Miniskirt, The Scratch-Offs, Wallplant
Miniskirt is a Chicago four piece that draws on a love of 60’s girl groups, garage rock, power pop, and punk to make a dreamy and energetic sound. They inspire a raucous pit or a joint to be passed around. From the hazy hippie hangover that is Madison, WI come the Scratch-Offs, with their dumb power chords, garage pop riffs, and X-inspired harmonies, ready to take a fat ol’ chance on the lottery of life. Wallplant makes bedroom pop inflicted post punk
Brainwaiver, Big Drama (AR), Bum Rush with DJ Magic Triangle and Visuals by Hydrosonic Light Show
Brainwaver is improvised space age traveling, noise and deep space doom scroll Big Drama is an Arkansas based post-punk power duo collaging scraps of kraut rock, DC post-hardcore, and experimental weirdo noise into sonic medicine for sufferers of technocapitalist malaise. Bum Rush is an irreverent and sonically adventurous punk trio from Chicago that always delivers when they take the stage. Like if the Minutemen leaned more into their bebop influence and used fuzz pedals
Cocojoey, Anne Helen Wells, Oux
Cocojoey is a Chicago-based producer and performer who operates within a unique blend of digital hardcore and digital fusion genres. Their 2022 album “COCOJOEY’S WORLD” features kaleidoscopic harmony, virtuosic keyboard shredding, and densely orchestrated electronic layers wielded in the pursuit of finding joy and self-acceptance.Known for highly energetic performances, Cocojoey has quickly become a local mainstay. In addition to 50 shows across the US in 2024, they have recently performed alongside artists such as HEALTH, Author&Punisher, Bubblegum Octopus, Lauren Bousfield, Bejalvin, and Fraxiom. Anne Helen Wells makes digital pop music in a desperate attempt to be known, to be loved & to get off. Her debut album ‘AHW’ is replete with intricate arrangements of metallic, plasticky sounds, the perfect electronic framework for her lyrical explorations of BDSM, love & transsexuality. “oux “/ɒ/” is an alt-pop band from chicago. while you could call their music “experimental pop”, that hardly does justice to the profusion of genres and ideas they weave into their songs. oux’s debut full-length, “necronym” balances prickly idiosyncrasies with sleek earworms, and unraveling its layers is part of the fun.
toss! , Consort, Anteeter
toss! fuses the raw energy of ’90s/2000s post-grunge and alternative rock with the dreamy textures of modern psychedelic, post-punk, and shoegaze. Blending decades of influence into a sound that’s both nostalgic and new, they deliver emotionally charged, genre-blurring rock. Consort makes Instrumental, progressive, post hardcore and jazz. Music to zone out to. Anteeter and Normal Writing- Frequent collaborators Anteeter and Normal Writing join forces to bring an exciting, bass-heavy electronic audio/visual performance featuring their film scores, unreleased music and reworked material. Best played loud.
Ryder the Eagle, Burr Oak, Bur, Hannah Sandoz
DIY hero, fallen Romeo, karaoke weirdo — the Mexico-based French balladeer is everything (and nothing) you might expect from an art-rock divorcé chasing dreams at your local dive bar. With lo-fi synthy soundscapes, lyrical melodies, poetic songwriting, and cathartic one-of-a-kind performances, Ryder The Eagle tells his history with love more than his love stories – coating romantic despair with a chiseled wit that’ll transport you straight into a Kaurismäki movie soundtracked by a caffeine-driven Leonard Cohen. Chicago-based singer/songwriter Savanna Dickhut began Burr Oak not as a band but as a personal outlet. She first picked up the guitar as an aid to express her deep-rooted feelings, as she told The Chicago Tribune, and she began writing the lyrics of her first single “Southsider” after a tumultuous break-up. Late Bloomer, released later in 2021, is a record for everyone who’s felt like they grew into themselves later in life. Paste wrote “her lyrics are frank and direct, yet maintain a near-universal relatability, a sign of a songwriter to reckon with.” And this is truly Burr Oak’s greatest strength: offering the specifics of her personal experiences to capture a universal feeling. Earlier in 2024, Burr Oak had quietly been gearing up for their sophomore release— a 5 song EP titled ‘Annabelle,’ released via Easy Does It Records on September 20th. Departing from their previous album, ‘Late Bloomer,’ which showcased a more personal approach to songwriting, Savanna Dickhut (vocals/guitar/bass) crafts a conceptual piece centered around the character of Annabelle. Through poignant storytelling and emotive melodies, ‘Annabelle’ evokes themes of love, loss, resilience, and the transformative power of human connection—a fictional story inspired by the chilling and very real overturning of Roe v. Wade. Bur- Top 5 bands of all time. British invasion wanna-be’s Music that holds you while you cry: Hannah Sandoz’s arrangements weave tender lyrics and lush soundscapes for guitar, vocals, and laptop. Their use of real-time processing renders universal stories of day-to-day life into complex worlds which coax and stir even the most skeptical of audiences.
Why DOMS, Mr. Phylzzz, Nude
Why DOMS- The undisputed tag team champions of the Louisville rap scene Mr. Phylzzz- A two piece well dressed mess from Chicago. NÜDE is an experimental duo composed of Chicago-bred musicians Ruby Lucinda and Luke Clohisy. Both multi-instrumentalists, Lucinda and Clohisy write music that pulls from indie rock, drone, no wave, and grunge. The duo seeks to write honest music, about what feels like to be home— comforts and complications alike.
Duopalooza: King Sans, Braince, Bellhead, Wet Chain
King Sans- jake and iz: chicago’s gothic noisepunk duo Braince- Scuzzy, fuzzy funtime boyz. We build stripped-down, bass-driven rippers special-made for going fast when you’ve been thinking too hard. BELLHEAD have grown in popularity thanks in part to their never ending tour schedule and fiery interactive live performances. They have performed from one end of the country to the other, sharing the stage with such legendary acts as Stabbing Westward, Julien-K, Gene Loves Jezebel, Clan Of Xymox, Night Club, Powerman 5000 and performing at some high profile festivals and the Illinois State Fair. Post-punk male-female duo band. Two basses and a drum machine. No Guitar, No BS. MADE IN CHICAGO Wet Chain is fast, loud, psychedelic freak out music.
Morpho, Force Model, Kweelag
Morpho is a Chicago indie rock trio led by guitarist and songwriter Kristyn Chapman. The Alternative called the debut EP, Morpho Season, “a warm and lively show for indie rock’s next best thing.” This will be Morpho’s first Chicago performance since Kristyn joined Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver (Sub Pop) on the road. Morpho has emerged from her cocoon, and she’s just getting started. LA noise pop trio, Force Model is one of the LA noise rock scenes best kept secrets. After releasing their debut album last year, the group is back with their new EP Barricade, available June 20th on Bug Body Records. A short collection of tightly written songs, Barricade is a snapshot of a band in transition.Barricade shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Vogel’s disaffected, hooky songwriting, Moore’s sturdy bass counterpoint, and Arimura’s ferocious drumming form the core of a band that can, and does, go anywhere. Kweelag- 3-piece fuzzed out Dark Souls rock.
Decomposers, Willem Dafoe Fan Club, Swooper Creek, Caro Granner
Decomposers- Erin Paulson and Kenneth Bressler have been playing a unique and affecting blend of folk and ambient music as decomposers since November of 2024. EP’s delicate fingerpicking guitar and poetic, sometimes mournful lyrics form the structures of the songs that are filled out with atmospheric keyboards, field recordings, and sparse percussion by KB. Willem Dafoe Fan Club is an alternative slowcore trio known for music described as “hypnotic” and “haunting.” The band features Hollis Sparhawk on drums, vocals, and Omnichord; Noah Ruona on guitar and vocals; and Jon Marshall on bass. Swooper Creek makes music that swoops! We love to create an atmosphere where you can meditate on the beauty of everyday life. At our shows, you’ll hear an electric banjo, bass, and a rotating cast of other instruments. Come swoop with us. Caro Granner (she/they) is an indie folk musician based in Chicago, IL. Caro draws from a variety of sources to craft a lyrical, nostalgic, and heartfelt sound– from the folk and bluegrass sounds of childhood family road trips, to the wordplay and storytelling of musical theatre, to the humor and melancholy of treasured artists like Samia, Jensen Mcrae, Phoebe Bridgers, Christian Lee Hutson, and Andy Shauf.
Linnea’s Garden, Oddysseys, Sex Dream
Linnea’s Garden plays glam punk rock you can dance to. Imagine the angular guitars of Television, primal bass lines of The Clash, danceworthy grooves of Blondie, and otherworldly songwriting and stage show of David Bowie, fronted by a queer singer/songwriter/scientist. Loud, shiny and full of distortion: they do it cuz they like to do it. There’s no such thing as taking it easy when it comes to Oddysseys. The Boston born and Chicago-based trio has always operated under a strong DIY ethos and work ethic. The band has forged their own organic growth in the underground music scene, leaving their impression on basements, warehouses, and legendary venues across the U.S. and Canada, offering dynamic performances that take their audience on a journey through a sonically diverse discography – leaving plenty of room for moshers, dancers, and arm-crossers alike. Sex Dream is a 3 piece female fronted punk band from the suburbs of Chicago, highly influenced by the Ramones, 90s pop punk, twee pop and Britney Spears who describes themselves as hello kitty punk