No Expectations 047: Meant To Be

Five killer new albums to check out. Plus, gig reports on Wilco at Metro and Deeper at Thalia.

Photo by Praveen Sundarajan on Unsplash

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5 New LPs Worth Your Time Right Now 

Thanks for reading Tuesday’s Taste Profile interview with Slaughter Beach, Dog’s Jake Ewald. Since you get enough lengthy newsletter emails, I’ll keep it simple this week with some album recommendations. 

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Dusk

Glass Pastures 

Too often in music journalism, when a group is described as a “bar band” it feels like a slight, an underhanded dig that only drunk folks could enjoy such sloppy rock’n’roll. Make no mistake here: when I say that Appleton, Wisconsin’s Dusk is a fantastic bar band, it’s an unequivocally good thing. It just means that I want to drink a beer and watch these guys rip through a set of expertly written, rambunctious, and twangy indie rock tunes. Their sophomore album Glass Pictures opens with Tom Petty-esque swagger on “Pissing in a Wishing Well” and it’s one of my favorite LP openers of 2023. Dusk is at their best when they’re clearly having fun playing loud songs fast and freewheeling and there’s a ton of that on the LP. “Changes” hits some power-pop bliss while the epic “Don’t Let Them Tell You” gets into some bluesy, near-Allman Brothers territory. It’s a whole lot of fun and as Steven Hyden would say, it’s a “Patio Hall of Fame album.” It reminds me a lot of Chicago’s Rookie, who put out a great one in 2020. 

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Golden Apples

Bananasugarfire ​​

Philadelphia label Lame-O Records has been on an absolute tear this year. They already have two locks for a personal AOTY contender in Superviolet’s Infinite Spring and Slaughter Beach, Dog’s Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling alongside a spectacular LP from Hurry and an EP from Dazy called OTHERBODY. (Their roster also includes some LPs I need to spend more time with which is why I didn’t mention acts like Yours Are The Only Ears, Steady Hands,and  U.S Highball). Golden Apples’ fourth LP Bananasugarfire, which is out on Lame-O, is a blast. It’s a relentlessly hooky and fuzzed-out rock album that you’ll want to play again immediately after your first listen. I knew by the third song “Waiting For a Cloud” that this would be an instant favorite. It’s unbelievably in my wheelhouse: a little jangle, a hefty dose of power pop, and uniformly memorable choruses. 

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Maple Glider

I Get Into Trouble 

Back in spring 2021, Australian songwriter Tori Zietsch, who performs as Maple Glider, released a song called “Good Thing.” It floored me. I associate the track with that time—the post-vaccine haze of gradually and finally reintroducing socializing back into your life and the vulnerable, awkward way everyone processed the past year. Though I felt raw enough to have this song really hit then, it’s so undeniable that I would’ve been obsessed with it any year. Zietsch’s sophomore album I Get Into Trouble reaches similarly devastating emotional peaks across 10 tracks. She occupies similar thematic territory on leaving religion, body autonomy, and overcoming trauma as fellow Aussie Julia Jacklin did on 2022’s Pre Pleasure but they’re both such astute songwriters that both LPs complement each other. Standouts here include “Do You,” “You’re Going To Be a Daddy,” and “Dinah.” 

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Mali Velasquez

I’m Green 

Mali Velasquez is a Nashville-based, Texas-raised artist who has a hell of a debut album in I’m Green. (The Texas to Nashville first LP pipeline has a pretty good track record with Katy Kirby’s Cool Dry Place). Velasquez makes folk-inflected indie rock that can be quiet or explosive but always cathartic. It’s certainly well-trodden genre territory but there hasn’t been a voice in this lane as fresh as Velasquez since Kirby or Indigo De Souza. Though just in her early 20s, she comes out as a fully-formed artist on these songs. Each song feels like it’d be the best song on a comparable act’s album. It’s honestly pretty astonishing. I’m looking forward to whatever she does next.

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Video Age

Away From the Castle 

Full disclosure: I wrote the press bio for this album several months ago. While I was paid to write about this album by this band’s label for the PR campaign, I was asked to do it because I am a huge, well-documented fan of this New Orleans soft-rock outfit. In 2020, I raved about their album Pleasure Line at VICE. Though that full-length remains a favorite, the band’s latest Away From the Castle is by far their best effort yet. One listen through and it’s obvious that bandmates and cowriters Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli care just as much about writing an impeccable pop tune as they do each other. Just take the ebullient single “Better Than Ever,” which acts as an ode to a songwriting partnership and being bandmates with lines like, “You block out the noise when fate goes wrong / You set it up right and you get it together/  Savor the joy in what we done.” Elsewhere, they wade into yacht rock waters on “Adrian” and country twang on the title track. No matter what they try out, each song feels pretty timeless. 

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What I listened to:

No Expectations 047: 
1. Lawn, “Down”
2. Golden Apples, “Waiting For a Cloud” 
3. Wilco, “Meant To Be” 
4. Deeper, “Pressure” 
5. Truth Club, “Siphon” 
6. Katy Kirby, “Table” 
7. Patio, “En Plein Air” 
8. Slaughter Beach, Dog, “Float Away” 
9. Daneshevskaya, “ROY G BIV” 
10. Villagerrr, “See” 
11. Land of Talk, “Marry It” 
12. Empty Country, “Dustine” 
13. Squirrel Flower, “Finally Rain” 
14. Spencer Cullum, Could We, Canvey 
15. Lily Seabird, “Dirge” 

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Gig report: Wilco at Metro Chicago (10/30) 

Wilco are my favorite band. They’re the group I’ve written about most in my career and they’re the band that I’ve seen most besides my best friends’ bands. I think they’re the greatest American rock band currently going and they’re consistently the best live show. I could go on and write 3000 words why this is true but I will just say that I had the best time Monday at Metro. It was the record release show for their 13th album Cousin, which was produced by Cate Le Bon and might be their best in a decade. While I tried and failed to get tickets when they went onsale (it was an underplay and sold out in minutes), I am lucky to have one of my best buds finagle a list spot. Honestly, it’s tough to think of a better possible birthday present. Wilco are always tight but they were on the last show of a massive run that made them unbelievably exploratory and locked in. From the freakout guitar theatrics in “Handshake Drugs” to extended jams in “Impossible Germany” and “Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull,” it was probably the best I’ve ever seen em. (I think I’m at 20+ now). Another highlight was Friend of the Substack Jack Dolan calling his shot that they were going to close out their encore with “Spiders (Kidsmoke).” Perfect night. 

For more eloquent thoughts on Wilco from me, check out my 2016 interview with Jeff Tweedy for RedEye Chicago (a cover story that marked my first Personal Playlist interview), my VICE guide to Wilco, and my review of 2019’s Ode To Joy, which also ran at VICE. 

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Gig report: Deeper, Mia Joy, Lawn at Thalia Hall (10/26) 

The Deeper record release show was another excellent gig. The Chicago post-punk outfit’s new album Careful! is their Sub Pop debut and one of the best LPs of 2023 that somehow feels slept on. It’s great! Go see a show—you’ll be blown away. Mia Joy played a full band and synth-less set and Lawn, one of my favorite bands, kicked off the night as a trio. It took me until 2023 to finally see Lawn and now that I’ve caught em twice, I hope I can eventually make it 20. Unbelievably good songs from the New Orleans outfit.  

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What I watched: 

Silence of the Lambs (1991) 

This is a classic that I haven’t watched in maybe 20 years. I remembered certain scenes and quotes vividly (the fava beans line, the grand escape, putting lotion in the basket, etc) but became a little hazy on how the pieces fit together. I’m glad I gave it another watch. Truly a masterpiece. 

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THX 1138 (1971) 

Beyond Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I don’t know much about George Lucas’ earlier work. With his debut feature THX 1138, it turns out Lucas was making smart and even arty sci-fi years before his biggest franchises. You can easily tell how much other movies bit from this film (Michael Bay’s The Island, The Matrix, and even Disney+’s Andor). Not everything works but visually it’s a stunner, especially for 1971. 

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What I read: 

Ashleigh Bryant Phillips on writing without shame or fear (The Creative Independent)

In Bible school camp that I used to have to go to every summer, there would always be a scripture that we would repeat every day. And we would have it remembered by the time we went home from camp. So the scripture I get my students to learn is “No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language or knowledge.” It’s one of Jack Kerouac’s rules of writing that I stumbled on one day. And I’m not even a disciple of Kerouac, I’ve never read a book by him. But if I can get my students to remember anything when they go home from my class, I hope it’s that lil rule. It’s guided my work and helped me wrestle with hurts and fears.

Beginning writers are really afraid when they’re first starting out because they want to write something cool. They want to write something good. They want to make art. There are all of these expectations.

But I feel like in order to create any gripping, true, real work, you have to be unafraid. And you have to be honest about who you are and what you’ve experienced, because that’s immediately going to reach the reader.

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In defense of the Gen Z challenge to the ‘work ethic’ (Jemima Kelly, FT) 

I don’t wholeheartedly embrace the idea that we should treat emotional difficulties in the same way as we do physical ones. Working out how to treat the former is much more complex, and we need to be careful not to pathologize all feelings of discomfort: facing our fears and pushing through adversity can build resilience. We need to work out how to get the balance right between the Zoomer-style coddling and the Boomer-style stiff upper lip — that’s tricky. 

But I am personally grateful that we live in a world that takes mental health seriously, and where talking about our own struggles is no longer such a taboo. We should be careful to look out for signs of poor mental health around us — like, say, fully grown adults spending their time laughing at young women crying on the internet.

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The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar: 

Thursday, Nov. 2: Daniel Villarreal, Cabeza de Chivo at Empty Bottle. Tickets. 

Thursday, Nov. 2: Grateful Shred at Chop Shop. Tickets. 

Thursday, Nov. 2: Sun Ra Arkestra at Constellation. Sold out. 

Thursday, Nov. 2: Alan Palomo at Metro. Tickets. 

Friday, Nov. 3: Grateful Shred at Chop Shop. Tickets

Friday, Nov. 3: Bedridden, Old Coke, turquoise at Cole’s. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Grateful Shred at Chop Shop. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Rich Jones, ShrapKnel, J Bambii, UDABABY at Empty Bottle. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Elizabeth Moen, Red PK, Anaiet at Lincoln Hall. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Hiss Golden Messenger, Sylvie at Metro. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Husbands, Plastic Picnic at Schubas. Tickets. 

Saturday, Nov. 4: Neighbor at Martyrs. Tickets.

Sunday, Nov. 5: Paul Cauthen, Tanner Usrey at Metro. Tickets. 

Sunday, Nov. 5: Slaughter Beach, Dog, Bonny Doon at Thalia Hall. Tickets. 

Tuesday, Nov. 7: Meltt, Astrachan at the Hideout. Tickets. 

Wednesday, Nov. 8: Minor Moon, Adeline Hotel, Sarah Clausen at Color Club. Tickets. 

Wednesday, Nov. 8: Stuck, Spllit, Spread Joy at the Hideout. Tickets. 

Wednesday, Nov. 8: Foxing, The Hotelier, Emperor X at Thalia Hall. Sold out.