No Expectations 141: We're Gonna Be Okay
My favorite LP of 2026 so far, the best new album that's not on streaming, and two more recommendations. Plus, the next generation of Chicago music.
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Headline song: Dari Bay, “We’re Gonna Be Okay”
Thanks for being here. Last Wednesday, I got out of work to bring my 11-year-old cousin, along with his grandparents, to his first-ever Major League Baseball game at Wrigley Field. They all flew in from Virginia for it. While it was a bit frosty with temps in the high thirties, at least it didn’t rain. Plus, the Cubs won, and everyone had a blast. No matter the weather, it’s nearly impossible to have a bad time at a ballgame.
I hadn’t seen my cousin since he was maybe six years old. He’s always been a sweet kid, but hanging with him all day last week was so awesome. He’s much cooler than I was at that age. He loves baseball and plays as a power-hitting first baseman who, amazingly, is already 5’6. He’s a great listener (which is rare for Terrys: we’re notorious for talking over each other), can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 90 seconds, and even chose AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” as his walk-up song. You could tell he was overjoyed to see the Cubs in person, to figure out his favorite player, and to take in the sounds and sights of the stadium.
Sure, there are a lot of things happening in the world that warrant being stressed out about. There’s no need to list it all out here. But it’s good to cling to and savor the things that give you hope. I’ve probably been to maybe a hundred Major League Baseball games, but seeing it through my cousin’s eyes made it feel like it was the first time, too. Sharing what you love and witnessing it resonate with someone else is really what it’s all about. Shoutout his grandpa (my uncle) for the tickets and the excuse to use some PTO.
Another needed dose of optimism came on Sunday. That night, I attended a stacked, seven-act bill at the Empty Bottle commemorating the release of Red Xerox: Chicago Youth Beat 2020-2025. It’s a compilation documenting a generation of local indie rock bands making absolutely vital music. While I’ve covered a handful of these artists before in the newsletter (Free Range, Friko, etc), several were new to me. This is a music community started by folks who are mostly 10-15 years younger than I am, and it’s far more exciting than the local scenes I was immersing myself in at that age. (I don’t know why, but everything was garage rock here in 2010). Watching the eclectic and unmistakable talent on display at this showcase was really inspiring. It made me even more grateful to live in a city that can nurture, develop, and support so much independent music.
Here’s the spiel for new subscribers: Each week, you get a wildcard main essay (often new album recommendations), a 15-song playlist, as well as updates on what I’m listening to, watching, and reading. Sometimes you’ll get an interview with an artist I love, and other times it’ll be a deep dive into one band’s discography. Since I’m a Chicago-based writer, this newsletter is very Midwest-focused. So, if you live in this city too, you’ll also receive a curated roundup of upcoming local shows to check out.
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4 Albums Worth Your Time This Week
Abbey Blackwell, Dream a Day
Abbey Blackwell is a Seattle-based artist who, over the past few years, has worked as a touring bassist for bands like La Luz and Alvvays. (If you caught any of the Blue Rev tour, you saw Blackwell play.) Her solo work is more understated, but it soars with overwhelming grace and catharsis. Her latest LP, the Bandcamp-only Dream a Day, is the best album of 2026 that you can’t find on streaming services. Blackwell’s voice—rich, lush, and full of character—anchors these songs of verdant, organic folk. “Rise and Set” is sparse but intentional, quietly building with pops of lap steel, dreamlike guitars, and drums. As a bandleader, Blackwell knows when to swell and when to pull back. Take “The Voice,” which finds her singing, “Looking over my shoulder at the view / Feeling older as the days go tripping through.” It starts off like a Labi Siffre song, but as the band subtly comes into the mix, it becomes something grander. Few of Blackwell’s peers can get the small details right as well as she can, which makes for a jaw-dropping record of revelatory little moments.
RIYL: Norma Tanega, Vashti Bunyan, Andy Shauf
Hiding Places, The Secret To Good Living
Hiding Places is a Brooklyn band that originally formed in North Carolina as that state’s bountiful music community was on the ascent. Unlike their home state peers, they eschew the intersection of twang and shoegaze for something totally their own. On their debut record, The Secret To Good Living, which was released via the great Texas label Keeled Scales, they combine brutal, pounding riffs with dual lead vocals and patiently pastoral arrangements. Led by songwriters Audrey Keelin and Nicholas Byrne, the two trade off singing duties throughout the 10 expansive tracks here. On “One Hand,” Keelin’s dynamic voice operates somewhere between foreboding and pained over a simmering, tense composition, while on “Holy Roller,” they commandingly sing, “I’m a holy roller / I move too much / If the floor is burning. I climb up.” The true magic of Hiding Places is how they’re able to stretch out a song and luxuriate in feeling, like on the whispery, slow-burning title track. This is a record for quiet emotion and massive guitars.
RIYL: Yo La Tengo, Horse Jumper of Love, Slow Pulp
John Andrews & the Yawns, STREETSWEEPER
Despite their name, the New York-based John Andrews & the Yawns don’t make sleepy music. Sure, you could call it mellow, cozy, or even dreamy, but there’s enough unassailable craft in these finely-written songs to keep you enthralled throughout the nine tracks on their fifth LP, STREETSWEEPER. The album gets its title from Andrews’ part-time job with the New York City Parks Department, and with its hockey imagery on the cover and in its accompanying music videos, it’s easy to imagine skating to these easygoing songs. Andrew’s voice is amiable and inviting. Even if he’s singing sad songs, you can picture a sly smile on his face just from his delivery. “The Last Word,” the jauntiest rocker on the record, picks up the pace with Andrews singing, “don’t always have to get the last word in / over and over and over / again and again and again / oh no.” Elsewhere, songs like “What’s Good?” take on the quality of a twinkling lullaby with Andrews cooing lines like “Make it up as I go” over woozy arpeggios. While Andrews gets assists here from members of Cut Worms, Luke Temple, and Star Moles, it’s his conversational charm that carries this quietly staggering album.
RIYL: Loving, Major Murphy, Liam Kazar, that “Old Time Hawkey” social media account that pops up on my feed because I follow the Detroit Red Wings
Robber Robber, Two Wheels Move the Soul
Robber Robber, alongside their Vermont compatriots Greg Freeman and Lily Seabird, might be the band I’ve written about most in this newsletter. Its drummer, Zack James (Dari Bay), even made No Expectations’ logo and designed the weekly cover images. They are all now dear buds, but even if they weren’t, I would be fully in the tank for this quartet’s explosive and innovative brand of post-punk. Opener “The Sound It Made” instantly bursts with a shrieking riff, skittering breakbeats, sinister bass bombs, and bandleader Nina Cates intoning, “Nice ice block, runs hot, give a little, take a lot / Lean a little closer for a moment, moment, stop.” It’s a record that excels on the collision between the volatile unpredictability of its rhythm section and Cates’ sticky, earworm hooks. Single “Talkback” takes Meet Me in the Bathroom-era alt-rock swagger to 2026, while the chiming percussion of “Avalanche Sound Effect” is genuinely hypnotizing. For a band with such a unique and distinctive sound in a crowded genre, Two Wheels Move the Soul is a remarkably diverse record. “Imprint” is wistful slowcore, “Watch For Infection” is icy and nervy punk, and “New Year’s Eve” is bouncy, funky, and more than a little poppy. Yes, I might be biased, but this is the best indie rock record of 2026 so far.
RIYL: The magical music community of Burlington, Vermont, the future of indie rock, Fire Talk Records
What I listened to:
The No Expectations 141 Playlist: Apple Music // Spotify // Tidal
Dari Bay, “We’re Gonna Be Okay”
Robber Robber, “Avalanche Sound Effect”
This House is Creaking, “There’s a Stench in the Air”
Spoils, “Red Roof”
Friko, “Still Around”
Cass McCombs, “Seeing The Elephant”
Baby Cool, “Everything”
John Andrews & the Yawns, “The Last Word”
Hiding Places, “The Secret To Good Living”
Hand Habits, “Good Person”
Greg Mendez, “Gentle Love”
Thomas Dollbaum, “Coyote”
Trinity Ace, “Algae Bloom”
Gia Margaret, “Alive Inside”
Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, “Whitethorn Rose”
Gig recap: Red Xerox Release Show: Niko Kapetan, Free Range, P.Noid, Uniflora, Current Union TM, Kitship and TV Buddha at Empty Bottle (4/5)
I started writing at 20 when I was an intern for the A.V. Club in 2012, and throughout my twenties, I developed a beat covering rising Chicago artists. With thriving scenes here in indie rock and hip-hop, the whole decade felt totally alive and full of endless possibilities. There was really no better time and no better place to be a 23-year-old whose job was to cover local music. I had the energy to go to shows five times a week, I got to know a lot of the bands, and I witnessed so much stellar live music and heard endless amazing records. It really felt like a community: an inviting and exciting era for supporting hometown independent talent. Covering it all for years was probably the most fun I’ve ever had—apart from this newsletter.
As venues opened their doors again following vaccines and mask mandates, I realized there was a new crop of bands I had no idea about. They seemingly came out of nowhere, got signed to great labels, were releasing impossibly cool and interesting music, and were several years younger than me. These weren’t acts that I was ground floor covering: it was a new thing, totally separate from the communities I spent my twenties documenting. It honestly rules, and this development has me more excited about the future of Chicago music than I’ve ever been. This is how it’s supposed to go: the music you grew up with will soon be eclipsed by younger people doing it better.
Red Xerox, a vinyl release compiled by musician, zinemaker, and connector Eli Schmitt, charts this burgeoning and vital scene across 12 tracks, with each by a different band. To celebrate the LP, seven of the acts featured took the Empty Bottle stage on Easter Sunday. Newsletter favorites Niko Kapetan (of the band Friko) and Free Range kicked things off with spectacular solo sets. Kapetan’s voice, even with just a keyboard and acoustic, is just as powerful and urgent as ever. The same goes for Free Range’s Sofia Jensen. Next up was the P. Noid, a new-to-me but excellent two-piece punk band.
The following three acts blew me away. Uniflora, the youngest group of the bunch (they’re high school seniors), played a ripping set of kinetic, groove-based indie rock. They’re just a trio but boast a massive sound with careening riffs, a pummeling rhythm section, and punky harmonies. Following them was Current Union TM, a band that evolved from an excellent sibling duo called Twin Coast. Their set featured cavernous, dense jams, skronking saxophone, ample cowbell, and jolting energy that evoked Sonic Youth at its most funky and psychedelic. It was indie rock at its most primal and undeniable. Though I’m at risk of overselling it, they sounded like the future. The last act I caught was Newsletter favorite Kitship, who led a six-piece band to play songs off their latest LP, am i a rock? It left me stunned and charmed.
Chicago’s great for its (relatively) cheap rent, its multitude of independent venues, its resilient ecosystem of zines and DIY press covering this music, and its ever-evolving and ever-inspiring collection of young artists. This is the first generation of bands to have grown up with access to all recorded music via streaming and the internet. It’s incredible to see what they’ve already done, and it’s so exciting to imagine what the next one will do.
* Listen, it was Easter Sunday, and I had work in the morning. I left a little after 11 p.m., before headliner TV Buddha performed (a band I love and have seen before).
What I watched:
Caught by the Tides (directed by Jia Zhangke)
I recently read a 2025 piece in the New York Review of Books about the Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who’s spent the last three decades depicting his country’s many transitions with gorgeous feature films that use non-actors, documentary techniques, and unorthodox approaches. His latest film, Caught By the Tides, which was released in the States in 2025, was shot over twenty years. He used material he had shot for previous films, rearranged the footage to form a coherent story, and filmed new scenes to round it out. Imagine a much more out-of-the-box and impressionistic Boyhood. Jia captures Chinese history as it unfolds: its 2001 winning bid for the Olympics, how rising water levels from the Three Gorges Dam displaced residents in 2006, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the piecemeal, improvised nature of its assemblage, the plot can feel a little light, but taking in these stunning visuals and evocative cinematography is just as rewarding as an air-tight narrative.
What I read:
The Man in the High Castle (by Philip K. Dick)
Philip K. Dick is the Chicago-born science fiction author whose novels and short stories have been adapted into films like Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and more. I’ve seen all these movies and love them, but I’ve never dedicated time to make it through his oeuvre. To remedy this, I started with Dick’s 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle, a heady alternate history where President Roosevelt is assassinated in 1933, the Axis powers win World War II, and America is divided up into three sections: the West ruled by Imperial Japanese forces, a neutral zone in the Rockies, and the East run by Nazis. (I vaguely remember liking the Amazon Prime Video series adaptation and Rufus Sewell’s acting in particular, but I don’t recall it being four seasons). Compared to the sprawling TV show, Dick’s novel is more self-contained. Despite provocative world-building and political intrigue, the book is much better at fleshing out the interior lives of its characters. Despite multiple detours about the I Ching and antiques, Dick’s electric prose and the book’s wild head-spinning ending make me want to devour his entire bibliography.
The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar:
The gig calendar lives on the WTTW News website. You can also subscribe to the newsletter I produce there called Daily Chicagoan to get it in your inbox a day early.
A big hell yessss for Robber Robber! And you are a lucky man indeed to have seen that Red Xerox show. I missed the one in NYC, but I'm still hoping Current Union TM makes it here sometime soon. Obsessed with their song on the comp and eagerly awaiting more. The Chicago scene rules!