Dig ‘in: M(h)aol, New Candys, Lifeguard
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
M(h)aol - Something Soft (Merge Records LP)
Downsizing from a quintet to a trio didn’t damper the sound or spirit of the Dublin post-punk outfit M(h)aol. The departure of lead singer Roísín Nic Ghearailt and bassist Zoë Greenway from their first album, Attachment Styles, transitioned the majority of vocal duties to drummer Constance Keane for this follow-up. On “Snare,” she lays to waste earlier assumptions about her choice of instrument when she utters: “You know I stopped coz you said it’s too masculine / Why not play something soft like piano or violin? / I know now what I didn’t know at nine / You’re talking shit and you’re wasting your own time.”
During M(h)aol’s SXSW set at Hotel Vegas this past March the band previewed a good share of tracks that would come to comprise Something Soft. Keane connected with an amiable presence and insightful wit that balanced well with the band’s lyrical discourse that examines male toxicity (highlighted on “Pursuit” and “DM:AM”) and indiscriminate consumerism (“Vin Diesel”). Amidst the Sturm und Drang, the basic need for connection isn’t overlooked—be it either of human (“1-800-Call-Me-Back”) or animal (“I Miss My Dog”) variety. Something Soft is comforting in the sense that M(h)aol continue to challenge the existing hegemony in a world where dominance is perceived as a sign of strength. -Bruce Novak
New Candys - The Uncanny Extravaganza (Fuzz Club LP)
The Italian city of Venice has had an outsized impact on western art and music, which kind of makes its negligible contributions to rock so striking. That might be changing if this dynamic quartet has anything to say about it. To my ears, New Candys share a somewhat similar sonic space with mid-period DIIV. Heavily reverbed vocals, bristling uptempo riffs, and a sizzling glaze of semi-psych axe coloration are core to the Candy’s m.o. The band’s strong new disc, The Uncanny Extravaganza, is an oft-engaging effort that keeps your ears humming. Album opener “Regicide” doesn’t warm you up—it body slams you with a one-two punch of a bouncing synth bassline and a swirling, pounding chorus that makes all resistance futile. Songs like “You’ll Never Know Yourself” and “Gills On My Lungs” also boast riptide riffs over hard-driving beats and ultra-catchy choruses beneath a vaguely druggy axe glaze that’s aptly addictive. But there’s also variety here. “Aquawish” is a deep-chilled, atmospheric ballad filigreed with a lyrical vocal line and delicate guitar counter-melodies, while album closer “Final Mission” languidly draws things to a conclusion with a nocturnal, star-spattered blend of breathy vocals and shimmering, distant, chimed guitar lines. There are a couple of middling moments on The Uncanny Extravaganza, but overall this is a potent disc. -Rick Reger
Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn (Matador Records LP)
The members of Chicago’s Lifeguard have noted how shared formative musical influences brought them together as emerging teens. Their early recordings reflected that arc of abundant discovery with each subsequent release growing in reach and intricacy. That progression caught the attention of Matador Records, who commissioned the band for the 2023 five-track Dressed in Trenches and coupled it with the preceding Crowd Can Talk EP for an initial vinyl release.
Enlisting No Age’s Randy Randall to produce their album debut is an inspired choice considering both bands leading roles among their respective youth movements. Ripped and Torn is a well-considered art-punk creation that takes advantage of the growing musical diversification put forth from each member. Kai Slater’s penchant for blistering pop shines on “It Will Get Worse” and “France And.” The hypnotic “Like You’ll Lose” highlights the post-punk bass-driven grooves of Asher Case, and the metronomic beats supplied by Issac Lowenstein on “Under Your Reach” unveil Lifeguard’s Krautrock impulses. Throughout the album, Lifeguard tear down compositions and reassemble them in different ways—nothing stay linear for very long. True to its title, Ripped and Torn is stretched to its physical and musical limits and emerges frayed along the edges, but otherwise remains a remarkably resilient and cohesive work of art. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Uniflora
Where: Lincoln Hall / Directions
When: June 18, 8:00 PM
The members of Uniflora follow a pattern that’s increasingly common in the Chicago circle of emerging musicians: early exposure to alternative music via parents and family connections, a head start on learning to play through guided lessons (perhaps at Old Town, School of Rock or middle school programs) and connecting with a community of peers to host DIY all-ages shows. It’s an incubator environment that continues to support a robust number of compelling new acts.
After a brief transition from forming the band in 2023 to recording demo tracks a couple of month’s later (with the assistance of guitarist/vocalist Quinn Dugan’s father John, himself a renowned drummer in Chicago circles), quickly followed by the release of their Plastic Sturgeon cassette EP, Uniflora are set to deliver their debut LP, More Gums Than Teeth, on June 20th via Shuga Records and Charm Co-op. The album expands on their early post-hardcore stylings inspired by the likes of Fugazi and Unwound to incorporate additional texture and instrumentation (pedal steel, 12-string guitar and synths). It signals a growth pattern we’ve seen previously played out by a number of their peers (Horsegirl, Lifeguard, Friko) and points to a self trajectory that continues to rise. -Bruce Novak
Bad Moves
Where: Subterranean / Directions
When: June 22, 7:00 PM
In the spirit of pop-punk, Washington, D.C.‘s Bad Moves aim to balance their socially-aware messaging with effervescent tunes to help cope with the challenges of surviving in a fractured world. Their latest album, Wearing Out The Refrain, released last fall, focuses on the repetitive cycles that entrap us as progressive gains are negated by inevitable reactionary backlashes. “Once you’re bottomed out, it’s on to something worse,” they sing on “Let the Rats Inherit the Earth” from said record that only appears more prescient in light of the general election that was to follow. In a nod to the absurdity of it all, Bad Moves’ video for “Outta My Head” features comedians Margaret Cho, Chris Gethard and Josh Gondelman blowing off steam by shouting at each other through their phones while wearing dog cones to protect themselves from self-harm. If laughter is indeed our best medicine then Bad Moves’ music and levity might just be what the doctor would’ve ordered. -Bruce Novak
PARKiNG
Where: Thalia Hall / Directions
When: June 28, 7:30 PM
Louisville upstarts PARKiNG will join TV Buddha and Bungee Jumpers as openers for Lifeguard’s “In the Round” release party for their Ripped and Torn debut album. After coming out with a demo tape featuring six cuts last November, PARKiNG are scheduled to release their own debut LP, PORTRAiTS, on June 20th. The advance single “Statements” combines the thrust of nascent punk with lacerating jolts of noise rock. Prior material has run the gamut from the Dry Cleaning sprechgesang school of vocalizing on “Mike Johnson is a Mechanic” to the Joy Division-like churn of “Latern.” PARKiNG are hitting the right notes thus far and show promising potential to come into something that they can proudly proclaim as their own. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
The Observers - So What’s Left Now (Vinyl Warning LP)
In 2004, I was in pretty rough shape. The previous year, I moved back home after a bad break up, finding myself returning to the comforting amber street lights and bungalows of the deep northwest side of Chicago. I was burning the candle at both ends, trying to figure out what was next. My life was basically work, The Fireside Bowl, work, trying to start bands, work, basement shows and buying records. It often times felt both routine and mundane, but with an explosion of new punk bands forming, there was also a sense of urgency…or maybe I was just over caffeinated? Why not both?
I was neck deep into the Criminal IQ/Horizontal Action/Southkore scene as well as the exciting power pop, new wave and punk bands coming out of the Pacific Northwest—especially The Exploding Hearts, who released a single on the Vinyl Warning label. That same label was also one of the labels that released So What’s Left Now? I found that LP at the record store, and I can say with all honesty that the connection was immediate and caused a sea change in my views on where punk rock could go.
The album starts with the song “Symbols, Slogans, Lies,” which is a blunt inditement of the Bush administration sending troops to die for oil in Iraq. The point is driven home with the repeating line “tell your children they have to die.” Channeling the spirit of The Wipers (who were also a cult band that were underappreciated in their time), mixing in the spirit of 1960s psych and garage with a tip of the hat to revolutionary folk singers with their heavy lean on minor chords. This leads into “Short Day,” with its classic LA punk style guitar chop that takes off with a driving and blistering Descendents style riff and an anthemic vocal style, almost like Milo Aukerman doing his best Jeff Pezzati. The song comes up for air for a few seconds—just enough for the listener to exhale—before it launches back into its fierce guitar attack.
The standout track on this record is the track “State of Decay,” where they dig deep into the underground with more delicious Wipers-esque riffs, big gang vocals and a perfectly timed pause leaving enough time for singer Douglas Burns to scream “state of decaaaayyy!!” (Which I absolutely yell every time I listen to this album…or just, ya know, walking down the street or dropping my kid off at school.) “The Condition” starts as a slow burner with an intro driven by a repeating bass line, guitar noise and a tasteful, sparse melody. The gradual build up of layered guitars leads to a shout of “In life there is only one thing we know for certain!” A song about uncertainty, fear and anxiety—feelings that most folks in the underground were feeling at that time.
The album is one relatable lyric after another, delivered in a unique, hard to pinpoint style, painted broadly with hooks and riffs, anthemic calls to action and shouts of concern and fear. Had The Observers endured, much like so many other bands that ended before realizing their full potential, they very well could have changed the trajectory of punk in the early 2000s.
Shortly after this record was released, The Observers broke up. Burns re-formed his previous project The Red Dons with old friend Daniel Husayn. He also completed unfinished Observers songs and reimagined some earlier songs under a new name called Revisions. Members Colin Grigson, Mike Warm and Ian Kashani went on to form the equally incredible and cultish band Defect-Defect, whose song “People My Age” could be the anthem for younger Gen Xers, Xennials and elder Millennials. Other great bands worth checking out from this era of punk are Chicago’s Pedestrians, Daylight Robbery and Canadian Rifle. And from outside Chicago, Deep Sleep, The Vicious, No Hope for the Kids and Social Cirkle. -Chris Siuty
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: