Impulsive Hearts, Phil Yates & The Affiliates, Mammals

Chicago's "sad-surf" indie-rock band Impulsive Hearts. They shared their third album Fit 4 The Apocalypse last year via legendary indie-rock label Cavity Search Records (Elliott Smith, Helio Sequence) and dropped a remaster of their debut album Sorry In The Summer this spring.

Echoing the likes of Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls, the all-women band adds a "hint of indelible Midwestern sadness" to the band's garage pop sound that the band has dialed in since a decade ago. Atwood Magazine shared their last music video last month, writing, "Impulsive Hearts' Fit 4 the Apocalypse is the Chicago indie rock band's boldest, warmest, and most ambitious offering to date."

As a staple in the Chicago music scene for the past decade, Impulsive Hearts has received plenty of local acclaim across their body of work. Jessica Hopper wrote in the Chicago Tribune before that Danielle's "songs are studies in contrast, sweet melodies and then distortion and rage."

"Hyperliterate pop-rock with shades of Elvis Costello and Big Star..." - Chicago's Phil Yates & The Affiliates specialize in three-minute hook-filled pop songs loudly played. Phil Yates' merry band of Affiliates include Michael Kennedy on guitar, Jay Lyon on bass, and Bill Urban on drums.

Mammals is a 4-piece rock 'n' roll band from the Chicagoland area that brings heart and soul from the garage to the stage. They draw inspiration from classic '60s rock 'n' roll, '70s power pop, and more modern garage rock and punk to create their own energetic, melody-driven originals.