Think about your favorite childhood (or adulthood!) cartoon. Was there an earworm that burrowed its way into your brain? As a kid who grew up in the early-mid 00s, I find that there’s an astounding amount of fun and inspiring music in the cartoons I enjoyed both as a young…

The Kansas City, Missouri based noise duo partners with a menagerie of other talented features to honor the great Fiona Apple. I was introduced to HXXS and their barrage of thick analog noise when I played a Chicago basement show with them on the day before my 22nd birthday. Instantly…

As someone who grew up playing and attending punk shows in dimly lit, indescribably stained DIY venues in the Utah suburbs, the ballistic sounds of self-described “piss rock” band Illicit Nature, hailing from Boise, Idaho, feels like returning to a chaotic yet comfortingly nostalgic home. It’s the kind of punk…

If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know how #blessed I am to be surrounded by incredibly kind and supportive musicians and Blue Vines is no exception. Nick has supplied me with many a kind twitter interaction and I was excited to give “Shadowbox Champion” a listen. “Shadowbox Champion”…

In my journey as a DIY musician, I’ve had the privilege to meet and befriend some of the most talented, unique, and innovative artists along the way. I first encountered Jhariah when my pals at Chillwavve Records suggested him for my 23rd birthday livestream. Even though I had to celebrate…

Booze Radly brings a heavier tone to Jimmy Eat World’s beloved classic. I would venture to guess that most people who read my Medium reviews have heard “Sweetness” from Jimmy Eat World’s senior album, Bleed American. “Sweetness” is a much loved and oft-covered song, which is what makes it particularly…

Fuzzy bass and twinkling xylophone tuck in this velvety dream-pop track. Warm bass and Nico Baci’s gentle voice welcome the listener into “I’m Tired all the Time,” a sweet and sullen tune by Community Towel. A combination of heavy vocal delay and drums that drag ever so slightly gives the…

I’ve been feeling stuck for a while now. I, like many others, graduated with a creative degree into a pandemic that completely decimated a myriad of my career opportunities. Here I sit, a multi-disciplinary musician, writer, and artist in a delivery job that causes me an enormous amount of stress…

A blanket of sound swaddles the sadness that sits curled up in the corner of our consciousness. Nothing really envelops angst like a thick bass, a wall of guitars, and a languid, sulky voice waxing and waning through soft whispers and guttural screams. So often, “guitar music” made after the…