Ro's Roundup: October 2023
Squirrel Flower, Truth Club and more
Festival season is officially over, and that means more indoor shows plus a slew of album releases. You’ll notice a theme in this issue–emotive artists, whether that be in the form of sludgy rock or silky folk–as well as an unintentional protagonist, producer and engineer Alex Farrar.
No artist interview this month, as the past few weeks got away from me. I am, however, including some photos I took of Slowdive this past Tuesday. It was surreal to see such an influential band live.
I’ve set up payment tiers, so please consider setting up a paid subscription if you haven’t already. Don’t worry if you can’t afford it though; there’s still an option for free, full access. Thanks for your support and enjoy all the music this month has to offer!
PHOTOS: SLOWDIVE AT THE RIVIERA THEATRE, OCTOBER 3
NEW MUSIC
Out Today
Truth Club, Running From the Chase, 10/6 – post-punk / emo rock
There’s something nostalgic about Truth Club. Maybe it’s the band’s Y2K-era sound, or maybe it’s their melancholy melodies and lyrics. Whatever it is, it works–the group’s debut album, Not an Exit, blew up when it came out in 2019, and Truth Club has since opened for Duster and Protomartyr (read my review of Protomartyr’s most recent album for SPIN here). Four years is a long waiting period for a sophomore album, but Truth Club has justified that delay with an evocative and complex array of songs.
Running From the Chase is at its core influenced by frontman Travis Harrington’s experiences with Bipolar Disorder. He was going through a depressive period when he started writing many of the songs, and he put the project on pause to focus on recovery.
“When I began to regain some footing, it was an interesting emotional exercise to go back and try to finish those thoughts while in a more grounded and clear mindframe,” Harrington said in a press release, “Trying to extract the ugly hopelessness and put it in this jar I can observe from time to time as a point of reference for what that looks like in my brain."
Truth Club recorded Running from the Chase in North Carolina with producer and engineer Alex Farrar. Though he has worked with Snail Mail and Angel Olsen, Farrar’s collaboration with Truth Club bears more resemblance to his production, engineering and mastering for Wednesday’s gritty Rat Saw God. Farrar has also worked with Indigo de Souza, who provided guest vocals for the track“Exit Cycle.”
Running from the Chase’s release precedes a month-long tour of the East Coast and Midwest.
Also worth checking out:
Sufjan Stevens, Javelin (Sufjan is currently recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, so show him some love!)
A. Savage (Parquet Courts), Several Songs About Fire – punk with Americana influences
Mary Lattimore, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada – harp / ambient
Mutual Benefit, Growing at the Edges – folk pop
Out later this month
Squirrel Flower, Tomorrow’s Fire (10/13) – folk / rock
Ella Williams ends the first track on her new album by declaring that she’s “not gonna change my sheets”–relatable. She makes this statement, however, in the form of angelic vocal harmonies over other-worldly instrumentation–less relatable. The Chicago artist’s third album is possibly her strongest yet, building upon her trademark folky wistfulness to cultivate a sound that’s both haunting and incredibly dynamic.
It makes sense that a big inspiration for the album was the Indiana Dunes. Williams was intrigued by the opposition between the raw natural landscape and the sprawling industrial expanse of Northwest Indiana just beyond it. For those unfamiliar, the Dunes are a stretch of sandy hills alongside lake Michican, about an hour south of Chicago.
“Every time I go there, it changes my life,” Williams said in a press release. “You stand in the marshlands, and to your left is a steel factory belching fire, and to your right is a nuclear power plant.”
Squirrel Flower has always taken after Williams’ physical environment. She once attributed her creative process to her en caul birth, when one comes out of the womb still encased in an intact amniotic sac. Truly a folk artist of the new millennium, her work exists in an inexplicable harmony of oddity and comfort.
Boygenius, the rest ep (10/13)
CMAT, Crazymad, For Me, (10/13) – country / indie pop
L’Rain, I Killed Your Dog (10/13) – neo-soul / art rock / experimental
Jamila Woods, Water Made Us (10/13) – neo-soul
Daarling, The Deep Within (10/20) – Chicago noise rock / slowcore
Joseph Shabason, Welcome to Hell (10/20) – experimental jazz with notes of art rock and ambient
Houndsteeth, Hold Your Horses (10/27) – experimental pop
The Guru Guru, Make (Less) Babies (10/27) – Belgian art rock with a hardcore edge
Problem Patterns, Blouse Club (10/27) – punk / post-riot grrrl
The Serfs, Half Eaten by Dogs (10/27) – electronic / post-punk
Shabazz Palaces, Robed in Rareness (10/27) – hip hop
Sofia Kourtesis, Madres (10/27) – electronic / house
Drugdealer, Hiding in Plain Sight (10/28) – bedroom pop / rock
Cruel, Common Rituals (10/31) – Chicago post-punk/hardcore
North America Tours
Soul Glo (10/5-11/26) – punk / noise rap
Divino Niño (10/5-10/19) – Chicago-based Latin indie pop
Blue Hawai (10/5-10/15) – electronic / dream pop
Holy Fawn (10/6-10/27) – post-rock / shoegaze
Sam Gellaitry (10/6-10/27) – electronic / experimental
Horse Jumper of Love (10/12-10/30) – emo / folk / slowcore
Amyl and the Sniffers (10/12-11/4) – punk
Blonde Readhead (10/12-11/10) – dream pop
Another Michael (10/13-12/11) – folk rock / bedroom pop
Deer Tick (10/12-11/25) – folk rock
Vagabon (10/20-10/29) – pop / R&B / rock
Slaughter Beach, Dog (11/1-1/21) – folk / rock
More Chicago events
Joey Nebulous album release party with Tenci and Pinksqueeze, 10/26 at Schuba’s
Daarling record release show with Brady and XYZXYZ, 10/30 at Schuba’s
Kennyhoopla with Groupthink and Footballhead, 10/6 at Metro
Cruel album release show with Joyfriend and Footballhead, 11/11 at Cobra Lounge
