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: Wild Pink, “Still Coming Down”
Thanks for being here. If you’re one of the 100+ people who signed up because of Dan Ozzi’s excellent newsletter, ZERO CRED, welcome. Dan’s one of the best editors I’ve ever had (we overlapped at VICE, and I wrote a few “Rank Your Records” features for him). He’s also a phenomenal writer and an incredible person, so it means the world to be mentioned alongside several other favorites and friends.
Before I get into what Dan calls “an alarming number of weekly music recommendations,” I wanted to highlight a couple of Chicago-area book events I’m hosting. There’s one in September and another in October, and they’re both with some of my favorite authors. I can’t wait. See you there and bring a friend.
Sunday, Sept 6: Recommended if You Like Live: Adam Voith in Conversation With Josh Terry at SPACE.
Last week, I highlighted Adam Voith’s funny, affecting, and relatable coming-of-age novel Recommended If You Like. I wrote of the book, which takes place in the Midwestern Bible Belt and the Cornerstone-era of ‘90s Christian Rock, that “Voith’s a breezy, conversational, and hilarious writer, lending grace and empathy to his fumbling protagonist.” On Sept. 6, the day before Labor Day, I’ll be talking to Voith about his writing, the publishing company he started called Little Engines, and his past life as the booking agent for Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Kevin Morby, and other No Expectations favorites. Reserve your spot here.
Wednesday, Oct. 14: Authors on Tap: Steven Hyden and Josh Terry at Exile in Bookville.
I’ve been following Steven Hyden’s work for the better part of the past two decades, ever since his days at The A.V. Club. From his gigs at Grantland to Uproxx and his essential newsletter Evil Speakers to his many best-selling books (my personal alltimer is his This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Beginning of the 21st Century from 2020), he’s always been appointment reading. Over the past several years, we’ve become friends, and he’s been a major supporter of No Expectations. So, it’s a huge honor that he asked me to moderate a conversation surrounding his forthcoming effort, Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes (and Rock ‘n’ Roll). I can’t wait for this one. You should register for it here, as long as you promise not to bring up an old tweet where I said, “Some people prefer Is This It? while others say it’s Room on Fire or even The New Abnormal. Different Strokes for different folks, I guess.”
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 Hamm’s 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.
Four Albums Worth Your Time This Week
Johanna Samuels, Sorry, Kid
Sometimes you come up with an idea for a creative project, but the timing isn’t right. Maybe you’re not ready to flesh out your vision, maybe you don’t have the skills to execute, or maybe you’re taken in a totally different direction. While it’s true that you won’t know until you’ve tried, there is something to be said about tabling something and revisiting it later. This is what Johanna Samuels did on her latest LP, Sorry, Kid, which boasts tracks that date back as far as 2007. By returning to this nearly 20-year-old material as a now-seasoned artist, Samuels masterfully demonstrates that patience makes for good timing and that grace is required to look back on what your younger self created. Recorded with Jonathan Rado, a producer who excels at helping songwriters mine the timeless palette of ‘70s rock, you won’t be able to tell these songs come from the aughts (OK, maybe “Blue vs. Pinkerton,” a great tune that captures a debate I often had in high school). You’ll hear shades of Todd Rundgren on the lush “Full Story,” Elton John on the opener “White Limousine,” and George Harrison on the Tyler Ballgame-assisted “Circles,” but Samuels’ stellar melodic sensibility is fully her own.
RIYL: V.V. Lightbody, Hannah Cohen, Foxygen
Kiwi Jr., Blowin’ Up
If there’s one band I’ve listened to most over the past five years that isn’t the Grateful Dead, it’s probably Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. To my tastes, they’re the platonic ideal of an indie rock band. They boast ample hooks, jangly riffs, punchy choruses, and a fantastic frontman in Jeremy Gaudet, who delivers literary, story-and-joke-driven lyrics that reference sports, old Hollywood starlets, drunken mistakes, and the realities of touring. He writes songs that can be simultaneously funny and heartwrenching. It’s a rare talent. Their now four LPs are all unassailable, but their latest, Blowin’ Up, might overtake 2021’s Cooler Returns in my personal alltimer rankings. Across 10 tracks, this is a band that’s simultaneously playing to its strengths, like on the self-effacing organ-driven anthem of the title track, and playing with new experiments, like the time signature changes and the riff that sounds like their compatriots PUP in “Hard Drive, Ontario.” Gaudet is in fine form here throughout, where he spins yarns about my home state in “Pure Michigan,” with lines like “‘Great Lakes, great times’ / They regulate water consumption.” But on the highlight “Stage Names,” when he croons, “Everyone's on the guest list / Take the stamp from the back of my hand / Dead men rise in the desperate hour / Between soundcheck and the opening band,” I realize there’s no one doing it quite like these four Canadians.
RIYL: Ducks Ltd., Parquet Courts, Lawn
Nina Winder-Lind, Wild Love
One of the most beguiling and impressive LPs of 2025 was the New Eves’ The New Eve Is Rising. At the time, I wrote, “this is primal and snarling folk music, unconcerned with trends, politeness, or easygoing vibes.” Much of my love for that record was thanks to the commanding, room-filling, and often guttural vocals of Nina Winder-Lind, who confidently steps out on her own with the superb solo debut Wild Love. Compared to the brooding menace that permeated throughout her band’s album, this one captures the intensity but translates it into more straightforward, anthemic indie rock material that evokes the Modern Lovers, the Raincoats, and Lou Reed. Winder-Lind is deft at both poles, but here, she thrives at guitar-solo-driven catharsis, like on the scorching single “Headfirst.” That song ends with an almost Stones-esque sing-along, where she yells, “I thank God for all that I feel.” There’s similar ecstasy on standouts like “This Is Our Life” and the piano-driven barroom ballad “Grandma & Robert DeNiro,” where she sings, “If Bob Dylan were a woman / Would you still love him / And post him all over your wall?” It’s rare to find a record so bursting with life, all thanks to the palpable charisma of an outstanding vocalist and songwriter.
RIYL: Trinity Ace, Greg Freeman, mary in the junkyard
Will Hasell, Roadkill Heart
Will Hasell is a Brooklyn-via-Gainesville songwriter who is one-half of the folk duo Suddenly and a solo artist behind one of 2026’s surprise Album of the Year contenders in Roadkill Heart. At 15 songs and nearly 50 minutes, Hasell manages to not only not waste a second, but to write songs that are all eclectic but still cohesive. “Nest” takes on the nervy, introspective thump of 22º Halo while “River” vaguely evokes Alex G, and a handful of tunes are piano-based instrumentals. It’s uniformly gorgeous thanks to Hasell’s melodic dexterity: you’ll expect a modulation as a song progresses, but Hasell will zig where you think he’ll zag. Take “NVS,” a winding, slow-burning dose of brooding folk rock, the breezy single “Spindrift,” or the twinkling dirge “All I’m Leaving,” and you’ll find someone who can make knotty songs feel effortless. Even though most of these offerings operate in a hushed, mid-tempo zone, the tangible hooks and surprises in the arrangements make it one of the most thrilling listens this year.
RIYL: Hovvdy, Lamplight, Villagerrr
What I listened to:
The No Expectations 156 Playlist: Apple Music // Spotify // Tidal
1. Unity, “3 Weeks”
2. Wishy, “Sensational”
3. Wild Pink, “Still Coming Down”
4. Squirrel Flower, “Cleveland”
5. Nina Winder-Lind, “This Is Our Life”
6. Panamint, “Wrapped Around Your Finger”
7. Kiwi Jr., “Stage Names”
8. Anna McClellan, “Gemini”
9. Jon McKiel, “Order”
10. Johanna Samuels, “Two People, the Moon”
11. Will Hasell, “NVS”
12. Sand Duney, “Jacaranda”
13. L’Rain, “elmyra”
14. Adult DVD, “Rolling Face”
15. Allison De Groot & Rich Ruth, “Nervion”
Gig recap: Big Thief at Salt Shed (8/13)
For a band I love as much as Big Thief, a quartet I’ve long argued are the best indie rock outfit to come out of the past decade, I haven’t seen them live as much as I’d like. Sure, I caught them a bunch early on when they’d play the Empty Bottle, Schubas, and Metro, but in the past five years, I’ve only been able to see them play Pitchfork Festival in 2021 and 2023. Thankfully, my luck changed when I saw them headline Salt Shed’s outdoor Fairgrounds on a rainy Thursday. They launched into the hits: an onslaught of consecutive alltimers in “Vampire Empire,” “Shark Smile,” “Certainty,” and “Not” to kick things off. After an aborted take on “Contact,” which was improbably stopped twice thanks to two separate medical emergencies in the crowd, they recaptured their momentum with three brand-new songs (two of which were live debuts). I stood enrapt throughout the whole 18-song set.
What I watched:
Disclosure Day (directed by Steven Spielberg)
After watching Disclosure Day, I jokingly said that it was “Spielberg’s best alien movie since War of the Worlds.” That might be too glib, because even though it may not reach the upper echelons of the auteur’s oeuvre, it’s a hell of a fun movie and a clear instance of an iconic director having a blast. Not everything works: some action sequences seem to exist solely to wake up the audience; there’s so much going on in the plot that it feels like narrative plate-spinning, and its ending might read as too saccharine and optimistic. Still, Spielberg is a legend for a reason: the cinematography and his kinetic camera are electrifying. While the performances from the leads are solid, especially a goofy and endearing turn from Emily Blunt, the supporting actor Courtney Grace, who plays an NBC News anchor in a pivotal late-film scene, steals the show and makes the whole movie.
What I read:
Life Itself (by Roger Ebert)
It’s been over 13 years since the iconic Chicago film critic Robert Ebert died, but to this day, whenever I watch a movie released before 2013, I’ll look up his review without fail. Few writers were as personally formative as him thanks to his conversational, accessible prose, his wide-eyed passion for his preferred medium, his deep-rooted humanism, and his easily identifiable but exemplary tastes. While I’ve watched the 2014 Steve James-directed film, Life Itself, I never read Ebert’s 2011 memoir it adapted. I loved it, especially the chapters on his early days as a newspaper reporter working for the Sun-Times, his mid-thirties decision to quit drinking, and his love for his wife Chaz. It’s fascinating to think that Ebert, whose name was and still is synonymous with film criticism, never originally set out to write about movies; he would’ve stayed a general reporter had the paper’s reviewer desk not opened up.
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.