070 Shake - Modus Vivendi (2020)

070 Shake - Modus Vivendi

Hotly anticipated and richly rewarding, 070 Shake's proper debut proves that her "Ghost World" feature wasn't just a flash in the pan. But Modus Vivendi is more than just an album-length feature, Danielle Balbuena emerges a fully formed star, showing just how many of the hooks she sings are of her own design and more importantly that she has the presence for captivation.

~9.0

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Concert Review: Wilco at The Riviera Theatre, – 3/26/23

Wilco at The Riviera Theatre, – 3/26/23 Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood was once the center of the city’s booming entertainment district. Located at what had initially been the end of the L Train system, The Aragon Ballroom, Green Mill Jazz Club, and long-defunct Uptown Theatre quickly defined the corners of Broadway and Lawrence Avenue as the designated area for Chicagoans to congregate for the arts. As the area’s zeitgeist waivered though, the theatres grew into a weekend oasis of vibrancy amongst an otherwise casual and sleepy north-side neighborhood. Given Wilco’s consistent championing of Chicago’s local institutions, and another Uptown landmark Carol’s Pub in particular, The Rivera Theater seems like exactly the kind of venue for the band to host their latest three-night run and the start of their spring tour. Jeff Tweedy and company know the former movie palace well, playing there many times over the years and even using it as the base for a five-night series of performances b...

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Beach Fossils – Bunny (2023)

Beach Fossils – Bunny Give Beach Fossils credit, despite longtime comparisons to Wild Nothing, DIIV, and Real Estate, Dustin Payseur has always done a better job navigating the restraints of his sound. Beach Fossil’s debut is bright and lo-fi jangle rock, Clash the Truth brings a slightly harder and wispy, post-punk edge, and the underrated Somersault glistens in the sheen of a would-be major label debut. Each album is distinctly Beach Fossils though, the guitars and reverb-soaked vocals determined to reap the nostalgia of both fleeting, youthful summers, and the band’s own back catalog. Bunny comes six years after Somersault , a gap that saw the band celebrating the anniversary of their debut through live performances with label mate Wild Nothing as well as the release of an album of piano renditions of the group’s past work. The pandemic could partly be blamed for the long wait time, but regardless Bunny still holds a lot of expectations, and when the band’s last album landed...

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