Now Playing at TGE: October 2018
Now Playing at TGE is a collection of short reviews regarding some of the music (in all its forms) we can't get enough of.
Hold On Now, Youngster - Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! played a 10th anniversary gig in London's O2 Forum in Kentish Town for this album and its follow-up We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. In the lead up to the concert, I've been revisiting a decade's worth of emotional venting by re-listening to both albums. There's just something about seeing your favorite songs by your favorite band being performed as 2499 other people just as devoted as you belt them back at the band. The band's sound and subject matter has evolved and grown with their fanbase, but when you re-listen to Hold On Now, Youngster you feel better for it. You feel a sense of achievement that you've gone through some stuff. There's forever a cathartic feel as you listen to songs that allow you to release pent up anger, frustration and that urge to dance around your room.
As the band has grown up alongside it's music, HON,Y allows you to drift back to the days of MySpace, file sharing and when you still used SMS to text each other. All through an album that's the musical equivalent of a fast and twisty roller coaster.
The band are touring throughout the US in November with Illuminati Hotties and Adult Mom. // words: Matt Latham
6 Weeks - Beach Bunny
Even though EP Prom Queen was released in August, I’m still going wild over “6 Weeks” and its surf-rock vibe. It’s near impossible to not tap a foot to the mellow melodies and hooks. Keeping true to the lyrics, “I’ve been playing the same song on repeat” and my addiction to alt-pop swells with each replay. It may be a bit late in the year to catch waves to this jam, but in true Chicago fashion, some things are so unique they can never go out of fashion. // words: Kayla Carmichael
Suck My Shirt - The Coathangers
One listen to The Coathangers and you feel infinitely more powerful. Suck My Shirt is raw and determined, a mind-numbing unstoppable whirlwind of hit after hit that leaves you in awe. It’s an innovation in a garage rock with fiery riffs, catch lyrics, and walloping instrumentals serving as a reminder of everything that this genre can truly be. The album’s no-nonsense attitude and impossibly catch singles create a listening environment that begs you to scream along, the band allowing you to funnel every ounce of aggression, rage, and emotion that your heart contains into these therapeutic few moments. From the kicking drums and snaking guitar line of the stomping “Shut Up” to the fuzzed, out metallic guitar and raspy vocals taking aim at a draining relationship that’s comparable to a “Dead Battery,” Suck My Shirt is filled with declarative statements of power that may just embolden you to become the bad ass you were always destined to be. At the very least, you’ll be ready to throw out every “Dead Battery” that finds its way into your life. // words: Lauren Rearick