Contrapuntal Readings
In celebration of 3 years of the event, General Readings is hosting a week long series of readings/shows/parties at Cafe Mustache and Cole’s Bar. This is the third and final, Contrapuntal Readings, a gathering of writers, musicians, and musician-writers. General Readings first ever Show and first ever event outside of Cafe Mustache features Eli Sugerman, Jacob Stovall/Early Country, Jessica Mindrum, Tyler Crain, Shami of Mother Fortune, and local Logan Square legends, Vamos!
Cass Cwik, Trevor Joellenbeck (single release), Jack Brereton
Cass Cwik is a Chicagoan who plays and writes original folk tunes. He’ll be joined by his longtime musician pals churning out some groove rock for a special set. Trevor Joellenbeck is an Indie rock and roll / Americana songwriter from Chicago, IL. For fans of Andy Shauf, Courtney Barnett, and Chris Cohen, Jack Brereton writes songs about the everyday.
Emily How, Lys Allen, Growing Boys
Emily How is a central IL based indie singer/songwriter. Emily’s music revolves around heartfelt lyrics, gritty guitar tones, and has been described by many as “cathartic.” Lys Allen is a singer/songwriter based out of central Illinois. Inspired by artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Samia, her music is a sincere storytelling of her life experiences, connecting with audiences through intimate lyrics with the support of a full band. Growing Boys is a local Chicago duo-singer folk band.
Pet Peeves, Off Contact, Model Living
Pet Peeves is an experimental no-wave band from Chicago with a revolving lineup of members from Chicago’s improvised music scene. Featuring saxophone, surrealism, and slapstick humor. Releasing their second album November 15 on Orb Tapes. Off Contact is a “jack of all trades” sonic assembly drawing influence from anywhere and everywhere. Holding a tight-steady rhythm, pooling into a cosmic wave of suspense; every song upholds multiple layers of perspective. Model Living are a Chicago-based post-punk quartet formed in spring 2023. Their angular songwriting & urgent-yet-poetic lyricism seek to capture life in Your City (USA) & the ever-encroaching doom surrounding them. Guitarist Jay Martinez, drummer Nico Ciani, & bassist Matt Ciani create a hazy backdrop of repetition & tension for vocalist Geoff Daniels’ frantic depictions of a city ravaged by displacement, restaurant groups, & Exponential Growth.
Bull Heather, King Sans, Muddle, Ceruleum
Bull Heather is a musical project and persona that is as much inspired by glam and drag culture as she is alt metal or 2000s diva pop music, performing songs that explore the experience of queerness in our current tumultuous era through the lens of heavy and off-kilter rock music influenced by acts such as Black Dresses, the Pixies, and Mitski.Backed up at live shows by her band, The Bloodflowers, Bull is energetic, passionate, irreverent, and, most of all, loud as hell. As King Sans, Jake and Iz deliver a powerful showcase of what Chicago’s tight noise punk can be. Amongst a sea of countless awe inspiring bands, Sans paves a path of their own. Adopting a front of powerful altrock, they put a layer of sinister experimentation on top of melancholic lulls to deliver one delicious pie. Muddle makes Post Hardcore from the Southside An Elgin based Shoegaze outfit, Ceruleum delves into a reverb-soaked, effect-laden, and distorted sound. Pulling influence from all the classic bands of the 90s and 2000s as well as modern Nu gaze and revival acts, Ceruleum will put the fucksmack down on your eardrums.FFO: Blue Smiley, They are Gutting a Body of Water
Jim the Kid & The Painkillers, Drew Swartz, Dragonfruit
Jim The Kid is a recording artist based in Chicago, whose unique brand of synthesizer and guitar fueled rock-‘n’-roll sounds familiar yet hard to place. With a large catalog of songs both loud and quiet, hard-hitting and sensitive, dancey yet contemplative, Jim The Kid thrives in experimentation and self-exploration. Joined on stage by The Painkillers, his live show is one that’s filled with dancing and high-energy performances played from the heart to give the audience a night they won’t forget. Jim The Kid & The Painkillers are Jimmy Clarke on guitar and vocals, Victor Kamhazi on guitar, synthesizers and backup vocals, Tommy Nelson on bass, and Ranan Vales on drums. Lyric driven alternative pop! Somewhere between the lemonheads and the la’s… With a twist of moody folk for good measure. The songs are driven by an enthusiasm for hooky lines and warm guitars. Preformed with wild enthusiasm for live music, Drew Swartz scrambles up and down the emotional spectrum, with friends filling in as backing musicians to bring the whole operation together. Sometimes acoustic! Usually noisy! Dragonfruit is the project of Shravan Raghuram and D Jean-Baptiste, two thirds of Fruitleather, concentrating their energy into making a heavy, experimental, mess of everything.
Spread Joy, Artificial Go, Body Shop
“A dream for short-attention-span punks; imagine an elastic gymnast doing a jittery floor routine to the Suburban Lawns. These wirey, zig-zag punks from Chicago make good on their band name and will bring happiness to old schoolers who love Y Pants and new schoolers into the NWI scene á la the most excellent Coneheads. Spread Joy’s absurdly weird and wonderful angles make them the Picasso of the Midwest (minus the macho BS). Creation and destruction in under a minute? Yes please” – Maximum RNR Artificial Go sounds like a cross between Swiss music group Kleenex and the wiggles. We are here to make people dance again and tap into a younger self that just discovered their curiosities of rock and roll and earthworms. Pancakes and humbuckers with flashlight-up waist belts, checkered taxis beep beep beep. Time to go!! Body Shop is a rapidly evolving, new wave/post-punk act, featuring the primal pop sensibilities of synths, drum machines, and guitars. A pseudo-religious, dance hysteria. To the uninitiated, they’re a high speed chase from Chicago, hurtling toward the after-hours of neon-soaked dance halls and insomniac freak-beat clubs. To those in the know, they’re Body Shop.
Salvation, Curve, Mr. Phylzzz
It’s been said that Salvation is a noise rock power trio with moments that will remind the listener of Cows, Nirvana and Lollipop. We’ve had the pleasure of playing with Cherubs, High On Fire, Negative Approach, Unsane, God Bullies, Local H and many other fantastic bands. We deliver a high energy and wild rock show. Our first three albums are available on Forge Again Records and our most recent album “Mock” is out on Reptilian Records. Curve makes 90s alternative/grunge . Loud sounds , lots of riffs , good melodies Mr. Phylzzz is Dirty Suit Noise Rock from Chicago.
AAAYYYAAA, Future Nest, Shinespark, DrakeAndTheBeatles
AAAYYYAAA makes midwest industrial music Future Nest is Industrial Dance music for the end-times. Give in to the sacred pull. Shinespark is bubbly, hifi, cute, sad, shiny, sweet, digital pop music for anyone. DrakeAndTheBeatles is THE NUMBER ONE noise two piece in Chicago, starring Gren Bee, performance and video tranny, and Texas Roadhouse, an animatronic monkey who does backup vocals. The project utilizes harsh synth, distorted vocals, “guitar”, spoken word about space colonization, and biblical allusions, to create *something* that might be classifiable in a genre, and you’ll at least be able to fake-bop your head to it.
Mystik Spiral, Down Boy, Coveralls
Mystik Spiral is a cover band that specializes in alternative ’90s rock for Halloween parties. Down Boy is Chicago’s first and very own Yeah Yeah Yeah’s tribute band Presenting full-album and variety setlists of alternative rock selections from the last 25 years, Coveralls provide an immersive, true-to-album experience with deliberate arrangements and snazzy outfits!