Jamie Ludwig

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

When Lifeguard released their 2020 debut album, Dive, the Chicago trio’s raw, noisy sound breathed new life into posthardcore, no wave, and indie rock with an easy confidence that belied the members’ years. Guitarist-vocalist Kai Slater, bassist-vocalist Asher Case, and drummer Isaac Lowenstein were still in their teens, but they were already immersed in underground music. They’d met while attending live shows and music classes, and their parents supported their interest at every opportunity.

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

The founding members of New Constellations, vocalist-guitarist Harlee Case and multi-instrumentalist and producer Josh Smith, are childhood pals. They met through a Christian youth group when Case was in seventh grade and Smith was in ninth, and when they were still teenagers Smith recorded her first song in his family home in southern Oregon. After high school, their lives took different paths, but they kept making music—and about seven years ago, they started doing it together again.

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Juanita & Juan is a new band of old pals. Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers, two of the most beloved punks to emerge from Los Angeles, met on the city’s scene in 1977. That was the year Bag started the Bags, her most famous the band; after they broke up in 1981, she played in several other groups, including Alarma!, Castration Squad, and the Boneheads. In the mid-90s Bag took a break from music to raise her daughter, but about a decade ago she reemerged as a solo artist.

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

A decade ago, singer-songwriter and visual artist Colleen Green burst into the indie-rock sphere with I Want to Grow Up, her third album and the first she’d recorded with a band in a studio. Its smart, charming blend of punk, bubblegum pop, and lo-fi indie rock proved her to be a rising talent who knew her way around a melody—and she could also have fun with inside jokes without resorting to gimmick or parody.

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Jamie Ludwig

Chicago four-piece 8-Bit Creeps make music for people who want to have fun even when they’re morbidly concerned about the future. The synth-heavy Chicago rock band formed in 2016, incorporating three members of local outfit the Van Goghs who wanted to try something new. Since then, 8-Bit Creeps have released about a dozen singles and EPs as well as an impressive debut full-length, 2022’s Dress for the Future.