ANCHR's Artist of the Week: The Vaccines

Photo courtesy of Red Light Management

In 2021, there’s been no shortage of discussion about Covid-19 vaccines, but today we’re here to talk about The Vaccines. With nearly two million monthly listeners on Spotify and a catalog of absolute bops like “Post Break-up Sex,” “If You Wanna” and “Wetsuit,” there’s a high chance a lot of you are already familiar with the London band composed of Justin Hayward-Young, Freddie Cowan, Árni Árnason, Timothy Lanham, and Yoann Intonti. If you’re not, now is the perfect time to get to know them ahead of their upcoming fifth studio album Back In Love City, which is set to be released in September.

With jovial drumbeats, bright guitar riffs and witty lyrics you can’t help but sing along to, The Vaccines is one of those bands that will put a smile on your face as soon as you hear the intro of one of their songs. That carefree spirit of their music translates perfectly to their live shows, with lead vocalist Young never failing to work the entire stage and keep the whole room entranced. I’ve been lucky enough to see The Vaccines perform several times, but my favorite memory of them has to be their sold-out show at London’s Roundhouse venue in 2019. There was an electrifying wave of positive energy in the crowd that night, something that transcended the normal hometown show vibes, making that gig one that I’ll never forget.

The latest singles from The Vaccines “Headphones Baby” and “Back In Love City” pack even more pep, delivering an expectation that Back In Love City will certainly be a record that keeps listeners dancing. About the new album, Young has said the idea for the fictional Love City stemmed from his experience partaking in a house swap in Los Angeles. “I literally swapped lives with a stranger. I lived in in house and drove his car while he lived in mine, but we’d never met and had no previous connections,” he adds, describing the experience that fueled his fascination with disconnection and escapism.

Make sure to pre-order Back In Love City here, and keep an eye out for upcoming tour dates from The Vaccines here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Divino Niño

Sheeta-Kuri-Ooah! ( I am not sure what that means but it sounds like a great salutation.) As I'm sure many of you Chicago music lovers were able recognize, that is a lyric from the title track of Divino Niño's album Foam.

Photo by Alexa Viscius

Divino Niño is a five piece rock band based in Chicago composed of Camilo Medina, Javier Forero, Guillermo Rodriguez-Torres, Pierce Codina, and Justin Vitorri. Forero and Medina were buds as young children in Bogota, Columbia but when Forero's family moved to Miami, the two had lost touch… That is, until one day, Medina's family also moved to Miami, and fate had it to where he and Ferero reconnected when they recognized each other on the bus. In Miami they attended the same church where they had the opportunity to perform before an audience and experience the high of performing live. Years later, the pair moved to Chicago for college and their new independence granted them the opportunity to discover secular music like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which thankfully for us, began the formation of Divino Niño.

Foam is a lovely album that should be on every vinyl collector's list. All ten songs are exceptional. “Melty Caramelo”? Bop. “Coca Cola”? Bop. “Maria”? Heart Break Bop.

Before anyone asks, yes, Divino Niño did make Perez's Best of 2019 with their song “Foam.” It was a hit amongst my fans. Full disclosure though, they sing in both Spanish and English— so if that turns you off, grow up. It's 2021 and all of us should be able to groove no matter the tongue. I love that we here in Chicago get to have our own Latin music group that we get to claim. Even cooler is that they actually sound great. With the present popularity of Latin-American artists being so high, i.e. Cuco, Omar Apollo, and the Marías to name a few, Divino Niño add a beautiful psychedelic rock ambiance to the current prevailing musical climate. I have yet to catch them live (I know, I know, very unlike me), but I'm pumped to finally get the chance to check them out at Pitchfork this fall.

Snag your own copy of Foam here, and get tickets to Pitchfork fest here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Squirrel Flower

Photo by Tonje Thilesen

You know how certain bands have that very particular signature sound where you can recognize one of their songs before the lyrics even kick in? Well, with Squirrel Flower— the project of vocalist, songwriter and musician Ella Williams— there’s a consistent air of experimentation and exploration of different energies and sounds in her music, leading to a completely different effect. Across the first Squirrel Flower EPs and debut album I Was Born Swimming, Williams delivers reflective lyrics and a sweeping vocal performance, lending varying timbres to her silky voice.

Back in April, Williams announced Squirrel Flower’s sophomore record entitled Planet (i), giving us the lead single “Hurt A Fly.” The track leans a little heavier than some of Squirrel Flower’s past releases, featuring distorted and frenzied guitar riffs and telling the story of manipulative lover switching back and forth between powerful emotions. Talking about the track, Williams says, “‘Hurt A Fly’ is me embodying a persona of gaslighting, narcissistic soft-boy type shit. The classic ‘sorry I acted violently, I'm not mad that you got upset at me, wanna hang out next week?’ I wanted to see what it was like to be a character trying to skirt around accountability. It's an angry and unhinged song.” Tune in below to experience the track in all its glory.

As for the rest of the album Planet (i), Williams says most of the songs were written ahead of the pandemic, but she spent a large part of quarantine demoing them in her bedroom. When it came time to safely record the studio versions of the tracks, Williams worked with producer Ali Chant out of The Playpen in Bristol, UK. Williams and Chant provided the backbone for most of the instrumentation on the record, but it remained collaborative with guest contributions (provided remotely) by the likes of Tenci's Jess Shoman, Tomberlin, Katy J. Pearson, Jemima Coulter, Brooke Bentham, and Williams’ family members.

Be sure to pre-order Planet (i) ahead of its June 25th release date here, and check out Squirrel Flower’s upcoming tour dates here. The majority of the shows are unsurprisingly sold out, but if you were lucky enough to snag tickets, Squirrel Flower will actually be playing two shows here in Chicago this weekend at Sleeping Village.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Nation of Language

Photo by Kevin Condon

I am very much looking forward to getting back to traveling and seeing live music soon, so this week’s AAOTW has ties to a near and dear memory of both of those hobbies. Back in 2018, I was in NYC for the weekend and had the chance to photograph The Wombats at Brooklyn Steel. I showed up not knowing anything about the band Nation of Language, who had filled in a supporting slot when UK band Blaenavon had to pull out of the tour. Despite my inexperience with their music, Nation of Language’s set left me blown away with their refreshing spin on the post-punk and new wave eras of music. I remember instantly going to their Spotify to save their songs “I’ve Thought About Chicago” and “On Division St,” which the band had recently released that year.

Nation of Language is a trio based in Brooklyn, fronted by songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ian Devaney and joined by Aidan Noell and Michael Sue-Poi. In the following few years since that show, the band has put out a steady drip of singles, some of which ended up on their highly-anticipated 2020 debut album Introduction, Presence.

There’s a certain magic to Nation of Language’s music; They manage to craft the perfect blend of infectious hooks driven by hypnotic synths and steady bass lines, topped off by Devaney’s robust vocals. The trio’s latest single “Across That Fine Line,” which happens to be the lead single off their newly-announced sophomore album A Way Forward, has that same quality I’ve come to love them for. There’s just something about Nation of Language’s sound that is equally soothing and jolting— their music can make listeners want to dance, yet provides and escape route from worries. Devaney describes his inspiration for the new song “Across That Fine Line” as being about that moment when a non-romantic relationship flips into something different. “Sonically, it’s meant to feel like running down a hill, just out of control. I had been listening to a lot of Thee Oh Sees at the time of writing it and admiring the way they supercharge krautrock rhythms and imbue them with a kind of mania, which felt like an appropriate vibe to work with and make our own,” he adds.

As for the remainder of the upcoming album, A Way Forward, I’m curious and excited to see how the group will push the boundaries on their sound. The band has described their approach to the album, stating, “We aimed to more deeply trace the roots of our sound, hoping to learn something from the early influences of our early influences. Experimenting with how they might be reinterpreted in our modern context.”

Make sure to tune into A Way Forward upon its November 5th release date— you can pre-order here. Additionally, Nation of Language will be heading back out on tour later this year, including a stop at Chicago’s Empty Bottle. See all the upcoming shows here, and tune into “Across That Fine Line” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: FUR

Photo By Julia Nala

This week we’re heading back across the pond to talk about Brighton’s own FUR, composed of William Murray, Harry Saunders, William 'Tav' Taverner, and Flynn Whelan.

Late last month, the group shared their first single of 2021 called “The Fine Line Of A Quiet Life,” a warm and uptempo track that’s perfect to add to your upcoming Summer playlists. The song stays true to FUR’s style with nods to a mix of influences— From NYC bands of the early aughts to 1960s rock n’ roll, the fuzzy distortion and staccato-style guitar strums on the single make it irresistible to bop your head and tap your foot along. Regarding the song’s theme, FUR describes “The Fine Line of a Quiet Life” as a tale about self-reflection and understanding. “It’s about detaching yourself from situations you’ve already been in and know the outcome of. Much like growing up, you learn not to do certain things and slowly but surely you learn that there’s a ‘fine line’ of what lifestyle becomes acceptable the older you get and also what you can hack as an adult (that maybe doesn’t feel too much like one). The feeling of regret and ‘how could I be so blind’ that everyone has felt in relationships that really only comes out once it’s done is something that also goes hand in hand with a mutual respect for a collapsed relationship, and that there’s no undoing of things you’ve done and it’s best to just move on and suck it up,” they say.

While FUR has released several singles since their onset— including the 2020 mixtape entitled Facing Home, featuring 7 of the band’s previously unreleased tracks— we have yet to receive a full length album from them. As the band recently signed to Norway’s 777 Music, we’re expecting news on a debut record from FUR at any moment now.

In addition to new music news, FUR has also announced several new tour dates for later this year in the UK and Europe, with more potentially on the way. Be sure to follow their Instagram for the latest updates, and check out the official video for “The Fine Line of a Quiet Life” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Squid

Squid is Louis Borlase, Oliver Judge, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell and Anton Pearson // Photo by Holly Whitaker

As venues open back up and tours are getting announced again, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to see some live music from bands I’ve never seen before. One band in particular I’m looking forward to seeing for the first time is Squid, a band made up of Louis Borlase, Oliver Judge, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell and Anton Pearson, with a sound that fuses everything from post-punk to jazz into a fluid genre of its own. Formed in 2015 in Brighton and now based in London, Squid released their debut record titled Bright Green Field on May 7th this year, following up a handful of singles and EPs.

Bright Green Field opens with the ambient 40-second blip titled “Resolution Square” that fades seamlessly into “G.S.K.”— an upbeat track that features abrasive, punchy vocals layered over a brass-infused groove. In just the first few minutes of the debut album, it’s easy to identify the admiration for ambient and jazz music that brought the band members together initially during their years at University, but their fluid sound winds itself throughout the entire 55-minute long album.

Squid is a band who simultaneously blends unexpected sounds together and blurs the boundaries on defined band roles by having everyone wear multiple hats and make an array of contributions. They describe their unique process best by saying that the record is a product of five heads operating as one. “We’re all going through different phases of our life as a band and as individuals so that contributes to the eclecticism which is inherent in what we do,” Pearson elaborates.

Being keen on collaboration within the group also transferred into having several guest performers come in for the recording of Bright Green Field. In addition to having orchestral and jazz musicians like Black Country, New Road’s Lewis Evans on saxophone and multi instrumentalist jazz musician Emma-Jean Thackray join in, Squid recorded about 30 of their friends voices and collated them all to form a distorted and layered choir of their own.

Make sure to snag your own copy of Bright Green Field here, and keep up with Squid’s upcoming tour dates on their Facebook.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: The Marías

As artists find new ways to express their vision and experiment with different sounds, it’s become less and less common for a musician or band to become pigeonholed by a single-defined genre. The Los Angeles-based project of María Zardoya, aptly called The Marías, recently released their lead single off their highly anticipated debut album and further proved the vast range of musical styles that they have in their wheelhouse. The track “Hush” showcases Zardoya’s velvety, jazz-infused vocals laid over a hypnotic electronic backbone, but their back catalog features hints of anything from psychedelia to funk.

For example, the song “Only in My Dreams” from the band’s 2017 EP Superclean, Vol.1 has an atmospheric, cinematic sound— which leads nicely into the title of their debut album to be released June 25th: Cinema. Zardoya and bandmate Josh Conway say that the record drew inspiration from classic films and directors that they grew up watching— a la Pedro Almodóvar and Wes Anderson. Even more fitting, Conway and Zardoya originally connected because of their love and appreciation for cinema. “Through a friend, [Josh and I] were connected to a music supervisor who would send us requests for music for films. We’d receive a synopsis of a scene, and then we’d have to write music to it within a couple of days. Not only did that teach us how to write songs together fairly quickly, it taught us how to think like filmmakers. We’d imagine worlds in our minds based on the synopses – the colors in the scene, the lighting, the actors, the set design, and of course, the music,” Zardoya says about her songwriting partnership.

I only had the pleasure of seeing The Marías perform live once, but I still remember the way Zardoya and her bandmates completely captivated the room (enough for the audience to demand an encore despite the fact they were opening the show). I’m hopeful we’ll see some tour announcements released soon so that we can all hear some of their newer music performed.

Pre-Order the upcoming album Cinema before its June 25th release date here, and check out the trail that Zardoya and Conway co-edited and directed here. Lastly, watch the visualizer for “Hush” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Viagra Boys

Viagra Boys are Sebastian Murphy, Benjamin Vallé, Henrik Höckert, Oskar Carls, Tor Sjödén, and Martin Ehrencrona.

Sometimes the music we listen to tends to get a little stale.  It happens to all of us.  Especially if the main source of your music consumption is the radio.  The radio does a fantastic job of killing one’s enjoyment of a song—No matter how great it is, with how much they overplay the fifteen to twenty songs they have on rotation, it inevitably becomes overkill.  That’s why it’s important to have friends like myself and to keep up with what ANCHR is sharing in discovery.  Both ANCHR and I, personally, care about your aural pleasure.  That being said, this week’s AOTW is a band you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll never hear on top 40 radio: Viagra Boys. 

Viagra Boys are a sextet from Stockholm, Sweden that formed in 2015.  Viagra Boys’ music is raw, humorous, eccentric, while maintaining a punk sound. Once you stop giggling at their name and begin to listen to their music you’ll probably exclaim the same reaction that I had, which was: “Dang, these guys sound pretty good!” They’re the type of band you’re going to catch at the Bottle, Old Style in hand. (Unless, of course, you’re one of those cowboys that gets Lonestar). With two albums under their belt it’s probably best you start with Street Worms. You’ll listen to “Sports” about ten times, share it with all your other music friends, and move on to their latest release Welfare Jazz so that you can listen to one of my favorite covers of the past couple years; “In Spite of Ourselves”, which is of course a John Prine song (RIP). 

The only time I was able to catch these Swedes was during Wicker Park Fest in 2019.  All five bandmates that were on instruments were great musicians, but Sebastian Murphy (vocals) was especially entertaining. I wasn’t able to tell if it was part of the act or if it was genuine, but Murphy appeared to be inebriated the entire performance. He was comical in his banter, dancing, and singing performance. He would drink beer while singing and at times would shout the lyrics into the microphone while his mouth was full of beer. I wondered if the photographers below were getting annoyed because of the spittle that would get all over them…Hazard of the job, I guess.  By the end of the show, Murphy had stripped down all the way to his boxer briefs revealing his whole body covered in tattoos, including his impressive beer belly.  Go see them if you get the chance.  

Speaking of their live shows, the band does have some concerts announced for later on in the year. Check out their tour dates (which hopefully don’t need to be pushed back again) here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Lightning Bug

Lightning Bug is Audrey Kang, Kevin Copeland, Logan Miley, Dane Hagen and Vincent Puleo// Photo by Ingmar Chen

Although Lightning Bug released their debut album Floaters way back in 2015, I only recently discovered their music after the release of their single “September Song, pt, II.” The new single instantly drew me in with lead singer Audrey Kang’s lulling and gentle vocal tones, paired with the dazzling melody, and led me on a deeper dive of the band’s catalog. The softness of Kang’s voice acts as an anchor for all of Lightning Bug’s releases—In the track “Vision Scraps” from the sophomore record October Song, distorted guitars create a juxtaposition with Kang’s voice. We hear a similar contrast with the fuzzed out intro of “The Luminous Plane,” yet we remain grounded by the ethereal vocals.

Mostly based in New York, Lightning Bug is the project of Audrey Kang, Kevin Copeland, Logan Miley, Dane Hagen and Vincent Puleo. Along with the new single release for “September Song, pt, II,” Lightning Bug also announced their third album A Color of the Sky will be released June 25th via Fat Possum Records. The group of musicians recorded most of the album together as a live band, which they say gave this third record a more dynamic and organic feel than their past albums.

About their latest single, Kang said it came to her in the summer of 2018 when she spent a month camping on a small island in the Baltic Sea. “There I was in the north off the coast of Stockholm, the sun was setting insanely late, like at 11pm and it took hours longer than normal. So I'd watch it disappear, this glowing orb sink into the sea every night to the point where I felt kind of insane, like I was hallucinating...and I started reliving memories but they felt like they were right before me and then I felt confused, was I reliving memories, or seeing into the future? I kept thinking to myself, each end is a beginning, each end is a beginning. So this surreal experience with time lay dormant in me, and then an entire year later, I was camping in the PNW, also on the shore, and I watched the sun sink into the sea, and suddenly those sunsets from Sweden rippled through me again very vividly. And when I came back to New York, I wrote this song,” she describes.

In addition to the new album, Lightning Bug has made the exciting announcement of live shows returning! The band will support BULLY on a string of dates in September. Make sure you snag your tickets and preorder A Color of the Sky here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Mia Joy

Photo by Ash Dye

One of my favorite aspects about music is that it can provide an escape from reality—with just the right mix of lyrics and melody, a song can wash away the worst of your anxieties and envelope you in a tranquil environment. Mia Joy is one artist in particular who excels in her ability to mollify listeners and provide an oasis through her songwriting. Take the hypnotic wind chimes that introduce Mia’s track “See Us” or the nostalgia-laced synths that fade in on “Haha,” and it’s no surprise that she introduces her latest single “Saturn” with meditative vocalizations. Despite the unique stamp that all of Mia Joy’s releases possess, there’s a common thread of peacefulness embedded throughout.

The Chicago based project of Mia Joy is fronted by lead singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mia Rocha with Joseph Farago on keys and Emerson Hunton on percussion. The latest single “Saturn” debuted last week, marking the final countdown before Mia Joy’s debut album Spirit Tamer releases Friday, May 7th via Fire Talk Records. Speaking about the new track, Rocha says, “I am a practicing astrologer and It is written in the voice of Saturn, the planet of restriction, isolation, responsibility, hard lessons. It mockingly asks me how it has affected my life, makes me question my faith in humanity and inner loneliness. All running themes of the album.”

Recorded at Pallet Sound studios in Chicago by Michael Mac and co-produced with Rocha, Spirit Tamer highlights Rocha’s wide array of influences that range from Grouper to Sade and Selena. Prior to gigs being shut down, I only had the pleasure of seeing Mia Joy perform live a couple of times, but I’m certainly looking forward to venues reopening and getting to hear some of these new songs played in person!

Make sure you pre-order the new record here, and check out the video for “Saturn” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Ellis

Photo by Ariel Bader-Shama

Better known as Ellis, Ontarian singer-songwriter Linnea Siggelkow debuted her musical project in 2018 with six song EP The Fuzz. While Siggelkow’s storytelling digs deep into a sense of vulnerability, the dreamy and gentle lilt of her vocals adds a breezy quality to her songs that make them a perfect soundtrack to a summertime drive.

Following Ellis’ debut, Siggelkow had toured with acts like Mannequin Pussy and SASAMI, with a plan to tour in support of her 2020 debut album Born Again. While the tour obviously couldn’t go on, listeners were thankfully still graced the LP, which takes us through a journey beginning with jovial track “Pringle Creek.” From the more upbeat and jangly chords of title track “Born Again” to the melodic piano-driven “March 13,” the record explores a multitude of moods and emotions.

While those songs are still frequent in my rotation, Ellis announced just last week that we’ll soon get to hear even more new music from her, which she worked on during the shut down in 2020. Speaking about her creative process for new EP entitled Hospital, Siggelkow says, “I was very intentional throughout my process in a way I hadn't been able to be before, especially in choosing who to work with, and this unlocked some of the most special collaborative experiences I've ever been a part of.” Ellis worked with Dizzy’s Charlie Spencer as a co-producer and mixer for this most recent project.

You can tune into the first glimpse of the new EP by listening to the title track below, and be sure to preorder the EP here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Sault

It seems every couple of years we get bands or artists that create music within a cloud of mystery. The Weeknd started his career this way.— it wasn’t until his music really blew up in the mainstream that the world finally got to see the man behind the stage name. In the electronic world Daft Punk’s whole shtick is that they’re robots. Deadmau5 was similar to the The Weeknd in that his identity remained steeped in mystery during the beginning of his career, but ultimately he couldn’t keep that up with how popular his music became. We still don’t know what Buckethead looks like; and we still don’t really know who all is in The Knife. Then you have artists that try to do the mysterious approach, but no one really cares; i.e. Marshmello.  The latest musical project to endeavor into the mystery realm is Sault. 

When I first heard Sault, I thought they were a DJ, à la Kaskade or Nero, but like many Chicagoans who listen to Sound Opinions, the hosts were reviewing Sault as a British musical group, and I was like “Dang, they’re a band?”  The members of the group aren’t really known. We just know that Inflo seems to be involved in some capacity and Michael Kiwanuka (or members of his band) seem to also be involved in some way. Whoever they are though, their music is hot. 

Sault’s music is funky, soulful, and seems to center around police brutality/BLM subjects. With the memory of 2020 still in our minds, both albums they released in 2020 were very relevant. Untitled (Black Is) was on many publications short list for album of the year until three months later Sault released Untitled (Rise), and that seemed to leap frog the previous album to garner even more praise and attention. Their track “Wildfires” is so beautiful it makes me want to blast it in my house with only candles illuminating my abode. “Free” is another striking song except this one gives me the vibes to remain in that same setting, but add spontaneous dancing. Hopefully when festivals and shows come back we’ll finally get to see who they are.  For now, tune into Untitled (Black Is) below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Arlo Parks

One of the most lovely sounding songs to come out in 2020 was “Black Dog” by Arlo Parks. The song is about a friend or loved one that is in a dark place and Arlo Parks is expressing to them that she is there, mindful of the depression, and willing to assist in comfort, companionship, and support. Being heedful of the declining mental health of those we are close to is important in our every day lives already, but in 2020 many people had an even tougher time with their mental health while in isolation and shelter-in-place. “Black Dog” was a song in which those people were able to find solace.  The song’s thoughtful lyrics and Arlo’s sweet sounding voice made it the soundtrack for many people’s entire year. 

Arlo Parks is the stage name for Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho.  She is a young poet and singer-songwriter from West London. Her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams finally came out at the end of January 2021 and it included the aforementioned “Black Dog” along with a number of already released songs that garnered some popularity like “Eugene” and “Green Eyes.” 

Arlo Parks is yet another artist I wish 2020 didn’t screw us live music lovers on, but if I put on my optimistic goggles, hopefully she’ll be part of what makes the tail end of 2021 awesome.  She currently has tour dates scheduled for Europe and in two cities in the States (Brooklyn and Los Angeles), but I wouldn’t be surprised if more dates were added once things become more clear and the vaccines become more readily available. 

Order your own copy of Arlo Parks’ album here and check out Arlo and her band performing “Black Dog” virtually in quarantine below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Idles

Photo by Tom Ham

Idles is exactly what rock and roll needs right now. Their music is fantastic, their live shows are high energy and in your face, they’re affable— and to put it succinctly; they’re woke. In the current sociopolitical climate that both the U.S. and the U.K. find themselves, these five British blokes ensure their messages of inclusiveness, feminism, anti-classism, and anti-racism are definitively pronounced in both their recorded music and live shows. 

Idles formed in 2009, but it wasn’t until their 2018 album Joy as an Act of Resistance, my favorite album of that year, that they really exploded. Their music possesses the traits of empathy and vulnerability while simultaneously being ferocious. Their love of music is evident in their performance. I’ve seen them thrice and all three times they were terrific. They should be on every music lover’s list to catch live. 

Out of all the marvelous “post-punk” bands that have come of out the UK, Idles has become my favorite. I have zero hesitation when saying it is my opinion that they are presently the best currently active rock band in the world.  At their Lollapalooza after show at Lincoln Hall, members of Cage the Elephant and The Strokes were in attendance. If Julian Casablancas thinks you’re rad, then no other compliment is needed. 

Tune into Idles’ 2020 album Ultra Mono here, and watch their live performance of “Carcinogenic” for Independent Venue Week below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Girl in Red

Photo by Isak Jenssen

“Do you listen to girl in red?”  Yes, I’m aware that joke is dead, but I wanted to use it in this Artist of the Week post to claim victory.  The queer community tried to keep girl in red for themselves but we weren’t having it. Girl in red is for the people.  Marie Ulven is a Norwegian singer-songwriter who has been releasing music under this alias since 2018.  A number of publications have labeled her as “dream pop” but if you listen to her latest release “serotonin,” it sounds more EDM than anything to me. After my first listen, it gave me Alison Wonderland vibes. I say that to try and make the point that every year, it’s becoming more and more antediluvian to try and place bands under a single genre. Girl in red, I feel, fits into that new style of music creators; Some would call it “multi-genre” whereas I would call it “genre-less.”

We at ANCHR were fortunate to catch girl in red at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland back in 2019.  One of the best parts of the show was that it was put on by KEXP and being live-streamed for the listeners back in Seattle but it kept slipping Ulven’s mind that the performance was being shared live and she would continuously swear during her in-between songs banter with the audience. The KEXP producers would try to get her attention to get her to stop doing that and she would then laugh and unwittingly say “shit, I forgot,” which gave her performance the same endearing relatability as her lyrics. We went into the show really digging a handful of her songs and she did not disappoint when performing them.  “We Fell In Love In October” was a personal favorite and I still can’t kick it. 

My favorite track she released in 2020 was “Midnight Love” and that bop made it onto the track list of her debut album if i could make it go quiet , which comes out April 30, 2021, giving us something to look forward to.

Pre-order if i could make it go quiet  here, and listen to “serotonin” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: PACKS

If you need a little something to shake up your energy levels and get you over the mid-week slump, look no further than PACKS’ new single "Silvertongue.” The fast-paced and fuzzed-out tune premiered last week alongside the announcement of the band’s debut album Take the Cake. “Silvertongue” gave me my first taste of the Toronto-based project, but when I learned that Fire Talk Records will be putting out the album, I was not surprised at all because they’ve never steered us wrong with any of the other artists on their roster.

PACKS is led by vocalist and songwriter Madeline Link, who started this journey as a solo project but is now joined by bandmates Shane Hooper, Noah O’Neil, and Dexter Nash. While the Covid shut down might have thrown a wrench in the momentum that PACKS had gained in the Toronto live music scene, it did allow for a unique creative process behind Take the Cake.

Photo courtesy of artist

Link explains that the album is a combination of old and new, due to the fact that some of the songs came to fruition in 2019, while another group of songs were crafted while Link quarantined at her parents’ suburban home during the early days of lockdown. “Old songs from a year ago where I'm having really horrifyingly awful days at work, getting doored while biking in Toronto and flying into the middle of the street, or going on dates with guys who I'm either instantly in love with, or who end up creeping me out a bit. Those songs are more packed with that feeling of hurtling-through-time-and-space-at-breakneck-speed, manic energy. The newer songs are infused with a foggier, slower-paced disillusionment, and deal with the strangeness of a reality morphing before my eyes every day. I still try to be optimistic obviously, but these songs are really glorified coping mechanisms,” she says.

Make sure you pre-order Take the Cake on vinyl here, and mark your calendars for the May 21st digital release date. Tune into ““Silvertongue” below.

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ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Dehd

Photo by Alexa Viscius

I mean, seriously…Can we just get these vaccines moving already!?  Dehd released Flowers of Devotion last summer and I haven’t been able to rock with all the new songs in a live setting yet. Like many others, I was looking forward to their set at Pitchfork Music Festival, but of course the ol’ Rona had to stick her nose in our business and ruin everything.  Luckily, I've seen them once before at an “In The Round” show at Thalia Hall so that’s been able to hold me over for now.  Once live music is back though, I highly recommend checking out their performance if they hit a stage near you. Unless you’re one of those people that doesn’t enjoy dancing, good music, and feeling good. If you identify as such, then please stay away— but even then, Dehd is a great band for anyone since they tend to take serious subjects and place them in fun, groovy melodies.

Dehd is a trio out of the Windy City composed of Jason Balla, Emily Kempf, and Eric McGrady. They have three albums to their name and have also found themselves on “Perez’s Best” annual CD mix for the last two years (if you know, you know).  Balla and Kempf were previously in a romantic relationship during the early years of the band, but thankfully their songwriting partnership didn’t die when the romance did. Instead, they continued to hit us with bangers and keep making the people happy. 

If this is the first time you are ever hearing of Dehd, their album Flowers of Devotion is a great album to start with, but don’t sleep on their self-titled debut or 2019’s Water either. I dare all readers when listening to “Haha” or “Loner” to not groove with the music. It’s just not possible.

Be sure to also check out the amusing music videos that the band has released for their recent singles, and snag your own copy of their newest record here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Deeper

In the past few years, Chicago band Deeper became an integral part of the city’s live music scene—playing in venues from The Hideout and Empty Bottle to Thalia Hall. With their debut self-titled album and sophomore release Auto-Pain, Deeper puts a refreshing spin on post punk roots, giving their music a distinctive tone that accompanies a sense of familiarity.

It’s been just shy of a year since Auto-Pain’s release, and 2020 had been slated with tours in support of the album across North America and Europe for Deeper. While last year obviously shook up so much of the music industry, Deeper has used this break from touring to reimagine some of their music and find a creative way to keep sharing content. To follow up their livestream performance at Lincoln Hall in October that was part of Audiotree’s STAGED series, Deeper just announced they will be releasing a performance filmed at the Chicago Cultural Center later this month in celebration of the Auto-Pain anniversary.

Earlier this week, the band also put out a remix of their single “This Heat,” in which Working Men’s Club puts an electronic twist on the track. This remix marks the beginning of additional collaborations and new music that Deeper says will accompany the anniversary of their second album.

Get your tickets to the March 27th performance at the Chicago Cultural Center here, and tune into the remix of “This Heat” below. To learn more about Deeper, revisit our interview with them here. 

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Fauvely

Fauvely is Sophie Brochu, Dale Price, Dave Piscotti & Phil Conklin / Photo by Aaron Ehinger

At this point in the pandemic, we’ve all got our list of “things-we-can’t-wait-to-do-after-Covid.” At the very top of my post-pandemic bucket list sits a night out at a venue like Schubas or Empty Bottle, seeing a bill of Chicago bands perform. It may still be a while before we can all gather and experience the magic of the bustling local music scene together, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new music continuing to be created in the city.

One group that has been hard at work crafting their debut album throughout the past year is Fauvely, the project of songwriter Sophie Brochu and bandmates Dale Price, Dave Piscotti, and Phil Conklin. Following the 2017 EP Watch Me Overcomplicate This, Fauvely gained traction in Chicago performing everywhere from The Hideout to Sleeping Village and Lincoln Hall. The band had kicked off 2020 with a slot playing alongside Hand Habits at the annual Tomorrow Never Knows festival, with plans to tour in Japan and perform as an official showcasing artist at SXSW festival during the spring.

While those tour dates unfortunately never came to fruition, Fauvely reemerged in early 2021 with “May3e,” the lead single off their upcoming album. The track resonates with vulnerability, driven by Brochu’s reflective lyrics and dreamy vocal range. This same sentiment carries over into the latest single that Fauvely released earlier this month. “There’s always a reason to be sad,” Bronchu sings on “Always,” which I think we all can agree rang particularly true during the year 2020.

These two songs lead up to the release of Fauvely’s debut album Beautiful Places, a collection of songs which the band describes as being “about duality: light and dark, memory and haze, being stuck and running away.” Pre-order the record ahead of its April 2nd release date on Bandcamp and check out the video for “May3e” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Sir Sly

Sir Sly is Landon Jacobs, Hayden Coplen and Jason Suwito. Photo courtesy of Press Here Publicity

One live music trope I can’t stress enough is to always catch the opening band when you get a chance. Back in early 2014, I showed up to St. Lucia’s show at Lincoln Hall having never heard their supporting band before, and now Sir Sly is easily one of my favorite bands.

Since those early days of being the opening band and the era of their debut album You Haunt Me, Sir Sly has continued on a trajectory of slow and steady maturity. Thanks to lead singer and songwriter Landon Jacobs’ vulnerability and transparency as a storyteller, listeners can sense a stark shift in tones from their first album to their sophomore release Don’t You Worry, Honey; An artistic shift that stems from the major changes that occurred in Jacobs’ personal life. At surface value, you could listen to 2017’s Don’t You Worry, Honey and hear glossy, upbeat melodies destined to gain popularity because of their catchiness, but at its core, Jacobs candidly shares his struggles of losing his mother to cancer and dealing with the disintegration of his young marriage. On top of that, Jacobs managed to turn an experience of a panic attack in a hotel room into the hit “High,” which saw chart success and made appearances in shows like 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale.

Almost four years later, Jacobs and his bandmates Hayden Coplen and Jason Suwito are ready to embark on a new chapter with their third album The Rise & Fall Of Loverboy, which is slated to be released on April 23, 2021 via Interscope Records. To accompany the news of the album, Sir Sly released the fourth and fifth singles off the upcoming record last week: “thx.” and “Loverboy.” In contrast to the mellow vocals and faded instrumentals of the former, “Loverboy” jumps right into an effervescent hook that expresses the joy and ease of a new relationship. On the third album as a whole, Jacobs has said, “The Rise & Fall Of Loverboy is an album about falling in love with someone new, and the magic that brought into my world.”

You can pre-order the new album here, and listen to “Loverboy” in full below.

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