The Last Great Riot, Eyeball Chambers, The Homicidols
Born in Chicago, The Last Great Riot is melodic punk rock with hints of garage rock, hardcore, and riff-rock. Simple songs about life and the good and bad times. Guitarist/vocalist John A Beavers, drummer Scott Durand, and bassist Mario Mazzone just want to make noise and drink the beer you buy for them.
Kilynn Lunsford, The Ineffectuals, The Xpressionists
Kilynn Lunsford is a musician and performance artist blending inspiration taken from experimental film, post-punk and noise music, and most recently superfund sites and resultant mutant flora and fauna, to create memorable listening experiences and unique high-energy live shows.”[She] creates Burroughs Gysin cool cut-up chaos; an exquisite corpse of chords and beats that brings the crumpled body back to life and dares us to believe…” ~ Ian Svenonius Chicago two-piece The Ineffectuals formed over a mutual love of classic industrial, post-punk, and electro records, mulled over in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. Founding members Jeremiah Meece and TH Nordberg began by making purely electronic music, eventually augmenting their sound for live performance with vocals and bass guitar. The band released its debut album, First Offering, in 2024. The next year, Meece and Nordberg followed up with The Serious One, jettisoning most of the tongue-in-cheek humor that pervaded their previous work in favor of a survey of the rot at the core of human culture.The Ineffectuals have been honored to share the stage with contemporaries and forebears such as Plack Blague, HIDE, and The Egyptian Lover. The band is currently scheduling a 2026 US tour and recording a series of EPs featuring unreleased music from its live repertoire. The Xpressionists are downtown new wave / post-punk band led by Nu Vision’s Jonathan Valdez.
Ritual, Hell of a Life, Honor Choir, Hoverboard
Oklahoma City continues to rise with a new wave of independent bands, and Honor Choir are at the forefront. Not only are they doing something different for OKC, they’re doing something different within today’s DIY music. While Blink-182 can be a common influence, Honor Choir push their anthemic pop-punk foundation further, pulling from early-2000s emo and post-hardcore touchstones like Hey Mercedes, New End Original and Rival Schools, alongside ’80s new-wave influences such as New Order and When in Rome.That range can be heard clearly on “Satellite Receiver” which moves from an abrasive guitar riff into acoustic guitar and piano, and the five-minute closer “Envelope” feels like it could sit comfortably on New Order’s Republic. Honor Choir has mastered combining their range of influences into something incredibly cohesive, and manages to fit a chorus into each song that gets stuck in your head. Hell of a Life is dark, heavy shoegaze from Chicago. Without any set in stone sound, Hoverboard explore the sonic landscape of whatever path they end up following. They don’t fully belong to any certain genre, but have self proclaimed their sound as “aggressively dreamy.” They’ve grown a reputation for energetic and deafening live shows; and to date have organized a handful of tours that have seen them play all across America. With no shortage of material, Hoverboard are a tour de force.
Onion, Future Bartenderz, Friendly Faces
Onion is a Chicago Indie Band that will make you cry! Future Bartenderz is the low-low-fi solo project of Brian Costello of Orlando, Florida, who once lived in Chicago, Illinois and was active in the garagepunk scene there in bands like Functional Blackouts, Johnny and the Limelites, and Outer Minds. Friendly Faces is a Chicago Folk Punk Band.
Altamira, TOFTS, Something Easy
TOFTS are the best ska forward gloomtone punk in a 100 mile radius. Guaranteed or no money back! We sound like if Choking Victim, Joy Division and the Front Bottoms got into a weird polycule, got married, had an ugly baby and then went through a messy divorce. Altamira is a transsexual rock’n’roll mogul. Chicago’s flimsiest female songwriter will give you a look into her love life, transition, and hopes and dreams through caught hooks, bar chords, and vocal harmonies. If you get too close to her, you’ll smell hints of , , and in her songwriting. Something Easy is four dudes from Chicago’s South Side who’ve been making noise together for over 10 years. Our sound is shaped by a lifetime of listening across genres, pulling influence from Nirvana and Korn to Spanish rock, pop, and rap—and everything in between. is four dudes from Chicago’s South Side who’ve been making noise together for over 10 years. Our sound is shaped by a lifetime of listening across genres, pulling influence from Nirvana and Korn to Spanish rock, pop, and rap—and everything in between.
Raccoon Junior, Xyta, Vinny Guido
Raccoon Junior is indie rock soup. The ingredients are as follows: questionably emo 2000’s rock of Jimmy Eat World, sad white boy twang of Songs: Ohia, fuzzed out noise of Codeine, and a dash of the reverb pedal from Slowdive. Combine in chicken broth, stir and simmer. Mmmmmm. As a solo artist, Vinny Guido writes, records, produces, and releases his music independently to all streaming platforms. From After-Hours Influences’ acoustic-vocal tracks to What’s Wrong With You Is What’s Wrong With Me’s guitar-driven songs, Vinny’s evolution and maturity can be visualized through his lyrics and melodies. His most prominent influences are The Beatles, Guided By Voices, and Green Day, and can be heard throughout his catalog. Xyta is an indie folk solo act from Chicago, IL. A lifelong yearner and songwriter, they’ll make you cry, hopefully laugh, and definitely think about your ex, all with just a guitar and a microphone. A niche favorite of horse girls, gays, and the depressed and lonely alike.
The Delivery Boy, Eric Solitude, Mahal Slick
The Delivery Boy is an alternative artist based in Chicago who’s work is heavily inspired by life in the Midwest, 90s rock, and the more abstract sonics of hip-hop. You put Shoegaze, Coming of Age, Alternative, Rock, Indie, and hints of R&B through a blender; you get Eric Solitude. Through strength and weakness, there’s a carry on of hope and determination that follows suit in the world of Eric Solitude. An observer of everything he lives and sees. An embodiment of what worlds colliding creates.You can hear the conviction of somebody resilient. You can feel identity finding its placement yet, questioning what feels like could be set in stone. Eric Solitude pushes into the discomfort of the unknown, while tracing the steps he’s memorized for safety. Mahal Slick shows have a welcoming and high energy feeling/sound. With music ranging from boombap hiphop, pop rap, and indie singing, we bring a chill vibe that the crowd can enjoy.
Gerfety, Hearthands, plush
Hearthands is a band from Chicago. The music blends elements of slowcore, shoegaze, dream pop, and 90s indie rock. plush is a Chicago shoegaze/slowcore/indie/whatever band. Gerfety is Chicago 3-piece Shadow Rock.
Triplets of Gonzo, Zakary Extract, Beastii
Triplets of Gonzo began as a street performing act in Mexico, where Selinger Gonzo and Jess Northup first developed their guitar and vocal chemistry. After relocating to Chicago, they teamed up with drummer Todd Waters and pushed their sound into something more mature and expansive, a melding of early-2000s Chicago underground, 70s prog sprawl, and Latin-leaning rhythmic patterns. Their new EP Gift (recorded with Mike Lust) digs into that mix with intricate guitars, massive synth bass, razor-tight drums, and a powerful vocal presence that cuts through the chaos. Onstage, the compositions intensify as the band cranks up the energy, balancing a tight, dialed-in sound with Selinger’s magnetic stage presence. Zakary Extract is a singer-songwriter from Chicago Illinois making intricate, hand-crafted art rock. On his new full length record “Elsewheres,” Extract trades biting electric guitars for lush, ephemeral psychedelia. Beastii – Surfy moody grungy groovy garage pop
Speedway Squad!, MYDGE, Dr. Goldfoot & the Bikini Machine
Speedway Squad! is a Chicago based emo band that perform an exciting live show by combining technical melodic guitar, post hardcore riffing, and heavy breakdowns. There is never a dull moment with MYDGE, Chicago’s isolted-explosive indie rock outfit. MYDGE began in 2022 as a confederation of four musically-minded yankees, united by an irreverent sense of humor and eclectic artistic sensibilities. So far MYDGE has honed an iconoclastic, energetic stage presentation in the local dives and clubs of Chicago, and their two starkly contrasting EPs have dealt in grit, polish, groove, and precision. Taking cues from Talking Heads and the B-52s, Dr. Goldfoot & The Bikini Machine can’t quite be defined by one genre. Progressive Dad Soul? Sure. Nonsense Rock? But of course! DGBM is anything you want them to be and then some, overlaying freewheeling guitar and groooovy organ on top of a watertight funk base. Delicious!