan: The re-premiere. Yeah. 

Jaret: And so they did a whole exhibit, but like put together a whole installation at Warped Tour and people could walk through it and stuff. And so it just added to the show that Dan was able to come up in the jacket and do the voice and we shot love handle shirts out of the t-shirt cannon and my son was there who’s 19. He was able to do that. So it’s just a great day.  

Logan: That’s awesome. Yeah. I was about, I remember my older sister telling me, I was watching Phineas and Ferb with her and she’s like, they’re like an actual rock band, Love Handle. That’s how I fell down this rabbit hole and fell in love with you guys playing and it’s been very cool seeing that come to be with Dan on stage.  

Jaret: Yeah. And just generations and generations of people who love that show so much. And it’s certainly been a pleasure to be a part of it all this time.  

Logan: Now you’ve been still producing great music, like “Pop Drunk Snot Bread”, I love, you guys are still out cooking, “Don’t Mind If We Do” came out a few years ago. You had the release of “Fishing for Woo’s”. Those creative juices are still flowing, which you can’t say for a lot of bands that came up in the same era. What’s the secret to you guys still putting out good quality stuff?  

Jaret: Yeah, it’s just because we still enjoy ourselves and we never really tried to mess with the formula. We just do what we do and we didn’t try to change with the times or anything like that or evolve or copy any styles or trends or anything like that. We just stayed who we were. I think Bowling for Soup fans would agree that every once in a while you just need a little dose of Bowling for Soup to brighten your day. And we figured that out pretty early, that that was our thing and we really just stuck to that. And we still enjoy what we’re doing. We still love being around each other. So it’s been a blessing for sure.  

Logan: And you added “Turbulence” to the setlist I saw for this tour right now. How do you pick, because you play your hits, but how do you swap in those more deep cut type songs?  

Jaret: Yeah “Turbulence” was an interesting conversation actually. It’s really interesting that you would bring that up because we do that during our full set. It’s usually after I do a whole discussion, a quick two, three minutes about mental health because mental health is really something that is important to me and it’s something that I’ve had issues with in the past and I just really like to communicate that out into the world so that people know that A. it can really happen to anybody. But “Turbulence”, it was really just knowing the Simple Plan audience and knowing that they have those songs like “Perfect” and the “Unnamed Song” and those songs that are just really, really heartfelt. And it was like, you know what, this audience, even though we’re only up there 40 minutes, I think they’re really going to be able to take something away from, with the song Turbulence. And so, actually, it was Rob’s idea, I think, and then we just talked about it as a band and we were like, yeah, let’s just try it and see. And it’s really working. It’s a nice, nice little, we’re really, really in your face for like 30 minutes and then it’s a little breath of fresh air, then we’re in your face for another 10 and then we’re done.  

Logan: Yeah. Well, you mentioned a 40 minute set. Do you remember the longest set you’ve ever played?  

Jaret: Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, you know, yeah, we’ve played three hour shows, I mean, plenty of times and we were one of those bands, you know, when we were back in the bar days, like they would have to pull us off the stage. And our 20th anniversary show, I think, was two and a half hours. And they were literally like, it was a union crew, and our tour manager literally had to walk up on stage and be like, they are going to turn on the lights, you need to get off the stage. So, we don’t, I don’t really see us doing that anymore. We’ve gotten a little older and it gets hot up there, but yeah, I mean, we’ve played some long shows. 

Logan: Yeah. Getting old sucks, but you know, everybody’s doing it as you are.  
Jaret: It’s better than the alternative, right? 
 
Logan: Yeah. Okay. Final one. You got, you know, just a big anniversary tour, you’re opening up. What’s next on that? Are you guys writing, do you write on the road a lot, what’s coming up for Bowling for Soup?  

Jaret: Yeah, as you said, you know, we have this tour, we still got another three weeks left and then we’ll be home for a little bit and then we’re touring some dates in the south to get to Orlando Warped Tour. And we’re playing Epcot as well for two days. And then we got the Wembley Arena show and then in February we’ll be in the studio recording a new album. So, and between now and then we’re releasing “Hangover You Don’t Deserve Live” that we recorded in Manchester last year.  

Logan: I love live records, such a fan.  

Jaret: Thank you. Yeah, well, we’re excited about it. You know, it’s our, I think it’s our third or fourth live record. And so this one, it’s really, really cool because it’s the whole “Hangover You Don’t Deserve” album front to back and then some fun stuff at the end, but yeah, it’s just an exciting time for us. And then there’ll be more, we’ll be in Australia some next year, back to the UK again some next year and then a full US tour late in the summer and fall.  

Logan: That’s exciting stuff. Well, you can catch Bowling for Soup in Council Bluffs, Iowa on August 20th. I’m in Chicago right now, you guys are playing the 24th at Northerly, I’m very excited for that. It’s awesome. You got a good stretch. Well, thank you so much for spending time with me. 

Jaret: Thanks for having me. 

Logan: I really appreciate it. It means a lot.  

Jaret: Thanks brother.

To quote my interview with Brendan Brown of Wheatus, “if you went to a Bowling for Soup show and the PA caught on fire and all of the microphones failed and somebody stole all the guitars, Jared Reddick could stand there without a microphone and entertain 2,000 people by himself for three hours. He could do it”. I couldn’t agree more. The energy Bowling for Soup brings to the stage is contagious, making even tho most stagnant viewers give a little toe tap or head bounce. Bowling for Soup will play their biggest headlining gig at Wembley Arena on December 13th with support from Wheatus and Punk Rock Factory. A handful of US dates, including Innings Festival, have been announced as we await the new album and tour dates for later in 2026. You can keep up with the latest Bowling for Soup news here.

The post Interview: Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup 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.

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.

Altar primarily serves as a tribute to NewDad’s Ireland hometown, Galway, with its gloomy weather and quiet lifestyle. After the 2024 release of their debut studio album Madra resulting in their quick rise to popularity, the band promptly relocated to London to pursue music as a full time gig. NewDad saw an opportunity and knew they had to seize it. In hindsight, the band now regrets this sudden and drastic change in scenery, stating in an interview with NME how they would have enjoyed staying home and focusing on enriching their local rock scene. Altar is a simultaneous homage to Ireland and an expression of homesickness and nostalgia, all over the span of 12 tracks. 

NewDad’s Madra took alternative rock by storm with its explosive sound and unapologetic lyrics. The band was influenced by artists like The Pixies, The Cranberries, and Oasis, which shaped lead singer and rhythm guitarist Julie Dawson’s childhood. Altar is showing a departure from the heavier punk inspiration, instead borrowing elements from shoegaze and dream-pop, with most of the tracks more reminiscent powerful ballads seeping with raw emotion. It’s an interesting direction for the band to take their sound in, and it also bodes well with the themes of melancholy and reflection. 

From the very first track “Other Side”, the lyrics already express these deep emotions that permeate the album, as Julie Dawson sings about a noisy place that is killing her dreams and not letting her go. Accompanying Dawson’s soft melodies are simple synths, reminiscent of a lullaby, that build up to a thrilling beat drop with lead guitarist Sean O’Dowd and drummer Fiachra Parslow joining in. The song masterfully sets the tone for the rest of the record. “Heavyweight” maintains a steadier tempo while Dawson scornfully croons about the music industry, which drove the band away from home and thrust them into that harsh reality very early into their career, dripping with cynicism. 

The next track “Pretty” is a dreamy and melodic serenade that really hones in on Galway as the band’s muse: “His medicine has me hypnotized. You look so nice like a dream, swear on my life”. In the following track “Roobosh”, perhaps the most electric song on the album, Dawson’s booming vocal performance during the chorus is perfectly accompanied by her and O’Dowd’s hypnotizing guitar riffs. Parslow’s drumming is also on point, which, along with the other elements, emphasize the track’s vindictive and vitriolic energy. 

“Misery” offers a darker, meaner atmosphere with distorted, grungy guitars and a loaded instrumental. Dawson’s vocals demonstrate pure, raw emotion from someone who is deeply familiar with misery and the nasty way she makes her way into our lives. “Sinking King of Feeling” and “Puzzle” are both tracks that expand on the homesickness of the album, exploring somber feelings of misplacement, unworthiness, and inadequacy. The ballads, with soft, luscious sounds offer evocative imagery and highlight the melancholy that permeates the record. Sounds start to blend together and perhaps the band tried to become a little too cohesive. However, the instrumentation is consistently easy on the ears, despite the air of monotony. 

“Entertainer” is reminiscent of “Sickly Sweet” from the band’s debut album with the guitar riffs. The beat and instrumentation, as well as Dawson’s wildly entertaining vocals illustrate NewDad’s signature sound. “Everything I Wanted” perfectly encapsulates the album’s main thesis of homesickness. After their experience abroad, NewDad realized they had fallen into the trap of jumping ship too early and yearned for their hometown, which they now know could have harbored their dream. The layered soundscape cushions Dawson’s vocals as she introspectively warbles: “I tell myself that it’s everything I wanted/ Lost myself in this city”. The following two tracks “Mr Cold Embrace” and “Vertigo” are also about Galway which, to the band, evokes nostalgia and regret, with airy guitars and hauntingly beautiful vocals. The album ends on a somber note with “Something’s Broken”, as Dawson sings of feeling terrible sadness and fear and looking for intimacy as a way to cope and forget it all. 

Overall, Altar is a beautifully cohesive journey through Galway, the band’s bittersweet relationship with fame, the harshness of the music industry and everything in between. It’s a wonderful album to enjoy as the seasons transition from summer into autumn, with delicate guitars and catchy melodies that solidify the band as one of the best current alternative rock artists. Now, with their new tour around Europe and their freshly announced festival appearance at Primavera Sound ‘26, I’m excited to see what’s next for NewDad. 

The post NewDad on homesickness, fame and sacrifice in their latest album: Altar appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I was never much for Midwest Emo before coming to college. The most experience I had with anything by the name of “emo” was the falsely declared pop punk bands of the 2010s. As always, I stumbled head first into the genre by complete accident and ended up loving it, and I wanted more. I felt like the boom of the genre was far too short-lived and then later found out that emo historically came in waves of popularity and resurgence. I absolutely predict that if this band can get big, we’ll see another wave.

@any_two_words

Midnight Doomer Cruise at Subterranean 5/10 @worldrenownfailure on IG #emo #fyp #midwestemo #diy #chicagodiy #music

♬ original sound – any two words

When I saw the TikTok featured above, I was starstruck. It was absolutely haunting to view such a beautiful song, and by complete accident. It almost felt like those religious experiences people say they can feel with live music. For them to capture that on video and still give the same emotional value was so mesmerizing. I needed more of it, and quickly. Luckily for me, they had just so happened to drop an album about a month before.

Any Two Words’ debut album, Double Vision, shares similar themes to most of the genre of Midwest Emo, from its eclectic naming schemes to its upbeat, fast riffs. Within it’s 13 song run is a mass of casual poetry. The album comes alive to an active beat that was insanely reminiscent of early 2000s pop punk. If I had to pick out specific influences, they’d be Pretty Odd by Panic! At The Disco, Analphabetapolothology by Cap’n Jazz, and Joy, Departed by Sorority Noise. It’s something I never knew I needed, but it satisfied completely a taste that I had been craving subconsciously.

I think the best thing about this album is just how satisfying it is to listen to on an end-to-end run. It has shattering lyrics piled onto tracks of varying seriousness. The whole thing is so loud it begs to be heard. No two songs sound exactly the same, yet they all flow so perfectly into each other. They follow different paces and different jumps in time. My favorite of these transitions had to be the end of “The Rock Gets Bottomer” into “Speed Cola”.

Speaking about track, “Speed Cola” has one of the funniest samples I’ve ever heard in a Midwest Emo song, which is a hard title to hold onto. It features a video of a little German boy talking about Fortnite and Coca Cola. You might question why I would bring something so stupid up, but that’s exactly why I brought it up. Any Two Words is a college band. I couldn’t stalk enough to find out which Chicago college they go to, if it’s really in Chicago or if it’s just in a suburb, but point being they’re just young adults. That’s what really brings the authenticity to this album. Being friends and having a fun time making goofy music in a nostalgic genre.

I can say with certainty that this album summed up my first semester of college pretty well. It has been full of living for the first time, creating that future nostalgia and bonds with people that the album captures in essence so, so well. At its core, this is an album about shared experiences and the commonality of Gen Z’s college coming of age experience. It’s about joking around with your friends and falling in love and hating your assignments and hating yourself and learning to grow up. Honestly, the most I can recommend for anyone to do with this album is to sit down and give it your full attention, completely uninterrupted. No screens, no books, no fiddling around with a Rubix Cube, just twiddle your thumbs and let it do its thing. Maybe grab the friends you love the most because they’d probably like to do the same with you.

Any Two Words please come to the University of Iowa next semester. We would really appreciate it. I promise.

The post Seeing Double with Two Words’ Debut Album “Double Vision” appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Since my 13-year-old self didn’t keep up with when all the hot new music was releasing, I missed the roll out of the album, which is a shame because it included excellent music videos tied together with a Mardi Gras theme, and the band members of Austin Brown, Sean Yeaton, Andrew and Max Savage all draped in matching purple suits. Instead of on release day, I first listened to the album early on a summer morning, waiting in a gas station with my mother as our car got an oil change. I was watching the animated gifs that went along with each song, a new feature on Spotify at the time. It was in the midst of the 2018 World Cup, which demands my full attention every four years, so the first track on the record caught my eye.  

Image Via Stereogum

The opener “Total Football” begins with punchy guitars backed up by a marching drum beat before suddenly switching to a fast-paced riff with an intricate flying bassline. Andrew Savage sings with a snarky tone before leaving way in the chorus for a calm collective chant among the other members of the band. During the bridge Savage then erupts into a screaming shout as the chaos surrounding builds up to its climax with the repeated cry of “Total Football” among the band members. The song then comes crashing down and recollects itself returning to the same riff as in the intro as Savage continues spewing out his manifesto of collectivism.  

The title comes from the 70’s Dutch football tactic that took over the 1974 World Cup, where every player can play any position on the field, swapping roles with one another. The song uses this as a comparison and call to arms for all the different members of society, like listed in the chorus, to set down their classifications that divide them. It calls upon them to break from individualism and come together to fight back against any oppressive force.  

Afterwards it then rolls into the opening slam of the second track “Violence.” Overtop the cacophony of a funk-punk jam Savage yells out his anger and frustrations, like a raver through a megaphone, about the abundant presence of violence in daily modern life. Through his witty and dark remarks, like with “Savage is my name because Savage is how I feel when the radio wakes me up with the words suspected gunman,” he calls out the institutions that perpetuate the senseless slaughter, and how it can further drive a person mad hearing about tragedy after tragedy. Spliced in between the verses is an ominous, bellowing voice accompanied by the g-funk whistle characteristic of 90’s hip hop. 

The song ends with a bassline that flows perfectly into the one on “Before the Water Gets Too High.” This song mellows out the pace of the record. It has a shuffling beat marked by the clacks of a wood block, and the dissonant drone of an Omnichord, all as the bassline bubbles up and down. The song tells of how at our current pace, we are all marching towards an inevitable doomsday brought on by an impending climate catastrophe. Even with the infinite amounts of warnings, nothing will be done until the oceans rise to the levels of the penthouses that those in power occupy, where the “rich become refugees.” 

“Mardi Gras Beads” then begins with shimmering guitar chords, and spacious arpeggios, creating a soaring sound that ripples waves in time to bring back nostalgic feelings as one slow dances by themselves. It’s a love song that guitarist Austin Brown sings to himself remembering the happy moments with a former lover as he fixates on the Mardi Gras Beads hung around his neck. The nostalgia in the song also reflects a time when things were simpler, and away from all the turmoil that is brought up throughout the album. 

As the last notes ring out, we are hit with the pummeling riff of “Almost Had to Start a Fight” and staggered staccato shouting as all the anger that was pushed down comes erupting up again back to the surface. The song has a sharp animosity towards people that stoke the flames of intolerance and division, as shown with the lines “What do you do when you are provoked?” and “What if I’ve grown tired of being polite?” From this a burning hostility forms which only feeds into that negative energy, and leaves a person frustrated and exhausted.  

The song then shifts into its second part “In and Out of Patience.” It continues the angry emotions and rapid tempo, yet it feels far less serious. This tone is matched by fast paced and bouncy instrumentation. A lot of the grievances here are pretty petty, like dealing with poorly designed public transportation or not having enough time and energy for all the people around you.  

The next one is “Freebird II” which has a very uplifting atmosphere, even with the trapped feelings of the lyrics. It has a strutting bassline paired with the warm sound of an organ, which gives it the feeling of a Vietnam era classic rock song. Savage sings about how when you’re born into poverty, you can never truly escape it, as the structure of the world is always trying to push you back into the thick of it. Despite this, there is a sense of emancipation with every member singing in tandem “Free, I feel free, like you promised I would be,” at the end.

The B-side of the record is characterized by quicker, more succinct songs. It begins with the track “Normalization” and its rapidly strummed, then paused, then strummed again guitar riff. The song is about getting used to all the hard to conceive and often horrible aspects of life as time progresses. It has a psychedelic breakdown in the middle to leave room for a bass solo entrenched in a groove, along with metallic drum and guitar parts, and a faint beeping like that of a distant satellite.  

Even with the perfect record, there has to be a low point. It’s as Jeff Rosenstock said on “Perfect Sound Whatever,” “Perfect always takes so long, because it don’t exist.” Despite being the weakest song on “Wide Awake,” and almost dragging at points, “Back to Earth” is still a great song. It continues that spacious feel of the closing ambient part on “Normalization” and has this odd, alien like instrumentation. It’s a very enveloping song. Along with this, it has a sweet sentimentality to it.  

Then comes the title track, which is overtly fun, and incredibly danceable. It has a bumping bassline, punctuated strutting percussion, shouting in tandem, and bits of flair like the ringing of a whistle or odd off takes of randomly blurted vocals that gives it a wonderful party atmosphere. The phrase “wide awake” is called out repeatedly to mark the common motif of the album of being awake and aware to societies problems and being conscious enough to try to help solve them. The way it’s shouted gives the song a slight punk edge to match the rest of the album. The song is immensely groovy, and insanely funky.  

“NYC Observation” has a simple shredding distorted guitar riff that takes frequent breaks to make room for beeping guitar part present throughout the entire song, that sounds like the ticker to a news broadcast. It’s fitting with Savage furiously reporting about all the scenes of intense poverty that paint the scenes on the streets of New York City. With his descriptions, he builds a sense of reflection for those who glide past and ignore houselessness, so as not to muddy their own consciousness, because it’s inconvenient for them to think about it. For an album with a lot of anger, this song exudes some of its rawest emotion. 

The guitar riffs on “Extinction” radiate out. Even though it matches the pace of the previous song, it has a much more upbeat and peppy feel. The clean tones, and jangly riffs are allowed to reverberate. This accompanies the song’s message about trying to leave behind all our negative thoughts, and try to focus on positive things. The progression arcs from being down on themselves, like with the line “Masochism forming in the reflection,” to thinking more positively on the line “Spring has finally sprung it’s not cold outside, and I’m thinking of all the places that I want to go.” 

“Death Will Bring Change” brings a slower pace and a much more somber tone. The sounds of swelling, crashing pianos faze in and out like violent all-consuming waves. It repeats the theme of spacious distant beeping like on “Back to Earth.” The dreamy echoes of a children’s choir accompany Brown to make this piece sad, but beautiful. Brown sings solemnly about death and how loss can drastically change a person’s life, reflecting on the bitter taste that it leaves. 

The album closes with “Tenderness” which acts a triumphant finale that overcomes all the negativity and hostility within the world and one’s own head. The song has a laid back but sprightly atmosphere with its jangling keys and short twangy guitar hits. Savage sings about rising above all the nihilism and desolation in the world. No matter how horrible it gets, there’s still beauty to be found in it. It gives a means to try to come together to improve it. In the end we can still dance and have a good time. 

Image on the back of the Wide Awake album cover. Via A. Savage

The artwork adorned on the album cover is iconic, with the three headless marching figures dressed in different colors that compliment each other well. This is all with the rest of the packaging that came from the release. All of it was created by Andrew Savage, who has done the artwork for each Parquet Courts release. It’s manifested in his wavy organic style that accentuates movement.

The overall instrumentation on “Wide Awake” is phenomenal. The fast, light ferocious punk rock of their previous albums is mastered and refined perfectly, like on “Total Football,” “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patiences,” and “NYC Observation.” Infused so well into this are elements of danceable funk music that’s heavy on the title track, while “Violence” is an amazing conglomeration of the two. Parquet Courts being masters of the mellow song do that expertly too, like with “Before the Water Gets Too High” and “Mardi Gras Beads.” At the same time there’s roaring ripping moments that you can mosh too, along with captivating party like ones you can dance to. 

This is aided by drummer Max Savage’s consistency and ability to match any tone. His pauses and switches give these songs so much energy and vibrance. This is paired with bassist Sean Yeaton mastering his instrument on this album. Starting out as a guitarist before joining Parquet Courts, he delivers impeccable bassline one after another, and really finds his groove. Those basslines give “Wide Awake” its character. Yeaton lays the groundwork for the record’s combination of punk energy, and funk rhythms.  

Other than the use of the term “woke” for the album’s motif, as conservative pundits have bastardized the term to mean anything not straight, white and christian, “Wide Awake” has aged well. The topics throughout are still ever present today. Even on the other side of a global pandemic, not much has changed systematically. Needless and senseless violence persists, where often a person doesn’t have enough time to grieve before the next tragedy hits. The world is still heading towards an environmental disaster, and no one with the power to has decided to act. Bigots have too much of a say in daily concourse. Extreme poverty runs rampant across all of America, effecting a vast majority of it’s people. Despite all of this, we can hold onto the message of using collectivism to voice our displeasures with society and how it’s run. There is still so much beauty in the world to fight for. We just need to hold onto optimism. 

“Wide Awake” is one of the greatest albums of all time. It’s my favorite ever. It’s as close as you can get to perfect. You can listen to it, along with the rest of their discography, on the Parquet Courts Bandcamp and other streaming services. 

The post A Half Decade Track by Track Retrospective of “Wide Awake” by Parquet Courts appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Declan McKenna is a singer-songwriter from Cheshunt, England. The twenty-year-old’s first single was his self-released hit, “Brazil,” in 2014. Soon after, he ended up winning the Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Composition, which helped him gain attention from many record labels. He eventually signed with Columbia Records and re-released “Brazil,” which then became massively popular. The song itself critiques FIFA for awarding the FIFA World Cup to Brazil in 2014 and not addressing the poverty that affects the nation.

In 2015, he released his second single, “Paracetamol.” This song discussed how transgender teens are misrepresented in the media. After releasing this song, he proved his maturity in the music world through the combination of his passionate vocals and deep lyrics.

McKenna released two more singles, “Bethlehem” and “Isombard,” in late 2016. “Bethlehem” is referring to people that use their religion as an excuse to do what they want while “Isombard” is about right-wing media.

Following those singles, McKenna released two EPs in 2016, Stains, and, Liar, with “Brazil” and “Paracetamol” on both. McKenna released two more singles, “The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home,” and “Humongous,” before releasing his debut album, What Do You Think About the Car?

What Do You Think About the Car? was released on July 21, 2017, and contained all six of his previously released songs, as well as five new tracks.

After a two year drought following his debut album, McKenna finally released a new single last August. His single, “British Bombs,” describes the hypocrisy of British foreign policy, specifically regarding arms trading.

In an interview via email with The FADER McKenna explains,

“I wanted to write a song that was outright against war, in any form. Violence breeds violence and I just don’t think the world is too complex to set a peaceful precedent, but it seems the business of war is what keeps happening. To say it’s a shame feels like a huge understatement.”

Declan McKenna via The FADER

Although the song is anti-war in general, he mostly references the civil war currently in Yemen. Over 22.2 million people are in need of assistance and the estimated number of deaths is up to 91,600 people. A majority of the bombs being used are thought to be supplied by the British or other western countries. Facts McKenna clearly draws on in his political song.

Declan McKenna will continue to create music that addresses true problems in our society and I think it’s important that he is using his fame to make a positive impact on the world. Now, he is currently creating his next album which will hopefully be released soon and continue his trend of addressing real, political issues.

The post Artist Profile: Declan McKenna appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The opener, Kansas City band The Greeting Committee, exploded onto the stage with lead singer Addie Sartino pumping up the crowd right from the start of the performance. Their indie rock is playful, energetic, and doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it incredibly fun to listen to. Even those who had never heard music from the group before began to dance along to the beat. Sartino was a powerhouse in vocals and stage presence, dancing and engaging with the audience through each song.

The Greeting Committee gained popularity over the past few years after the success of the song “Hands Down” from their 2015 EP It’s Not All That Bad. A jaunty combo of guitar and tambourine give this song a lively bass that only grows as more instruments are layered in. Only continuing to grow, the group is scheduled to tour with Hippo Campus—who performed in Iowa City this past spring—throughout the rest of the fall.

After a brief intermission, the Bad Suns began their set with a thunderous drum intro from percussionist Miles Morris. Fresh off the release of their new album Mystic Truth this spring, the alternative rock group has climbed up the charts since their hit album Disappear Here in 2016. The band’s sound is as edgy as their look, full of heart and spunk.

Bad Suns played a mixture of songs from their new album as well as their 2014 debut, Language & Perspective, catering to both longtime fans and those who were hearing them for the first time at the homecoming performance. They commanded the stage, frontman and guitarist Christo Bowman leading the charge.

Their lyrics verge on poetic, creating a sense of awe around even the most basic of situations. “Daft Pretty Boys,” one of the group’s most popular songs, gives a lovers’ squabble a literary twist: “She’s a sunrise dressed like dusk / Going out, she’s getting into something / He’s a moth drawn to a flame / He’s going in, he’s going all or nothing.” They play with metaphors and meaning, all wrapped up in a indie bow with a slight influence by 80’s new wave, which the group leans into in their music video for “This Was A Home Once.”

The free concert drew a large crowd of students, both The Greeting Committee and Bad Suns provided a warm dose of alternative rock to the cool October night and bringing the the second to last day of Homecoming week to a joyful close.

The post Bad Suns @ The Pentacrest 10/18/19 appeared first on KRUI Radio.