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
Winefred RT - Anything Better To Do (Wet Newspaper LP)
Milwaukee transplant Zoe Bockhorst arrived in Chicago via Madison during the dead of winter while commencing the songwriting that resulted in her debut album, Anything Better To Do. On an earlier composition, “Illinois” from 2024, Bockhorst expressed ambivalence towards the region: “Tell me, what does Illinois have / That you can’t find here? / I can’t think of anything / But weed and cheaper beer.” Later in the song, she adds: “What the hell is in Chicago / That you can’t do here? / I can’t think of anything this year.” That may explain why upon arrival, she felt disconnected to her new surroundings and alone in the nation’s third largest city.
That sense of alienation surfaces in numbers like “Ride Around” and “Linoleum Floor” as Bockhorst’s attempts to push past surface level in her relationships that are often thwarted by a lack of commitment from her male counterparts. Prior to Anything Better To Do, Winefred RT’s output was the result of Bockhorst’s bedroom recordings or a gathering at her friend’s home studio. Her move to Chicago connected her with musicians Noah Roth and Henry True, who played on and helped produce the album out of at Narwhal Studios in Wicker Park. The opening track “TV” and following number, “Garbage by the door” highlight the expanded sonic reach with crunchy guitars, synth flourishes and vocal enhancements. It’s a clear step up in ambition compared to Bockhorst’s more solitary efforts, and a move that should heighten her visibility for good measure. -Bruce Novak
Immersion - What Is Lost Will Return (swim ~ LP)
After intermittent output since initially collaborating as Immersion in the mid ’90s, spouses Colin Newman (Wire) and Malka Spigel (Minimal Compact) resurface again with What Is Lost Will Return on the heels of last year’s WTF?. There’s a natural flow to their work together that takes the shape of each partner completing the other’s sentence. Their mixture of philosophical insight and hypnotic textures coexist without devaluing one another. Case in point is the head-bobbing opener “Nephology” that explores the duality of cloud formations to enable dreams of hope or to harbor darkness.
Spigel’s uplifting optimism on “Breaking Free, Diversity, Evolution” reaches for a higher plane with a message of transcendence. On “We Don’t Need Your Validation,” Newman rails against influencer mentality when he observes: “Image is everything / Desperate to be seen / Are you really it? / Or just a stupid git?” Matt Schulz’s motorik beat on the title track mirrors Newman’s push for inclusiveness and thinking outside the box. As to the latter aspiration, it’s quite evident that Immersion has succeeded in their quest for unconventional creativity—the challenge then remains attracting others to pursue a similar path. -Bruce Novak
Dummy - do you love the color of the sky? (Polyvinyl LP)
On their third studio LP, LA’s Dummy push deeper into sculpted sound, balancing lushness with a dollop of noise rock topping. They lean into electronica and breakbeats, never abandoning their guitar footing, but building upon it through processing, sampling and editing. Typically that approach might exponentially increase the sound density, but Dummy focus on spatial separation to allow the songs to breath and have a compatible pairing between instrumentation and vocals.
Emma Maatman’s soothing voice floats atop the shifting sounds. Her biting commentary on numbers like “April Limousine” (climate change fallout) and “Full Spectrum Dominance” (A.I. piracy) is juxtaposed against her welcoming delivery. The Madchester-vibes of “Touch the Perfect Speed” takes a different turn with a well-proportioned mix of electronics, acoustic strumming and noise guitar, swapping out Nathan O’Dell on the mic. “N of 1” is a dose of pure pop bliss with its insistent rhythm, rising intensity and Maatman’s lovely, layered vocals.
Dummy’s initial emergence at the start of this decade as motorik-driven, drone rock practitioners was a thrilling introduction to the band. Many outfits might be content to continue down that track, but by consistently exploring new constructs, Dummy has continued to push towards a singular sound that keeps their vitality intact and their listeners on the toes. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Kate Nash at Martyrs’ - November 11, 8:00 PM
Taking inspiration from Sinéad O’Connor’s song “Famine,” which details the false narrative the British colonialist government fabricated about a food shortage in Ireland in the mid-19th century in order to suppress the country’s heritage, Kate Nash is set to release her sixth studio LP, Cailín, in January that aims to celebrate that heritage with a cover version of the song as its centerpiece. Nash enjoyed breakout success while still a teenager with her single “Foundations” reaching number two in 2007 on the UK singles chart. Her musical journey since has taken many twists and turns, overlapping with an intermittent acting career. She’s credited the Buzzcocks with developing her interest in songwriting and her music has at times incorporated influences from the punk and riot grrrl movements, contributing to her previous album 9 Sad Symphonies and upcoming Cailín record being released by Kill Rock Stars.
Throughout, Nash has pursued a feminist platform and has been unafraid to ruffle some feathers, which has subjected her to pointed attacks. Last year after initially penning an essay in response to a UK Supreme Court ruling that overturned previously granted transgender rights, she turned her writing into the song “GERM”—an acronym for “Girl, Exclusionary, Regressive, Misogynist,” a pointed rebuff of the Trans-exclusionary radical feminism (“TERF”) group that brought about the court challenge. Regardless of some of the success and notoriety that Nash has experienced, there’s an underlying D.I.Y. spirit that drives her art and choices that is wholly admirable. -Bruce Novak
mary in the junkyard at Empty Bottle - November 11, 9:00 PM
In a stacked line-up for the 2024 Hallogallo Fest that included Horsegirl, Sharp Pins and Twin Coast, Autobahn more than held their own. As their name might suggest, the NYC trio traffic in trance/drone music that slowly simmers below surface level. Louisa Tantillo’s cello & bass provides a lower-end ballast for the effects-driven output of guitarist Findlay Fullerton and Liam Barton’s motorik backing. Tantillo’s and Fullerton’s vocals arrive from a surrounding zip code, forlorn-sounding and creating a sense of detachment. After debuting with the three track Filler Migration CD last summer, Autobahn followed up this year with a limited run two song cassette single that was recorded by Kai Slater. 2025 found the group sharing the stage with the likes of Lifeguard and TV Buddha and their current road outing has them convening with another worthy Chicago outfit, Godstar Megamax. -Bruce Novak
Heavens to Betsy at Empty Bottle - November 14 & 15, 9:00 PM
A year ago when Kill Rock Stars reached out to Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer with thoughts of putting together a re-release of their limited cassette 8-song debut combined with their These Monsters Are Real EP and Direction… 7" single, they also broached the idea of the duo returning to the stage again. Seeing how it had been 32 years since Heavens to Betsy last performed, Tucker and Sawyer were rightfully wary of revisiting those turbulent youthful years. But upon acknowledgement that the formative riot grrrl time they spent in Olympia, WA produced a strong feminist voice that’s needed to be heard now more than ever, they reunited for a surprise gig in Portland this June that’s turned into an extended slate of shows this fall.
“I think as a 17- or 18-year-old girl, you really feel the kind of injustice that’s done to young women really personally, that kind of scrutiny of your own body that’s done to women and your sexual power. All of that happens so intensely at that age, and I almost feel like the musicianship was catching up with the actual statements that we were trying to make,” Tucker revealed to Mariana Timony in a 2018 Bandcamp feature. The raw, primitive diatribes from their initial demo recordings that are part of this October’s Baby’s Gone re-release reinforce this perspective with the unflinching observations of songs like “My Red Self” and the title track. Within a couple years Tucker and Sawyer had closed that execution gap on their 1994 Calculated LP. “Donating My Body To Science” and “Complicated” ushered in a more nuanced depth and complexity of emotion that carried forth when Tucker subsequently teamed up with Carrie Brownstein in Sleater-Kinney.
While acknowledging that the original screamo vocals from parts of Heavens to Betsy’s catalog will not be realistic for her to replicate at this stage in life, Tucker promises to brings the energy and conviction needed to convey the rage and fury of the source material. With a long established track record of authenticity, there’s no doubt to believe otherwise. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Moonshake - Eva Luna (Too Pure LP)
After sensing his run fronting the noise pop band The Wolfhounds was winding down, David Callahan was set on pursuing something more idiosyncratic. Wanting to break away from the alpha male line-up, he placed an advert in Melody Maker for a female guitarist to join the group. His only response came from Margaret Fielder and when Callahan invited her to see the band perform, he was surprised to not hear back from her, knowing that she had turned up at the venue. Turns out that Fielder mistakenly thought that the opening band, the rockabilly-esque Gallon Drunk, was Callahan’s outfit and didn’t see herself fitting in with their sort of music. After sorting out the confusion, Fielder jumped aboard and Callahan was able to persuade Creation Records’ Alan McGee to back a new project that would become Moonshake, named after a Can track from their Future Days album.
After their Creation First EP charted unexpectedly, Callahan ditched the label when they hadn’t had the foresight to shoot a video that would have bolstered their presence. Since Moonshake was being managed by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox at the time, who had recently established their Too Pure label, a new home was to be had in short order. Moonshake’s debut album, Eva Luna, arrived on the label in 1992. The record fulfilled Callahan’s quest for a unique sound; a post-rock offering that mixed noise guitar, dub rhythms, electronic loops and sampled sounds.
Callahan’s acerbic vocal delivery and taser-like guitar bursts come front and center on “City Poison,” “Seen & Not Heard” and “Spaceship Earth,” with Terry Edwards’ saxophone skronk bringing a free jazz element to the latter. Fielder’s numbers, by contrast, trend more atmospheric and exotic. Her vocals on “Sweetheart” and “Bleach & Salt Water” barely register above a whisper. The intersection between her calming presence and Callahan’s lacerating guitar on “Beautiful Pigeon” is full of simmering tension.
The pair would cut one more Moonshake record together, Big Good Angel, before Fielder headed out to form Laika. Callahan would preside over two additional Moonshake albums prior to the group’s dissolution in 1997. He would later resurrect The Wolfhounds in 2006 and continues to work as a solo artist. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: