While you tend to see plenty of retrospectives on emo from ten years ago on websites, there is definitively less on punk. Though it makes sense to some extent, it is an interesting phenomenon. Once upon a time, these scenes bordered each other. It is only now that the two…

Going Underground by George Hurchalla Though I like reading about 80s hardcore, I’m beginning to get bored of them at large. They end up regurgitating the same plotlines. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read about Black Flag or the infamous Fear show at Saturday Night Live. It…

For part two, I wanted to expand the tour beyond what I highlighted in part one. The places I described in part one only tell the story of a very specific type of music at DIY venues. But Chicago is so diverse that there are entire scenes I only know…

The list below is by no means definitive. I spent most of my 20s on the northwest side of Chicago, so my list reflects that. But lately, I’ve been thinking about all those spaces I spent time in when I was younger. I recently went to a house show in…

Just this week, I got an email from a publicist at Hopeless Records. They were curious if I would be interested in covering the new Sincere Engineer record. If you know me, that question should result in an obvious yes. I saw the band when it was just Deanna and…

Maybe out of boredom, I’ve been revisiting music central to my life a decade ago. It’s resulted in me listening to a lot of stuff that I end up describing as orgcore, which was a way to describe the kind of music Punknews would cover when it was central to…

Since moving to Chicago after graduating college, Ratboys’ story has been tied to the city. Before signing to Topshelf Records, Swerp Records would put out their first EP. The label would be central to Chicago, releasing early material by Nnamdi and other lesser-known artists. The ridiculous lineup of Gnarfest 2012…

I sometimes worry too much about how tenuous existence things have on the internet. Whenever I try to research punk from the 2000s, I am forced with the same problem. There is absolutely nothing left from two decades ago on the internet besides a few websites on punk. Maybe I…

Hot Water Music-Trusty Chords I blame this song for not listening to Hot Water Music for the longest time. To let you know just how pervasive Trusty Chords was in Chicago, there is a DJ night named after this song. I would let out an audible groan anytime it came…