Jamie Ludwig

6 days ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Black Ends are a Seattle punk trio of vocalist-guitarist Nicolle Swims, bassist Ben Swanson, and drummer Billie Jessica Paine. In order to describe their idiosyncratic combination of scruffy bubblegum hooks, raw guitar wizardry, and unapologetic indie-rock weirdness, they coined the term “gunk pop,” which inclines plenty of folks (whether the band like it or not) to see them as heirs to the city’s famous indie-rock legacy, from the grunge days onward.

2 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:Password: Our critics review the best on the big and small screens and in the media.

2 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Black Ends are a Seattle punk trio of vocalist-guitarist Nicolle Swims, bassist Ben Swanson, and drummer Billie Jessica Paine. In order to describe their idiosyncratic combination of scruffy bubblegum hooks, raw guitar wizardry, and unapologetic indie-rock weirdness, they coined the term “gunk pop,” which inclines plenty of folks (whether the band like it or not) to see them as heirs to the city’s famous indie-rock legacy, from the grunge days onward.

2 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Just a year has passed since Sons of Ra released the six-part instrumental suite Tropic of Cancer, but the long-running local trio have already returned with a new full-length, Standard Deviation. Sons of Ra impose few limitations on their music: They might try on any number of heavy and intense sounds, including prog, math rock, avant-garde metal, funk, and free jazz, depending on where the mood takes them.

3 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Chicago Record Report is a monthly series highlighting some of the new local music that has caught the ear of Reader staff. Angel Destroyer is the solo project of experimental rock artist Jordan William Clark Kimpel, a California transplant who previously made music as Prisoners of Skin. They describe their debut as Angel Destroyer as “kind of a Frankenstein’s monster” built from previously unreleased compositions and repurposed fragments of material.