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.

Chat Pile – Sifting (single)

Fresh off the heels of their latest collab album with postrock artist Hayden Pedigo, Oklahoma hardcore/noise band Chat Pile return to their typical fast paced and abrasive style with two new singles. Starting off with the absolute head thrasher Masks, you can really feel the influence of their new record label Sub Pop, which they themselves cited as influencing the song. “It’s a true dream to put out a single on Sub Pop, and our new song Masks hopefully honors the spirit of the mythical, sometimes mystical, city of Seattle,” said Chat Pile in a recent press statement. This influence is apparent with the aggression and style of other iconic Sub Pop bands such as Mudhoney and The Melvins. Still though, they maintain the band’s complex rhythms and Raygun’s own unique vocal style to give this era its own spin.

Continuing along with the Seattle tributes, the band paired the Masks release with a deep cut cover of Nirvana‘s Sifting. If you thought that song couldn’t get dirtier and sludgier, you’re in for a treat. The perfectly sloppy guitar solos pairs with these muddy backing riffs and vocals that are just low quality enough make for such a grimy and fun listening experience. The six minute run time feels like a breeze, considering the level of quality we’re working with, and it makes me more than excited to listen to whatever they have planned for the future.

–Tarik Krob

My New Band Believe – Numerology (single)

altFresh from the elegantly titled My New Band Believe is their second ever single, Numerology. Helmed by Cameron Picton of black midi fame, My New Band Believe offers on Numerology a blend of very poppy indie rock with elements of samba and disco that feels triumphantly hectic. The lyrics evoke a night on the town with your buddies as you get increasingly…inebriated, and the finale of the song is admittedly comical, but still feels like a ripe conclusion for the preceding spectacle. The song clocks in at 4:18, yet its manic energy makes it feel half that length. As a consequence, I usually listen to this song at least twice in a row. After the conclusion of black midi, frontman Geordie Greep has received the brunt of the attention from the public, especially following the release of his album The New Sound, in 2024. However, I imagine Picton will have his own stint in the windmill-scene spotlight as Numerology feels undoubtedly like Picton’s Holy, Holy moment.My New Band Believe releases their debut album on April 10th, be there or be square!

–Jack Manley

Lana Del Rey – White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter (single)

To say this new Lana Del Rey track was surprising would be an understatement. Not only is it shocking that she actually released it, instead of just relentlessly teasing it on social media like she’s been doing with her upcoming Stove album for half a year now, but the song itself is a very different direction for the singer. It’s dark and sinister. It builds tension in the verses and dissolves it with an almost “Disney princess” cadence of soft whispers in the chorus. The atmosphere is at times heavy, and at times light, but an underlying eeriness keeps the listener on their toes. The song is composed of haunting synths and magical entrancing string instruments like violins, violas and cellos. Sweet guitars, piano, percussives, brass, and even a harp bleed into the delicate mix. These instruments build the orchestral nature of the track, giving it an almost ethereal and uncanny quality.
Instead of leaning country like Lana promised with the upcoming Stove album, she seems to be more interested in exploring ominous soundscapes with this track, opting for a southern gothic route with her own spin. However, the singer’s tendencies to romanticize the mundane are still very much present, with her basking in the traditional, stay-at-home-wife lifestyle that she has come to greatly appreciate. White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter paints this picture of Lana cooking for her husband while she awaits his return from hunting wild animals in the spooky woods near their home. Mentions of words like “voodoo” and “magical” evoke a mystical feeling into her daily affairs, and the expression “whoopsy-daisy” and the “yoo-hoo” ad-libs make the song feel all the more whimsical.
Lana Del Rey’s new single offers a glimpse into a darker side of her music which was prevalent in the earlier days of her discography. Her Born to Die album and her Lizzy Grant persona both offer a preview of this gloomy sound, as highlighted by many fans in online spaces. But despite similarities to her earlier works, White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter demonstrates an entirely new soundscape and tonal shift for Lana, which is exciting to experience as we await the release of the upcoming album.

–Clara Carrion

Ratboys – Singin’ to an Empty Chair

Chicago has always consistently been putting out incredible music: Wilco, John Prine, Mavis Staples. Today, there is something brewing in the second city, that has come to boil over. Leading this charge is indie-rockers, Ratboys. The Notre Dame Alumni, and Chicago natives, celebrated their sweet sixteen as a band by releasing their sixth studio album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair.

This is not only a continuation of their breakout success from 2023’s, The Window, but an expansive journey into their own sound and personality. This album feels as though every note has a meaning behind it and every strum is a continuation of a bed time story you don’t want to end. Ratboy’s has a comforting sound, one that puts the listener in their world with lyrics reading, “the bugs are writing books with their eyes.” This sense of joy and poetry bleeds from songs, while reflections of todays wild world in The World, So Madly brings it back down to earth. The slide guitar sings by itself, and the bouncy yet fuzzy guitars within the band blend together like peanut butter and jelly.

Ratboys throw in hits throughout their album like its nothing, and put forth my favorite album of 2026 so far. They will be touring the record this spring with support from Florry, villagerrr, and fellow Chicagoans Free Range.
FFO: MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, Wednesday, The Beths

–Logan Melia

xaviersobased – Xavier

Periodically, it seems that the Music Discourse Eye of Sauron happens to latch its all-consuming gaze onto a particular artist who has established a particular brand of sound until it has become so virulently synonymous with their name that it cannot help but seep through these fiber-optic spaces into the minds of those cultural sleuths so invested in the all-important web of contemporality. Xavier happens to be one such example, the culmination of multiple years of underground consistency and empire building surrounding Xav’s uniquely futuristic, atmospheric, and outright unpredictable approach to production. He proves himself to be at once an absurdist paragon, a staple of the modern cloud rap scene (as well as the extended Surf Gang universe), even forming his very own imprint 1c in the lead-up to this album. Thus, through following an approach that is entirely unpredictable yet expected, Xav has captured the spotlight into a…decidedly mixed reaction.

The seasoned listener will notice differences. There is a greater sleekness in each beat’s construction. There are feature placements that would have once seemed impossible with Zaytoven and Rio da Yung OG, as well as this being Xav’s first big-boy big label treatment, giving cause for a greater critical stir even with this being his first studio album in four years. It seems Xav took this opportunity to give people more of what they had flocked to him for in the first place: a cinematic, woozy, and disorienting experimental rap album. iPhone 16 features a discordant symphony’s instrumentation that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Steve Reich composition. Production standouts include Tony Hawk, as well as 100,000, both ranking among Xav’s most explosive compositions yet. However, the real star of the show is the digital streaming exclusive, Party At My Place, featuring Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs and Skrillex, creating a characteristically mind-bending and bombastic blend of the three’s respective styles. All in all, those who were already fans of Xavier’s output found more to enjoy, whereas those who weren’t (for the most part) gave a collective shrug and continued about their days. Give it five years, though…

–Evan Raefield

Converge – Love is Not Enough

Metalcore legends Converge return with another intense record after five years. This band does not miss, they wind up each shot and take the fattest fucking swing at it and send it flying at wee Anthony Fantano’s slippery baldass head. It’s a great record, neither their best nor worst, but Converge excels at consistency. 30 years of this metalcore business and they’re still accelerating ahead, splitting noise and peeling catharsis off the razor’s edge. Vocalist Jacob Bannon describes the album and its creation as “unrelenting and super raw the entire time, and that’s by design, because that’s how we feel. That’s what’s resonating in our collective spirit right now.” It’s a surprisingly political album, with lyrics from Bannon lying much more grounded in reality than his previous work, themes ranging from human powerlessness to the opiate industry. The band describes Love is Not Enough as less approximating an album, instead existing as the culminating “artist’s statement,” of the full band. Don’t let the title fool you, this is a record that advocates for love. Each song is a lonely cry of agony, desperate for more love to lay exposed and shared in the world, combating the darker chaos and panic around us. “Love is essential, but it’s not everything.”

–Pauly

The post KRUI Staff Picks: Best Releases of February 2026 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.

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

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

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

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

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

BUIO OMEGA performed next. They’re a very progressive hardcore band from Minneapolis who’s been tearing it up around the Midwest for the last couple years. They played a really strong set including tons of originals off their last few EP’s and a cover of “Nervous Breakdown” by Black Flag at the end. With loads of energy and crowd interaction they fostered a really great mosh pit throughout the show with their lead singer even getting involved at times and letting audience members sing into the mic. The group also made sure to bring awareness to multiple world issues right now specifically involving the genocide in Gaza and ICE’s human rights violations around the country. So it’s great to see a hardcore band going back to its political roots and speaking out on something so important. Good shit BUIO OMEGA!

The next set amped up the intensity even more. Baltimore beatdown hardcore band JiveBomb came in with harsher guitars, harder drum fills and some extremely good shrill vocals from their lead singer. This band’s been making a lot of great waves around the US within the last few years even playing with popular acts such as Soul Glo & Fleshwater. But this band doesn’t only deal in intensity with their music, they also bring some interesting themes and ideas. My favorite out of their set was one of their more popular tracks called “Primitive Desires”. The group played this song as their second to last and had an interesting story surrounding the idea of being queer and falling for this impossible idealized version of someone you can’t love. Connecting to the audience on a scale not always seen in hardcore music, making them stick out really well in a great way. Definitely make sure to check out their debut album ETHEREAL and other songs they’ve made along the way. Another phenomenal performance from this lineup!

Next was another really great set, this time coming from the Denver scene with Destiny Bond. These Convulse Record signees have been putting out a lot of really great hardcore within the last couple years and are definitely a band you wanna keep on your watchlist. But what I thought was more impressive was the message they decided to send out. In a speech before their last couple tracks they talked about the community and joy you can feel from a local music scene, and the importance of people continuing to support local and independent art. This is a really amazing message that I’m really glad they chose to put at the forefront of their set. So definitely go and check out their up-incoming album The Love coming out on October 25th. Or buy an early physical version if you catch them at a show! I bought one at their stand and when I went home to spin the album I got to be graced with some of the most consistent, cutting edge hardcore that’s come out within the last few years. You can really feel “The Love” this band has spoken about for this genre and scene within the album. Great work Destiny Bond!

BOOTCAMP closed the night out with an amazing show. Pulling mainly from their recently released album Time’s Up they brought unmatched stage energy and a true understanding and love for their local community. This was really shown when their lead guitarist spoke on a recent one hundred and six million dollar bill being pushed to build a new prison in Iowa City. Their guitarist Dolly Sperry spoke on the negative impact this could have on their community and the money this is taking away from more important social services. Urging audience members to go vote and potentially stop a destructive bill really shows the level of care this band has for their community that goes beyond just the music. What really stuck with me from the speech when she talked about how depressing the world feels with everything horrible happening all the time but how this means we need to keep fighting and how communities like this are especially important in times like these. What an amazing performance and what an amazing message. BOOTCAMP forever.

To close out this article I’d like to go back to BOOTCAMP and Destiny Bond’s messages about community and the importance of music scenes. In between sets I got the really great opportunity to speak one on one with Destiny Bond’s lead singer Cloe Madonna. She talked to me about growing up in Wyoming and the struggles that came with building a music scene there. Having to grow and get by playing at people’s houses, church basements and other DIY venues. And it made me think about how if she was able to grow a scene in a state like that, then a music scene can grow anywhere. A scene doesn’t need a fancy city, big record companies or massive artists. It really just needs people who have a true genuine love for music and their community. As someone new to the area, being at the show last Sunday and being in the pit surrounded by so many different people of all different musical and cultural backgrounds all coming to have fun and experience great art. I really did feel that shared love for music and my community. And as corny as it sounds in times like these, something like that can be really powerful. So go out, support your local music scenes, support great art, love your neighbor and never stop fighting for what’s right.

The post September 21, BOOTCAMP release show, “The Love” and the importance of local music scenes. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For those who are new to the band, Mannequin Pussy consists of 4 artists, Missy Dabice on vocals and lead, Kaleen Reading on drums, Bear Regisford on bass and secondary vocals, and Maxine Steen on guitar. They weren’t always called Mannequin Pussy, but I assure you the original name was just as upsetting to the status quo. And that has always been their goal.

Somewhat early on in their show, Dabice made it clear that part of the performance of their art is also conversation with the audience. I found that pretty respectable. It’s not by any means original to include the audience in the experience of art, but seemingly uncommon in mainstream music recently. Dabice began the conversation by discussing the profanity of their name. She told men in the audience to join her in repeating the word “pussy,” stating that their name isn’t funny and it certainly shouldn’t be uncomfortable anymore. And that the consideration of the slang for female genitalia is only inappropriate because of the misogyny that lies in sexualizing women.

At the time I was a little shocked by their openness to topics like this. As someone who has grown up in Iowa, I’m no stranger to the ideas of the reigning majority in the government. It felt surprising because I had really only delved into discussions like that online, in small circles of friends, or in books. It brought up a wider topic for the night about vulgarity and censorship. I found it really interesting because one could actually argue that it’s still inappropriate to use other slang for different genitalia, but ultimately the point is that society deeming parts of the human body inappropriate or vulgar creates insecurities and tension that harm everyone in the long run.

Later on, they would go on to speak on a different kind of suppression under class. Dabice stated that billionaires “want to keep [the middle class] in a fantasy state fighting for something that will never be [theirs]” and that fighting keeps us from realizing corruption. She said America does not center its rage on the correct demographic. The more we fight over politics or identity, the more we fall into a state of pawns. To quote, she asked the crowd to “pledge allegiance to [ourselves] and [our] community.”

The show was a great experience for me as someone who had been listening to a good handful of songs and only had a little knowledge on the band. The small venue also made it far more intimate for the audience. When they came out on stage it felt like you were meeting them in person. Maybe that had something to do with the amount of conversing between songs, but that aspect influenced my impression of the band greatly. Well, that and there was this feeling in their words that other than educating the audience, they also wanted to release this sort of cathartic feeling. The entire audience was invited to scream as loud as possible for as long as they wanted in the last ten minutes. And then they played Romantic as the closer and everyone in the room lit up.

In terms of music, the lineup was great, their set came to about an hour and fifteen minutes in length, and it was electrifying. The song lineup was a lot of their newer album, with some older favorites sprinkled in towards the second half. I found myself dancing a lot, much to the dismay of a guy and his preteen daughter next to me. (Sorry by the way, hope the concert was still pretty good even if you guys stood there the whole time). Mannequin Pussy makes music that makes you want to scream and sing and thrash around in all the best ways. My favorite song just happened to be their closer that night and that made the show all the more special for me.

In my personal opinion, I thought the show was really powerful. I would one hundred percent see them again just to do the same thing all over again. (Though I doubt any one show would be exactly the same kind of magical). Mannequin Pussy are not only extremely musically gifted, they are a visionary group and their shows fabricate a compassion for their craft and the people impacted by it like no other artist I have encountered. As their name would suggest, Mannequin Pussy is an unavoidable display of intimacy and beautifully crafted vulgarity.

The post On Speaking Aloud and Breaking Boundaries: Mannequin Pussy Mission Creek Festival appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Pera called in from Boston ahead of his stand-up comedy performance which will take place at The Englert Theater on June 14^th. In his quaint and humbled tone, he talked about his favorite bands and music, along with his interactions with music scenes, and the friends he has made from them. He also goes into detail about how both comedy and music performances meld well together, and the aspects of performing.  

Interview has been edited for clarity.

Glab: You’ve expressed before that you have an interest in hardcore music, going to shows, and the energy that it provides. How did you first get into hardcore and punk? 

Joe Pera: I do like it, but it’s not like my number one genre. I’m not going to pretend to be a superfan. Basically though, my friend Dan Licata is a bigger fan of that music and would often take me around to shows. You know, he’d ask if I wanted to go, and I’d go to the shows and enjoy the energy. I don’t know, it feels different than the usual stuff I listen to. Most of the hardcore shows I went to were through Dan Licata.  

Even if you’re not as into hardcore as other people, are there any specific bands that you like. 

Dan featured, they’re not super hardcore, but he had the band, and our friends, Washer score his special. I like their music a lot. 

What kind of music do you listen to most of the time? 

All sorts. I listen to a lot of ambient and instrumental stuff. Somebody recommended the new Elori Saxl album, and I’ve been enjoying the song that’s out from that. The Blue of Distance, with clarinet. I enjoyed that very much as well. But yeah, it’s mostly on the mellower side.  

In Iowa, my friend Dan Wriggins is opening for me. He’s in the band Friendship, whose music I like a lot. One of the guys, Michael Cormier-O’Leary, and his label Dear Life Records has another band called Hour that I performed with recently and will be on tour with soon too. They’re kind of instrumental based. They range anywhere from four members to I think like almost ten or more on certain nights. It’s kind of semi-improvised songs of them playing together. It’s got a pretty gentle and beautiful tone that kind of lets the instruments speak. Those are two that I listen to a lot, but yeah, I’m excited to be on tour with Dan Wriggins as well.  

I knew Dan Wriggins a little because he worked at the university here. I really liked his Friendship stuff, and the solo stuff as well. 

Yeah, I’m not sure what he’ll be playing, but I’m excited to watch him as much as I am to do the shows myself. A lot of the time if you bring someone along that you want to watch as well, then it’s like a free show.  

You mentioned Washer before. How did you come to know Kieran and Quigley? 

Shows in Brooklyn. We kind of met through Dan Licata, and then they would come to me and Dan’s regular show and play sometimes. Just bumping into each other in New York. 

Is there an aspect of their music that you like a lot especially? 

Yeah, I really enjoyed their new album. A lot of the energy, but still very melodic in how they do it, which I appreciate. 

How much have you been within the indie scene in Brooklyn, or the East Coast in general, from like the early 2010’s to now? 

Every now and then. Even when I was at school, I’d occasionally get asked to open for or share a bill with a band a lot of times through Dan Licata. It’s always popped up throughout my time in New York. Bands ask me to open for them, it usually goes pretty well. We’ve done shows with everything from independent venues to larger ones. I’ve also opened for Yo La Tengo at their Hannukah shows in New York. That was pretty special.  

It feels like I’ve been able to continue that type of collaboration or make it more formal with the podcast I do, Drifting Off with Joe Pera. I’ll collaborate with a musician that I admire, and then ask them to score the podcast. But yeah, every now and then I’d be asked to open for a band. A lot of the times the contrast between my quiet style and a louder show can be a lot of fun.  

Do you feel like comedy, or at least your style of comedy mixes well with a live music show? 

It seems to have worked in the past, but I don’t know if it will work everywhere. It’s always a little challenging, especially if people don’t know that comedy is happening. A lot of the times, when I’ll be on the bill, like when I did a show at Baby’s Alright in Brooklyn and opened for a few bands a couple weeks ago, people seem to enjoy it. It’s nice, I think the comedy and the music complement each other well, and kind of keeps the momentum of the show going, like I was going up in between the acts. Generally, I think people who like good music like good comedy as well. They have good tastes across the board. 

Do you yourself have good taste? 

Eh, sometimes.  

I feel like from everything you’ve described, I’m pretty much in agreement. I love Washer, and Yo La Tengo is pretty good.  

Mhm. 

One other band that I love is Parquet Courts, I know you’ve collaborated with them before with their Feel Free album visualizer, and you’re in the “Outside” music video filmed at the Knockdown Center.  

Yeah, they had me open for them at their holiday show the year before the album came out. They had me tell some jokes, and that was pretty intimidating since it was such a large room. But the fans I think are comedy fans too. A lot of the musicians like watching comedy, obviously, I can’t generalize, but like Sean Yeaton, the bassist of Parquet Courts, we have some mutual friends, and he’s also a very funny guy. We both had done voices for our animator friend Kieran O’Hare, who did the original “Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep” animation with me. Sean’s friends with him and has done some really good voices, he’s extremely funny himself. That’s how we connected. I guess I mostly know Sean, but he’s a really funny guy, and that’s probably why he has good taste in comedy. Also, I think that a lot of people who go to shows, if they want to see live entertainment, they’ll check out a share of music and comedy shows if they’re out and about in the city. 

In the “Outside” video you had the Christmas tree, what was that about? 

I knew I had to perform for like a thousand people, ready to see a rock show. So, I did some jokes, but also I had fun. It was a holiday show, so I picked up a small Christmas tree on my way to the venue. I tossed it to the crowd, and they crowd surfed this tree, pretty funny. I guess a music crowd would be open for something unusual like that. It’s also something I couldn’t do at a stand-up club. I was just trying to match the energy of the space and the event, and it led to something cool. 

Was that your first time performing to that many people? 

One of the first big performances I did. I had just made my own Christmas special and was tired out. I hadn’t been doing as much standup in the weeks leading up to it. I just remember that night that I was talking to somebody, and then I went out on stage, and it hit me all of a sudden. I don’t remember the exact number, but it felt like at least 500, maybe a thousand. It’s such a big space that I kind of had to brace myself, because it was a pretty large crowd to ask them to pay attention to jokes about New Balances. 

Now would you say it’s a pretty common occurrence to perform to that many people? 

Yeah, I’ve gotten more used to it. We started the last tour where we set some dates at 150-200 people venues, which is what I was doing before, but I guess a lot of people found the TV show during the pandemic when they wanted something relaxing and nice to watch. I guess I didn’t anticipate the crowd, my audience, would grow that much. Now the shows I’m doing in Boston are for a thousand people, and I think the ones in Iowa are about 600-700. 

Yeah, I think The Englert’s at about that capacity. 

Yeah, pretty good size. I don’t know if I’ll fill it, but I’ll do my best. 

I was looking at the ticketing recently, and it seems pretty much almost full. I think the upper balcony has some open spots, but they sold really quickly. 

That’s awesome. I’m very excited. That’s very cool to know. The only time I performed in Iowa before was at the Hinterland Festival, so I haven’t been through recently. You have to go through a place a few times to get an audience. That was a music festival too. I didn’t know how that was going to go. I performed basically the end of the Billy Strings concert, which was the big event of the night.  

Afterwards, I performed for the people who were staying overnight in the camping section. I was nervous about that because it was both an outdoor stage, and everybody was in an energetic mood. It went really well. There were huge clouds of weed smoke floating my way the entire show. The audience gathered around the stage outside and it was pretty special. Definitely had a sigh of relief when it ended, but it was a really fun night, and the crowd turned out to be really great. Like I said, I think people who go to live music shows are open to new stuff. You know, it won’t necessarily go well all the time, but they’ll give you some smart attention at least for a little while, and give you the chance to win them over. 

Do you think that doing comedy sets is pretty similar to how musicians in their sets match the energy of the audience? 

Yeah, it’s not the same for all musicians. I know some of them are adjusting throughout their set. I think I have a little more flexibility as a solo performer. Like if I feel that something’s not working, or I need to do a quick adjustment during the set, or you know throw in the joke that’d hit harder to up the energy. I’ll be able to make adjustments on the fly and change my set completely, or even just talk with the audience in a way that the musician wouldn’t have the luxury to do. I feel like that’s the advantage of doing comedy live over music. There’s also plenty of musicians who adjust. When they’re having a bad show, they can also get stuck when it’s not going well. There’s pros and cons to each. 

It’s all a very receptive activity. 

Mhm. 

Is there anything else you wanted to say? 

Just I’m really looking forward to performing in Iowa again. This time indoors. Dan Wriggins is going to be there, so I think it’ll be another good show with both comedy and music. You know, it’ll feel like a proper night out on the town. 

Anything that people in Iowa City can come to expect at the show? 

It’s all new material, different from my special. It’s all new jokes. It’s at the point of the tour where all the material is new and fresh for me as well. It’s really exciting to see. I think it’s a good show, but there’s some stuff that I’m still figuring out, and I think that’s the most fun time to see a show, when it’s still forming. When you’re not sure how it’s going to go, that’s more fun. 

Tickets to see Joe Pera at The Englert Theater on June 14th are available here.

The post Interview: Joe Pera Goes to Shows with You appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Last year, the first Pokey’s Fest was a wonderful success with an immense communal energy that came from the blossoming punk scene, along with travelers from elsewhere. The entire weekend oscillated between moments in loud, hectic mosh pits, and people chilling with each other in spaces like backyards and sidewalks. The connections between people, along with the constant string of crazy sets made bringing the festival back an obvious choice, just now it only has more. Much of the same scene will be on display this time around. 

Along with a plethora of hardcore bands, Pokey’s Fest this year will also feature many local vendors selling and trading things like zines, food and jewelry. The festival this year is all-encompassing, and perfectly placed for the time of year when the days are longest. Below is a somewhat comprehensive guide to many of the bands playing at the festival, all put together by some of the KRUI staffers. At the bottom of the article is also a schedule with what bands are playing when. Festival tickets will be available to be bought in person. 

Friday

The Mall

Music for punks who dance. From St. Louis, Missouri, The Mall produces tracks shocked with Earth crumbling bass hits and sawing synthlines slicing through the room. It’s entrancing industrial EBM all packaged into an aggressive punk like presentation. Mark Plant screams out vocals as they turn dials and press buttons, all while writhing in front of a dizzying array of lights beaming across the dark room. The whole display drenches everyone into a deep sense of euphoria. Somehow it depicts images of the end of the world, which for us will likely look like a cluttered wreckage of needless, cheap luxury and consumerist waste. Rather than be swept away and disparaged by it, The Mall encourages a celebration of bliss and life before the end of it all in whatever manmade rapture topples onto us. 

-John Glab

Payasa

Hailing from Lake County, Illinois, Payasa is relatively new on the scene, though their style of hardcore punk certainly isn’t. Harrowing poetic lyrics and their upbeat throbbing tempos create a unrivaled auditory experience that will leave the unprepared in the dust, as evidenced by their short but sweet 2022 release, The Haze Begins… One can only wonder if it will emerge once again at Pokey’s Fest.

-Evan Raefield

Prevention

The clichéd idea around hardcore shows, and I guess a hardcore festival, is that they’re dangerous, and that at any moment you could get clocked by someone throwing around flying spin kicks. Most of the time it is not like that. While still very wild and passionate, it’s a very respectful controlled chaos here in Iowa City. Out of every show I’ve been to in this city though, at no point did I think I was going to die more in a pit than when Prevention played at a Valentine’s Day show earlier this year. Something about the Springfield, Illinois band elicits a hidden message, sleeper cell type reaction from people. This will likely be one of the most tumultuous sets of the entire festival. 

-John Glab

Nature Boys

Veteran Kansas City punk outfit Nature Boys have worked to establish themselves in the larger scene of Eastern Iowa, as their profile has steadily grown along with their mosh pits. After working with Dead Broke Records to release their 4th album in 2021, they have introduced the world at large, and World City at large as of Friday, to their down and dirty Southern brand of punk rock.

-Evan Raefield

Sweat FM

Broadcasting on the wavelengths of Chicago’s Sweat FM is the ‘80s style power pop you would come to expect from things like home workout videos. It’s something that you would do that one Mannrobics dance from TF2 to. Even though this music to many people today is seen as gaudy, there’s a distinct energy that comes from that era’s sound that makes it kind of cunty. Dom Rabalais distills that pure essence into their new album you and i, we were born to cry. Among the pristine, suspended synth sounds and glam rock guitars is an infectious catchiness. It’s easy to shout along with these songs as you carry out your electric exercise routine in a would be mosh pit surrounded by everyone else. 

-John Glab

Jack and the Slammers

An exciting new three-slammer, one-Jack act from the depths of Des Moines, Iowa, Jack and the Slammers offer a particularly speedy strain of hardcore, with most songs not quite hitting the two minute mark. In addition, they have a song titled “GOON SQUAD” so you already know the crowd will be slammin’.

-Evan Raefield

Curt Oren

A bit of a change of pace, Curt Oren is an experimental electroacoustic artist and VLC projectionist incorporating genre bending elements such as saxophone to build gargantuan, larger than life compositions. Oren has worked in everything from lo-fi beats to transcendental long form soundscapes. So, one can only wonder what they’ll bring to the table this time around.

-Evan Raefield

God’s Hand

God’s Hand is a surfy punk band from Iowa City. They specialize in fast paced rock music that’s perfect for moshing. All their members are some of the most talented people in the scene and together bring an energy that can’t be replicated. None of their music is online for streaming, so if you want to experience them, you better be here in person. For now though, you can check out some of their previous sets on the Death in the Midwest YouTube channel. God’s Hand will be playing during the first set of the entire festival at Hell on Friday at 5:30 PM. 

-Trent

Bootcamp

Fresh off a 7” EP release and brief tour of the American South, Bootcamp, a hardcore punk rock four-piece and Iowa City scene staple, are back in town and ready to rock it Midwest style for Pokey’s Fest 2. Bootcamp is composed of guitarist Dolly, lead vocalist Juliette, bassist Molly, and drummer Oliver. They bring it fast and hard with killer riffs and belting vocals that demand your attention. Their songs explore ideas ranging from gender identity to corrupted former U.S. politicians, all with a spirit of liberation in mind. I <3 BOOTCAMP! See them perform at Purgatory on Friday at 8:30 PM!

-Lily Graham

Thought Wrong

We dive back into core Pokey’s Records with Thought Wrong, an Iowa City through and through hardcore group that brings a rougher edge to the scene. Thought Wrong will have you chasing the waves of their distinctive guitar sound, now at the hands of recently added guitarist Diego. This, however, is not to write off the impact of the rest of the band, with drummer August, bassist Cooper, and vocalist Marc, who bring equally weighty performances that will surely have your heads banging. The group seeks to carry on the Iowa hardcore tradition and does so with flying colors. See them bring the house down for Pokey’s Fest.

-Lily Graham

Saturday

Plack Blague

Hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska, Plack Blague spews out metallic, lustful “LEATHER INDUCED ELECTRONIC BODY MUSIC.” If you like assaulting yours ears with acidic bass and harsh keyboards, this band is sure to leave you foaming at the mouth from pure excitement. If that’s not enough for you, the unhinged erotic performance of vocalist Ross Schlesinger (a.k.a. Raws) is sure to satisfy your needs. You don’t have to spend your Saturday bored out of your mind. Embrace the pull of flashing lights, strange noise, and exciting company.    

-Casper Bakker

Mindclot

A relative newcomer to the scene, St. Louis based four piece Mindclot has already begun to build a reputation as a one of a kind act in their mere not quite two years of rocking. Bringing a hybrid between blackened crust and d-beat, their unique rhythms will shake up expectations for the fest. Check out their 2023 album Profit Over People to prepare yourself.

-Evan Raefield

Pat and the Pissers

They’re one of the most far flung visitors for Pokey’s, coming all the way from Indianapolis! Pat and aforementioned Pissers have had a busy flurry of years, having released an album in both 2022 and 2023 with no signs of letting up. They are fresh off a spring tour across the nation, as well as separate dates bookending their Iowa City appearance. Audiences can expect a tight, fuzzy, and artsy performance from the four when they take the stage.

-Evan Raefield

Snuffed

The hardcore of Chicago’s Snuffed is vicious. Words snarled from vocalist Karly feel absolutely rabid. Riffs are constantly dropping down into the Earth, sending shockwaves across the surface. The natural rotting decay featured in much of the band’s imagery gives into the sonic presentation. It’s hardcore to devolve into, returning to some sort of animal urge, forgetting any of the artificial hardships that plague everyday human existence. None of these problems will really matter when eventually we all will return to the dirt where we came from.

-John Glab

True Commando

Breakcore is one of the most intense and energetic forms of music out there, with its high BPM and blistering fast rhythms. Now imagine making it even more intense and demented. That’s what Iowa City based artist True Commando does with his “hellish jungle” tracks. Amid the already frantic pace of breakcore compositions, he makes it even more caustic with blown out samples, along with scathing screams that tangle themselves within the bombardment of noise. Through all the cacophony is an intense, infectious shuffle perfect for running through the causeways of some flaming city. An immense amount of harsh energy is brought to each one of the sets, leaving a little bit of his soul strung out among the wires coiled on the ground.

-John Glab

Frontal Assault

A shining star of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metal scene and a longtime regular in higher profile Iowa City shows, the seasoned band Frontal Assault brings a high adrenaline shred based approach to speedy metal tempos, sure to send audiences into a frenzy. They’re coming off of their most recent project, 10 Beer Plan, a split with fellow headliners Ill Omen (more on them in a moment) released in April of this year. They will have necks hurting before Saturday is half over.

-Evan Raefield

Ill Omen

The other Gemini of the Cedar Rapids metal scene, it makes sense that Ill Omen released a split with Frontal Assault, as they too embody a high octane thrash metal experience, with piercing vocals and even more piercing licks. Fresh off of their 2023 album as well as the aforementioned split, Ill Omen will bring a verifiable technical wizardry to Saturday’s lineup. I can already hear the tremolos in the distance.

-Evan Raefield

Kl!ng

Kl!ng to some degree is Penny Peach reincarnate. Kl!ng consists of all the members of the other band, but instead the song writing responsibilities have been divided equally among the three of them. Sonically, it is very similar. The band still has the same indie rock fusion between the fluidity of garage psych akin to Ty Segall, and a much more chaotic approach to grunge. Each one of their songs twists and turns into unpredictable directions, and the personalities of all three are given plenty of room in any of their sets. It’s all a very welcoming presence.

-John Glab

YXNG RASKAL

Harry Manaligod, the artist behind the YXNG RASKAL project, produces scathing rap songs with abrasive, murky, hyper pop like beats. Many of her songs, like “prairielands” on her recent album SPLIT/TING are protest anthems made to rage at the systems of oppression that people face in Iowa City on a daily basis. All while doing this though, she still does it in a jovial way, like on the track “LiNDSEY GRAHAM” where she shows no matter how much those in power try to knock people down, we can still rise and enjoy the time we have in our lives. Along with this, as Manaligod puts it, it’s bad bitch music that’s not bitch made.

-John Glab

Burger

Despite being a newer band in the Iowa City punk scene, Burger does not need an explanation. Yet, I guess here I am trying to give one. Filling in the city’s empty niche of Oi! Punk, the band still exudes a level of aggression, but makes it extremely palpable by providing a generally chirpy atmosphere. Each Burger set is extremely fun and joyous. It feels like it’d be perfect to play in some chapter’s union hall. Another niche in the Iowa City area which should be packed even more. 

-John Glab

Sunday

Aseethe

Aseethe is viscous. Their sound of doom metal is all-encompassing. When listening to their sets, the sludginess of their riffs seems to turn the air of whatever venue they’re playing into a solid mass. They achieve this effect by emphasizing drones in their music. Along with blending the regular elements of hardcore, they introduce synths into their sonic array, never letting up for a moment of brevity. All the different voices bend and bleed into each other. Within their dense, metallic performance, it permeates into a mesmerizing, hypnotic rumble. 

-John Glab

Death Kill Overdrive

Death Kill Overdrive is a bombastic pop punk freakazoid band hailing from Iowa City. With the delightfully pissed off vocal stylings of Cain and Oliver, and unmatched instrumentation, you’ll have no choice but to cheer and jump around for this home grown four piece! They released their most recent album Juicin’ late last year. With songs about everything from the joy of being in love, to the absolute horror of working in a grocery store, to how fucking cute the bassist Molly’s rabbit is, there’s no excuse for not showing up to what is sure to be a fantastic performance. Catch Death Kill Overdrive on the flip side, and at Pokey’s Fest.

-Casper Bakker

thisworldisnotkind

All lowercase, no spaces, MySpacecore band name? No thanks. Sure they’re relatively new, but this band like sucks. They’re fucking trash. We don’t need a cringe-ass screamo “skramz” or whatever the fuck band in Iowa City. I hate every member of this band, especially that dumb fuck twink of a bassist. Go see them or whatever.

Pest Heaven

Two piece bands consisting of just a vocalist on guitar and drums aren’t very common to come by. This is often because with having just the three possible voices, it’s hard to flesh out a full sound, unless you exude extreme talent. Two pieces like Washer, Gnarwhal, or to some degree The White Stripes do this exceptionally well, being able to create captivating songs with the barebones tools. Pest Heaven also falls into this category. Between guitarist Adelina and drummer Cauline, no space feels left empty. Some intricate fill or drum pattern is always being played, while the guitar riffs feel incredibly lush, and move from one killer idea to the next. All of this comes along with the duo’s fiery, heartfelt delivery. 

-John Glab

Haunter

Iowa City, Pokey’s Records, and the festival that they are putting on is home to plenty of weird and convention-pushing art. Tucked into this is a thriving experimental noise music scene. Haunter is one of many of these artists. During their sets, typically lit by just a single candle, they generate dark, barren, windswept landscapes. They feel inhospitable to be in, like it’s some sort of mistake that you find yourself standing in the middle of the long-decayed carnage. It’s an overbearing sensory experience that can make a person grapple with their own swirling being.  

-John Glab

Pokey’s Fest Schedule

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“Wonderful,” I thought, as sarcastically as anyone’s thoughts can really get. Another pair of people tried to enter. The worker says, again, “We’re at capacity.” Some people murmur about “We can hear it out here anyways.” Undeterred, I stepped up, flashing my media pass. The door jockey lets me in, thankfully.

The band is halfway through a song when I enter to a packed room and loads of sound. Bootcamp’s songs are short, so it doesn’t take long for this particular one to conclude. This aspect is part of Bootcamp’s hardcore punk roots: short, aggressive songs, and raspy, loud vocals. These are all key components of hardcore, but more specifically the subset of punk from which Bootcamp derives much of their sound. It’s meant to be an assault on the senses.

On this metric, then, Bootcamp always succeeds. For my own part as a listener, I’ve always admired their percussionist, Oliver, able to seemingly effortlessly make order from the unordered chaos of a punk show. The guitarist, Dolly, was the progenitor of said chaos, the birthplace of the most virulent of the sound profile which makes Bootcamp so distinct. As a broken record might say, the band always prevails by this metric. While I wasn’t able to see it all myself, as I exited the show I heard there was a mosh pit in the Café, which is a relatively tame establishment, all things considered. Nobody mentioned it at the time, but this was perhaps foreshadowing for the Osees show later at The Englert Theater, where seats were largely ignored in favor of crowding in front of the stage to form a makeshift pit.

Bootcamp always manages to produce a powerful energy, infused with the essential subversive elements of any good punk band, and the genre as a whole. Where punk goes, a pit should follow, and where else better than the sleepy Trumpet Blossom Café? The presence during their set epitomizes and demonstrates Bootcamp’s ability to spark the need for heavy music in people, no matter how down tempo the venue.

Bootcamp is, altogether, a fantastic group produced from the already prolific Iowa City hardcore scene. They always put on a great show, and their set for Mission Creek was no different. They embody the best aspects of punk, while having the energy and reach to back it up. As I said at the beginning of this article, I’ve seen Bootcamp before, and I’ll always look forward to seeing them again. I left the show satisfied, though my own heart ached for unrelated reasons. So many familiar faces stood outside of Trumpet Blossom.

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