No Expectations 139: Pearls
The joys of reading magazines in 2026. Plus, recommended albums by i26connector, Ellie O'Neill, Red PK, and more. There's a good playlist this week, too.
No Expectations hits inboxes on Thursdays at 9am cst. Reader mailbag email: Noexpectationsnewsletter@gmail.com. Daily Chicagoan, the local news newsletter I produce at my day job with WTTW News (PBS Chicago), can be found here.
Headline song: Styrofoam Winos, “Pearls”
Thanks for being here. If you’ve visited me in any apartment I’ve lived in over the last 15 years, you’ve probably noticed a few magazines lying on a coffee table or piled up in a crate under a desk. I grew up as a loyal subscriber to Spin, Paste, Alternative Press, and Guitar World (which introduced me to some terrible nu-metal bands in the early 2000s), and I’ve nurtured my love for the medium in adulthood. Where the first thing I used to do waking up was aimlessly scroll on my phone and gradually piss myself off, now I make my way through a magazine article. It’s a healthier ritual that’s honestly become one of the best parts of my day.
When so much of my life is dictated by algorithms or my own internet habits, it’s a simple joy to pick up something physical that was written, organized, and designed by people. There are no personalized feeds and nothing to click, just a collection of curated stories and images with a beginning and an end. With a monthly or quarterly publication schedule, these outlets have little incentive to focus on ephemeral clickbait. Instead, they commission mostly evergreen, in-depth pieces where you learn something more than you would from skimming a news story on your phone. It’s also a way to train your attention. There are no pop-up notifications with a physical product, and the more you read, the more you feel totally focused and present.
Sure, there have been years where weekly New Yorker deliveries have led to clutter at the spot (I have since switched to the iPad edition: the Apple News app allows me to also keep tabs on Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Republic, Billboard, and Rolling Stone). Still, there’s something comforting about being surrounded by physical media. It’s always there to pick up when you’re feeling overly stimulated and need to unwind. Right now, you’ll find scattered around my place two different magazines on tennis (Racquet and Open), a soccer outlet (Mundial), issues of the political journal the Baffler, as well as vital new music publications like Antics and So Young. In fact, one of the artists featured in the album roundup below came directly from So Young.
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.
Here’s where I politely ask for money: This newsletter is something I write in my spare time after work. It does not have a paywall and won’t for the foreseeable future due to the generosity of my readers. I am not in the business of gatekeeping. If you have the means and like what you read, I’d encourage you to sign up for a paid subscription. If your budget is tight, telling a friend about a band you found out about here is just as good. You can also post about No Expectations and say nice things. That works too. It’s still $5 a month—the cost of one Old Style plus tip at Rainbo Club. Every bit helps, keeps this project going, and allows it to stay paywall-free. It’s rough out there, so it means the world you’re reading and supporting this writing project.
4 Albums Worth Your Time This Week
Ellie O’Neill, Time of Fallow
Before Ireland’s Ellie O’Neill was a recording artist, she was a rising youth Gaelic football player. While she later pursued a music degree at university, switching her academic focus to literature ignited her passion for songwriting. Time of Fallow, O’Neill’s debut, is immersive and transportive folk music. Throughout the tracklist, her calming and rich alto is a perfect vessel for these bracingly personal lyrics. Where much of the LP is an exercise in tasteful and austere minimalism, the more ornate compositions soar like on “Little Sister,” a serpentine and knotty dose of pastoral rock. Single “Anna with the Silver Arrow” showcases her ability to give nearly biblical stakes to a queer love story, while coos of falsetto harmonies give tracks like “Aconite” tangible grace and propulsion. Like her fellow countryman Dove Ellis, O’Neill has a talent that’s undeniable and often overwhelming.
RIYL: Irish music that isn’t a post-punk band, Hannah Frances, Haley Heynderickx
i26connector, i26connector
Even if you think we’re at “peak indie rock bands with a pedal steel player,” let alone “peak indie rock bands with a pedal steel player from Asheville, North Carolina,” I’m here to tell you that i26connector are more than worth your time. Their self-titled full-length is one of my favorite debuts of 2026, an all-around airtight and efficient collection of conversational lyrics, booming riffs, and wailing twang. Composed of members of other Western NC bands like Tombstone Poetry, Idle County, Headringer, and Seven and a Half Giraffe, the seven songs on i26connector manage to be genuinely fresh and exciting entries in a crowded genre. Where the first couple of minutes of opener “Spirit Manger” seem like effective and explosive indie-twang, it quickly dissolves into searing punk for its final 40 seconds. On “i26connector,” Caelan Burris sings, “They tore down my buddy’s house / To build the I-26 Connector / And I don't think they gave him much money / Or time to make arrangements,” which is a hell of a way to kick off a song. The tone on this record can oscillate between barroom chats and apocalyptic brooding, but no matter what, it’s always thrilling thanks to Burris’ clear-eyed lyrics and pedal steel player Will Elliott’s silky leads. Shoutout to the essential North Carolina blog New Commute for the initial rec.
RIYL: Actually good pedal steel playing, Greg Freeman, Magnolia Electric Co., songs titled after the band name
kitship, am i a rock?
In 2023, Minneapolis songwriter Amaya Peña moved to Chicago and quickly found a home in the city’s music community. Where their solo material veers on understated guitar-based folk, they’ve joined the indie rock group Starcharm (fka Soft & Dumb) on drums and have collaborated with acts like Memory Card, Sharp Pins, and TV Buddha. They also appear on the just-released RED XEROX compilation that documents the best of the Chicago youth DIY movement from 2020-2025. Earlier this month, Peña dropped am i a rock?, an eight-song LP of effortlessly compelling acoustic singer-songwriter and lowkey indie rock fare. Peña’s voice is soothing and commanding, but it’s the way they can write a melody so immediately memorable that carries the release. From the frantic tempo changes and primitive flute in opener “song for avi,” to the childhood nostalgia that imbues the earworm twee of “i wish to be like you” with charm, this is a record full of subtle, stellar moments. Recorded with Sharp Pins and Lifeguard’s Kai Slater (who appears in a duet on “i’ve got a secret”), it’s lo-fi but not decidedly retro, choosing to instead center a truly imaginative and welcome voice in the burgeoning and vibrant scene.
RIYL: Norma Tanega, Horsegirl, Frankie Cosmos
Red PK, Horse Like Me
Andy PK, aka Chicago’s Red PK, has been one of the city’s most prolific collaborators over the past few years. I’ve recently seen them play in the live bands of Squirrel Flower, Free Range, hemlock, and Tobacco City on either pedal steel or guitar, and checking Instagram this past week, I see that they’re now also a touring member of Ratboys. Ever since I caught them play an acoustic show at Color Club in 2023, I’ve realized that they’re a formidable solo artist too, and their excellent debut LP Horse Like Me is proof. Recorded with Chicago’s Seth Engel (Options), there’s an early-afternoon pep to these songs. Even in the most introspective and vulnerable numbers, PK and their band add needed grooves, bursts of riff-induced energy, and well-worn chemistry into each arrangement. The sub-two-minute “Red” makes every second count with crunchy chords and woozy falsetto, while opener “Get Down” is basically a perfect-no-notes version of emo-tinged countrified rock. These songs are so inviting and the instrumental flourishes so gorgeous that it’s a strikingly cozy and comforting record. Any casual observer of the local music community here knows PK’s an astoundingly tasteful shredder, whether on guitar or pedal steel, but Horse Like Me shows that they’re just as deft as a writer.
RIYL: That first Pinegrove record, the Chicago music community, and, again, actually good pedal steel playing
The No Expectations 139 Playlist: Apple Music // Spotify* // Tidal
Styrofoam Winos, “Pearls”
Brennan Wedl, “Six O’Clock News (feat. Waxahatchee)”
i26connector, “I-26 Connector”
Red PK, “Red”
oldstar, “Whiskey”
memory card, “Hurricane”
Keta Ester, “Singer of the Rock Song”
The Clearwater Swimmers, “Radio Flyer”
Jacob Ungerleider, “Everything You Can”
Accessory, “This Is Not Your Life (Static)”
Tenderness, “We’ll Always Have Paris 1919”
Ellie O’Neill, “Little Sister”
nat tracks, “Lost Signals”
Gelli Haha, “Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep”
Brad Goodall, “River Water”
* = “Radio Flyer” by the Clearwater Swimmers and “Hurricane” by Memory Card are not on Spotify
What I watched:
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat (Prime Video)
The main conceit behind Jury Duty is, “What would happen if an average person were put in the middle of a scripted sitcom and didn’t know they were in one?” Part Candid Camera, part Truman Show, and part The Office, the first season thrived thanks to the amiable, go-with-the-flow, and kind nature of its real-life normal guy subject, Ronald Gladden. His obvious goodness allowed the cast to shine, and the season is one of my favorite pieces of TV comedy this decade. This season leaves the courtroom for a company on its annual retreat. They enlist a Nashville temp worker (an equally likable and friendly Anthony Norman) to work at a (fictional) California hot sauce business called Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce. Norman is told that a documentary crew is following the corporation as their longtime owner is retiring and giving the business to his son, a clearly Chet Hanks-inspired man named Dougie (Alex Bonifer). It’s amazing that they managed to pull it off again, that they found a subject equally perfect to be the unwitting main character, and that the jokes in Season 2 are just as solid as that miracle of a debut season.
What I read:
Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s (by Meg Jacobs)
I tend to read in cycles. I’ll first go for a fun nonfiction book: usually something related to sports or music. Next, I’ll do a not-so-fun nonfiction book. Whether it’s history, political theory, or reported journalism, it’s usually about How We Got Here in 2026. Finally, I’ll switch it up with a novel, which can be fun or not-really-all-that-fun depending on the topic. While I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot, Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s, from Princeton historian Meg Jacobs, falls in the second camp. It’s an exhaustive and often frustrating account of the twin oil shocks of that decade, the crises of 1973 during Nixon’s administration and 1979 during Carter’s. I picked this book up because, well, you know… Jacobs gets deep into the details of the decade’s policy debates, congressional gridlock, and how calls for energy reform and alternative sources of fuel were no match for the nation’s appetite for lower gas prices. While I can’t wholeheartedly endorse this to every No Expectations reader (“Want 400 pages of ‘70s energy debate minutiae? No lessons are learned for our leaders today!”), I can say it’s an illuminating read in 2026.
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.
One of my favorite recommendations that I'm always eager to share - I also appreciate the allure and feel of a physical magazine, and stockpile them myself. For eReader needs, a friendly heads up and/or reminder to anyone reading, that you can sub to tons of magazines through your local library! I have the newest edition of New Yorker, Harpers, NYRB, Paris Review, Baseball America, and Rolling Stone perpetually waiting for me in Libby. What's more Punk Rock than the public library?!
Great recommendations, thanks!