Collaborating with University of Iowa’s Scope Productions, The Englert Theater brought Lip Critic back to Iowa City as a part of their Track Zero series. With the band’s unique and unconventional blend of various music styles and this being their second visit to the world city, it’s no surprise that they’ve quickly gained the cult following of punks, raver’s, alt kids, hip hop heads and music lovers alike all across Iowa. Joined by local powerviolence act Recess and punk rockers Ascended Master, it was bound to be a great show.  

Recess was the first opener and started the night off with some incredible energy. Lead singer Sir Anne Wrappe has dipped their toes in several forms of performance art including drag and burlesque acts which makes them a very unique but exciting hardcore front-man. This juxtaposes perfectly with Powerviolence’s usual style of fast paced, aggressive guitar solos and murky, sludgy bass riffs to make Recess really stand out amongst a sea of copy-cat metal bands. Another highlight of their performances for me was their undeniable chemistry as a group, from the consistent swap of vocalists to the way the drum fills compliment the guitarists, you can tell this is a group of highly skilled and experienced musicians. Excellent set and I can’t wait to see more from Recess, they don’t have any released music so make sure to check out a show from these rising stars in the Iowa City music scene!

Next up was Ascended Master, the “unc band” of the lineup. Due to how strong their performance was, I was surprised to find out that they’ve only been playing shows for the past few months, but it made more sense knowing how stacked the group was with music scene veterans. Namely their lead singer Oliver Weilein of City Council and BOOTCAMP fame. At one point in between songs he went around the crowd asking people what they would want to change about Iowa City and actually listening to their responses. It’s really great to see a local musician who’s so dedicated to uplifting their own community and just goes on to show why Oliver is such a local legend.

Even speaking exclusively about music, the set was such a blast, just punk bangers back to back with such a keen understanding of performance and crowd control. I think my favorite was a cover of Descendents iconic song Hope, with some really fun mic grabs and crowd pile ons throughout the track. Unfortunately they have no social media, so make sure to continue looking out for them popping up on some local flyers!

The simplest and most accurate way to describe Lip Critic’s music is experimental. The eccentric four man multi instrumentalist group combines elements of rock, hip hop, punk, electronic, and industrial music to make these incredibly produced tracks that are equally aggressive as they are danceable. This was reflected perfectly within this show’s moshpit which ebb and flowed between rave style dances and more traditional push pit moshing. 

You can’t help but shake ass to the grooveable rhythms of Toxin Dodger, thrash your head to The Heart and sing your lungs out to the choruses of Milky Max and In The Wawa (Convinced I Am God). And none of this would be possible without the band’s incredible stage presence. Their lead singer Bret Kaser is an absolute maniac who will do anything to bring up the crowd’s energy whether that’s running into the pit, bringing people on stage or screaming random things between sets. With such high energy performers it’s hard to not reciprocate that energy and want to move with them, which I believe everyone in the audience (me included) felt for the whole set. If you want to hear more about specific tracks, check out my review of their latest album Hex Dealer. If you love what you hear, definitely anticipate the group’s upcoming album Theft World, out on April 30th. But for now, thank you Lip Critic, for an amazing performance.

While not available for a full interview after the show, I did get the really great opportunity to have a conversation with the lead singer at the merch booth and here’s some of what he had to say.

Tarik: Hey thanks for a great set, really loved it.

Bret: Thank you man, thanks for the energy.

Tarik: Did you actually meet your wife in Iowa? (Referring to earlier in the show when he shouted between songs that he met his wife at Gabe’s)

Bret: Nah I don’t even have a wife.

Tarik: Wait what, why’d you say that then?

Bret: I don’t know, I just thought it’d make people excited.

Tarik: Do you always make up stuff like that during shows?

Bret: Yeah, just something funny that gets people going.

Tarik: I was gonna say, cause I think last time you were here you said you were going through a divorce.

Bret: Haha yeah, did you come to our show here with White Reaper?

Tarik: Yeah no it was so fun. I didn’t know who y’all were before the concert, and I came and you guys put on such a great show I had to come see you guys again.

Bret: Do a lot of people around here just kinda like coming to shows, even if they don’t know the artists?

Tarik: Yeah, a good amount of people, we got a pretty solid music scene.

Bret: Yeah that’s sick man, we really didn’t know Iowa City was like that before our first show here, but we were really sleeping on it, you guys go crazy.

Tarik: Thanks, y’all should come back.

Bret: Yeah, we definitely will next tour.

Tarik: When’s that gonna be?

Bret: Probably around fall after we release our new album. This was kind of just a mini tour to test out new songs live and create some hype around the album.

Tarik: Well I’ll definitely show up man, see y’all next time.

Bret: Yeah thank you!

And this conversation is where I found my story. I thought back on October 4th my first time seeing Lip Critic, and what I initially thought was gonna be an average night out with some fun music, but what turned into one of my favorite live music experiences and a newfound love for an extremely talented emerging group. All resulting from me just choosing to take a chance on seeing a lineup of bands I knew next to nothing of. Like Bret stated “People here just kind of like coming to shows, even if they don’t know the artists.” Similar to how Lip Critic took a chance on playing in Iowa City for the first time and now it’s becoming a tour staple for them.

I talk to music fans on a daily basis, many of which you would almost never catch at a local show. Usually saying something along the lines of “Well how do I know if I’ll like it if I don’t know the artists?” Well my question is what if you DO love it? It’s a common trend to see online music lovers post performances from their favorite artists at the dawn of their career. Playing to small crowds at local restaurants, venues and basements. A far cry from their later critical acclaim and global success. You’ll see these comments flooded with people talking about how much they wish they could’ve been there to see these amazing acts for cheap in such an intimate environment. Well what’s stopping you from doing that now? Every city is flooded with performances from talented, hungry young artists looking to make something special and one of them might just be a new favorite of yours. I found that with Lip Critic, and you can too.

The post Concert Review: Lip Critic, Ascended Master, Recess, and why you should go to local shows. February 19th at Gabe’s. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Some of us KRUIers saw Lip Critic back in October, when they opened for White Reaper at Gabe’s, after a brief discussion, our prestigious council reached the unanimous conclusion that they were by far the best part of the show. Their music is somewhere in between electronic and hardcore, full of samples and electronic crunches, a divorced(?) eccentric vocalist, and best of all, not one, not three, but two drum sets! Our friend Tarik says it perfectly, “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.” (Tarik©, 2025). Explosive energy drives tracks that slip into bizarre time signature changes leaving the crowd jumping more and more off-beat, reaching higher and higher.

Recess is a newer band out of the Iowa City punk scene but have been playing shows across Iowa City the past few months, and traveling to Omaha soon. With tomorrow night’s lineup spanning across hardcore, punk, metal, and electronic, they’re gonna be a great piece of the set. Their current Instagram story reads “GO TO A SHOW GODDAMNIT,” and I’m a good boy so I’ll be there. I must advise all others to comply with these vicious commands as well.

This will be a good show as Lip Critic’s first show of the year and the first of a mini-Midwest tour. I mean come on, “standing in a Wawa convinced I’m a god, so I’m gonna get any sandwich I want,” who else gets it like Lip Critic does? Even if you hate hardcore, or metal, or having fun with funky noises, I’m sure they’ll be delivering plenty of these poetic lessons, teachings that could deliver the unknowable visions of the second world into your consciousness. Just maybe, even someone like you could be the god in the Wawa…..only one way to find out!

Earplugs advised. Please. Doors at 8pm, more information and tickets can be found here. <3.

The post Show Preview: Lip Critic with Recess and Ascended Master at Gabe’s, February 19th 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.

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.

Formed in 2017, the Chicago duo Angry Blackmen consists of rappers Quentin Branch and Brian Warren, who both brought their A-game to Gabe’s at 9pm on Friday. “Y’all fucking with that shit? We got some more shit!” they yell into the crowd after introducing their glitchy experimental rap. They fly through cuts from The Legend of ABM, their excellent 2024 album, the bass from their industrial beats pulsating throughout Gabe’s. It was fierce music, the type that grabs your attention from the start and won’t let it go. They included cuts from their earlier work as well, such as their 2020 record HEADSHOTS! For a sense of how their music translates live, check out Angry Blackmen on Audiotree Live, a nine track recording including the bangers “Vomit” and “Dead Men Tell No Lies.” 

Beyond the heavy production and tight rhymes, Angry Blackmen’s most impressive attribute was the duo’s synergy and crowd interaction. Warren grabbing and rapping into both microphones, falling into his flow, while the duo threw out call and response statements, engaging the crowd. “Angry” they shout, “Blackmen!” replied the crowd. The same deal with different words later on: “Fuck!” // “Off!” Halfway through the set, the duo memorably split the crowd in half to form a de-facto catwalk, bringing all the chanting together as one. “Angry,” shouts Warren before waving the microphone at me, “Blackmen!” I dutifully respond. 

The tragedy of this stellar crowd interaction was the dwindling number of people to recruit as the set progressed, the product of a brutal clash with Friday night’s headliner Mannequin Pussy across the street at The Englert Theatre. While the rappers were locked into their craft—“hit me with whatever Q,” Warren tells Branch without deliberation—the audience that should have stuck around to appreciate that high energy performance faded away. This is the way festivals go, like the music itself. People ebb and flow between the venues, but it certainly detracted from the incredible focus and passion Angry Blackmen were striving to cultivate at Gabe’s. 

The duo saved one of their best songs, “HEADSHOTS!” until the end of the set, making it an intimately intense performance for the remaining fans. The chorus—“Fuck with me if you want to, bang bang that’s headshots // Stuntin like I’m supposed to, bang bang that’s headshots”—remained stuck in my head for days after the show. They concluded by reminding the crowd that “tomorrow isn’t promised,” urging everyone to make the most of today. This was a show that will certainly live long in my memory, I just wish more people had stuck around to celebrate it.

The post Mission Creek 2025: Angry Blackmen appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The band approached the stage like concert hall musicians. They fiddled with string tunings as they shuffled quietly into place, waiting for the keyboardist to make the final adjustments to his very large sunglasses. Without introduction and only a glance between themselves, the band queued into a loose psychotropical groove. Melodies shifted around a psychedelic haze rooted in a tropical rhythm. Instruments cut in and around each other as the drums maneuvered in between, tempo tumbling, pulling, and pushing to their own whim. The tones from the guitar, bass, and keys were disfigured into a funky electronic mangle, reminiscent of Scooby-Doo’s ghoulish gooey music. Music flowed continuously, until it was hard to pinpoint what was a shift in tempo, change in melody, or just a completely different song.

Cabeza De Chivo’s sound reflects their own city of Chicago, drawing inspirations from cumbia and Jamaican rhythms building colorful melodies bursting with energy. They find inspiration in their own local community, and together create music to share that feeling and inspire a connection in their audience. By transcending the divisions separating people, they create their own space of unity and belonging. Their music bridges the gaps between us, using their groove to draw together any crowd into one body moving together in dance. Just like the music, the dancing did not stop. 

Spurred on by music and unyielding to the collective fatigue built up over the long weekend, the crowd danced to the dripping melodic commands. Even the most hardened dudes-at-shows-who-stand-completely-still-with-crossed-arms accidentally loosened their stance into a bouncy sway. Fun spurned into infectious movement. I witnessed a particularly expressive man move in ways I had once thought physiologically impossible, a contortionist’s dance that moved (most impressively!) with the beat. Intoxicated by vicious rhythm, people twisted, jumped, tilted; dancing every which way the human body could while trapped in the hypnotic state swallowing the crowd whole.

That night, everyone in the room danced together under Cabeza De Chivo’s commands. Bending our bodies to bend the floor. You could feel the uneasy sway of wood beneath your feet, the separated worlds of Gabe’s upstairs and downstairs nearly coming together, uniting themselves under the same gooey psychedelia. Creaking wood settled amidst the rising cheers and shouts as the music came to its end, leaving us with leadened muscles and lightened spirits. Closing out with the final sparks of this year’s Mission Creek Festival, Cabeza De Chivo dealt out their infectious groove for us all to dance with, what choice did we have but to obey?

The post Mission Creek 2025: Cabeza De Chivo vs. Gabe’s Load-Bearing Capacity appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Much of the same was the case when we at KRUI reached out to Cousins ahead of the urika’s bedroom performance at Gabe’s in Iowa City on February 25^th in partnership with SCOPE. He was deliberately aloof and answered questions in a short, vague manner. With this all we have for a mission statement from him is, “I was inspired by love, crime, and Modest Mouse.”

In the absence of information though, there can be ideas for an explanation. It could be a matter of wanting to keep a low profile in the digital age where seemingly any information about you can leak out into the world, even if a lot of that information has already seeped through. This is perhaps why when asked about other artistic projects he was working on outside of urika’s bedroom, he only said, “Personal things just for me.” 

It could also just be another aspect of the art itself. In his music videos for songs on his album Big Smile, Black Mire are several cryptic like images, clipped and spliced together so they’re flashing in even more obscurity. They all are derived from early 2000s inspired visuals with sharply colored backdrops filmed through older grainy digital cameras. The images are often of a suburban type of decay between fields of concrete and tall brown grasses. The same is true with the marketing, using images behind raster lines paired with washed out graphics. About the visuals, Cousins said, “I don’t know if pairs at all. I guess the graphics are washed out because I am. It’s like a Millennial brain rot thing.” 

These degraded digital images do combine with the music to bolster this meticulously crafted persona and presentation. On Big Smile, Black Mire the songs are gritty as the textures are battered in the recording. It’s an effect that Cousins strives for as he writes and records everything himself directly into cracked copies of Ableton. Dreary guitar tones are bit crushed and followed by whispering digital artifacts.  

They form anguished slowcore compositions dragged around by tumbling trip hop beats, a style that has been very popular in indie scenes recently. A track like “Circle Games” adds to this by having strings swell and fade at the song’s breaks. Cousins’ lyrical delivery is dejected and sounds like it’s hissing through tinny cheap speakers. Together it’s all very murky, and listening to it leaves an acidic taste in the mouth. The music of urika’s bedroom gives into notions of a cynical view of the world where anything comfortable or righteous seems to be deteriorating. It’s like it’s dealing with the ramifications of lost hope in sifting through the rot that has been left behind. 

For Tchad Cousins, this isn’t the first time that he’s playing at Gabe’s or coming through Iowa City. He was here about two years ago as the touring bassist for Youth Lagoon on the Heaven is a Junkyard tour. There he looked like he was thrilled to be performing. He said he didn’t remember much from the show, but he did remember exploring a collection of Neil Young pedals at the house he was staying at that night. He’ll stand on stage at Gabe’s again this Tuesday. Behind all the constructed mystery, maybe there something about urika’s bedroom will be revealed. The performance is free for anyone to see. 

The post Show Preview: urika’s bedroom at Gabe’s appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The first Illiterati Fest was such a success, that like the band, it returned the following year, with a different location and beneficiary. The James Theater hosted, and all proceeds went to the South District Market, a vibrant food court experience that celebrates the diverse community of Iowa City’s South District. For the fest’s third iteration in 2024, we’re back to the future: Gabe’s is the venue once again, with United Action For Youth, a nonprofit which supports young people and families in Johnson County, benefiting from the community focused concert. 

Illiterati Fest 3, which takes place on Friday, August 23rd, opening at 6:00 PM, promises to be another memorable night for Iowa City’s thriving music scene. Three local acts, Anthony Worden and the Iliterati, Psyop, and Daisy Glue, are joined by rising artists from across the country: Valebol of Chicago, Feel Free Hi Fi from Minneapolis, and California based Exotic Gardens. All that music, for just $15! I for one can’t think of a better way to spend a warm summer night in Iowa City. 

Daisy Glue

Daisy Glue, as a collective, is relatively new to the Iowa City scene. However, the band members have been involved in many different projects in the area over the years. Daisy Glue has acted as a common meeting place for all these people to just jam together, and soak in the vibes produced from that. That’s how their songs and live performances are formed as well.

A 15-minute set of theirs could easily constitute just two or three songs, as they build out these sprawling, often improvised arrangements, adding on ideas. It’s a very free flowing act, dictated by whatever the feeling in the moment may be. Daisy Glue opening will help those wandering in acclimate themselves into the atmosphere of Illiterati Fest. 

-John Glab

Psyop

Acting as representatives to Illiterati Fest from a burgeoning Iowa City hardcore scene, Psyop will most likely play the heaviest set of the night. As mainstays on the local label Pokeys Records, the band defines much of what the local scene stands for: consciousness of the injustices in the world, foundation of community, and unrelenting riffs that leave people throwing themselves at one another. 

The band’s sets are quick, and with the immense amount of chaotic movement they whirl up, it feels like it can flash in and out of existence. In those fleeting moments though, there is an exciting euphoria where you can feel the presence of everyone in the room, probably because they’re all throwing elbows into you. Plenty of people will come out excited to see them.

-John Glab

Anthony Worden and the Illiterati

If you live in the Iowa City area, you’ve probably encountered the talents of Anthony Worden at some point. Along with putting on the yearly festival, he is often spinning vinyl at Gabes or playing with his band The Illiterati. He has been playing and creating music locally for 12 years. Worden and his band draw inspirations from many all-time classic bands like The Beach Boys and Sonic Youth.

Plain Angels, their most recent album, came out in May, but Worden and his band have kept busy in the time leading up to the third installment of the Illiterati Fest. Anthony Worden and The Illiterati’s music is distinctly emotional, connecting us all through storytelling and shared human experiences. Plus, their musical prowess makes their music and live sets thoroughly captivating. 

-Savannah Haneline

Exotic Gardens

Exotic Gardens is the solo project of Aaron Coyes, who makes up half of the California based Peaking Lights. Their sound is reminiscent of music that could be played at the beachside in Bora Bora or in an underground rave in Berlin. The sound is a combination of reggae, dub, and ’80s synth making it the perfect dance music. It’s much akin to the tracks produced by Coyes with Peaking Lights but presented in a denser tone. The music makes dub slightly more applicable to the average festival goer, who will probably want a mojito in their hand by the end of the set.

-Savannah Haneline

Feel Free Hi Fi

Located in Minnesota, Feel Free Hi Fi is the aggressive industrial electronic union of Shawn Reed and Derek Maxwell. The duo uses digital techniques to enhance their dancehall tracks, equal parts abrasive and comforting.

Their most recent project, I was so far in I was out. contains eight beautiful tracks, all featuring metallic creaks, liquid like synths, and infectious drum loops. Unlike other Feel Free Hi Fi albums, this one features no guest vocalists, but instead serves as a beautiful, lush instrumental album. All these different aspects that the band can produce will create a transient experience, seeping from the stage to across the floor. Feel Free Hi Fi is an incredibly compelling project, and not one to miss this Illiterati Fest. 

-Casper Bakker

Valebol

Hailing from the Windy City, Valebol are a superduo formed by multi-instrumentalist Vivian McConnell and drummer Daniel Villarreal. Their new project combines the intimate self-reflection of McConnell’s solo project, V.V. Lightbody, with the vibrant Cumbia sound of Villarreal’s band, Dos Santos. The result? A kaleidoscopic synthesis that the duo title “translingual express-pop.” Sink into the warm ocean, they propose, and discover a feeling: 

“Maybe it’s finding an oyster on your maiden scuba dive and discovering it contains a kaleidoscopic disco pearl vibrating to polyrhythms from a forgotten cassette tape. Maybe it was buried in 1983. Maybe the club is still open. Either way, opening your new Polly Pocket sized seashell contains an iconic duo.”

While I will struggle to write anything better than their own wonderfully eccentric description, I can state unequivocally that their self-titled debut album is a gloriously serene listen. Released in April of this year, Valebol demonstrates exactly why the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) gave the duo an Esteemed Artist Award in 2021. It’s dreamy, breezy, and intricately layered. After multiple listens I had to check if the album’s running time really was 36 minutes, as it continually glides by in what feels like half the time.

Stand outs include the opener “Multivitaminas” and the album’s first single “Netuchepa!”, although this really is a project to be savored in its entirety. Their transnational charm render clean comparisons with other artists rather redundant. However, I’ll say this: if you like Denver indie pop duo Tennis, who graced Iowa City with a superb show last year, you like me will absolutely adore Valebol.

-Glenn Houlihan

Illiterati Fest 3 is at Gabe’s in Iowa City on Friday, August 23rd at 6:00 PM. Tickets are available for purchase here.

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