No Expectations 107: Small Things
Eight (8!) new albums to check out this week. Plus, a 15-song playlist and gig recaps from Japanese Breakfast to Robber Robber and more.
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Headline song: Kassi Valazza, “Small Things”
Thanks for being here. It’s good to be back after a week off. I had a packed schedule with a family wedding downstate, a baseball game with friends, and three shows. My only window to write a newsletter would’ve been last Monday. So, rather than cram all the research and writing into a single evening after a shift at my day job, I decided to go about the week without thinking about deadlines. I filled my time with buds and live music, and did not use “I have to write my indie rock newsletter” as an excuse to get out of any plans. A big win, especially if you’re one of my friends trying to get me to the gig on a weeknight.
Even though I filled my week with fun, I still went down rabbit holes of great music, caught myself up on new albums, and eventually listened to more things than I normally would have. Writing even came more naturally. After nearly three years of No Expectations, I realize that the newsletter will always be better when I’m having fun, getting myself out of the house, and taking things in without stressing about making an arbitrary weekly quota. Plus, saying no to a show so I’ll have more time to write about music is pretty silly. The generous and curious people who keep this writing project going understand that life happens and sometimes missing a week isn’t a dealbreaker. I’m grateful for that.
If you’re new to No Expectations, here’s a short explainer of what you signed up for. 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.
As always, you can sign up for a paid subscription or tell a friend about a band you read about here. 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 I’m grateful you’re still reading and supporting this writing project. Next week, I’ll be in Vegas for another year of Dead & Company at the Sphere. I can’t wait. Before I fly out there, I’ll schedule a No Expectations featuring a Taste Profile interview with an artist behind one of my most anticipated albums of the year and some more recs.
8 Albums Worth Your Time This Week
Cash Langdon, Dogs
If you like your rock music loud and relentlessly hooky, there’s no better place to look than Dogs, the new LP from Birmingham, Alabama’s Cash Langdon. Here, he channels the anthemic choruses of Summerteeth-era Wilco, the frantic energy of Ty Segall, and the melodic prowess of the late Adam Schlesinger across 10 explosively catchy songs. I’ve included a few of the singles in No Expectations playlists like the crunchy “Magic Again” and the twangy “Lilac Whiskey Nose,” and the rest of the LP matches those tunes’ high caliber. It’s just a damn good rock record. I’d also recommend his other project, Caution, which put out albums with the mighty but now-defunct Chicago label Born Yesterday.
Colin Miller, Losin’
Colin Miller is at the center of the burgeoning North Carolina indie rock scene. He’s the drummer for MJ Lenderman, recorded some of his earliest releases, and served as a sort of mentor figure when they all lived in a house called Haw Creek with members of Wednesday and other local musicians. Though he’s released music since at least 2019, 2023’s Haw Creek was his proper solo debut: an inviting collection of homey, storytelling folk rock. His follow-up Losin’ sharpens the edges and tightens the palette of his first full-length. Inspired by the 2022 death of Miller’s longtime friend, Gary King, the owner of the Haw Creek property, the LP is full of bittersweet odes to shared memories watching NASCAR races (“Cadillac”) and reworked versions of old tunes (like 2021’s “I Need a Friend”). Miller’s a tasteful songwriter. He’s understated but impressively versatile: “Lost Again” boasts an earworm guitar riff and “Porchlight” a delicate, harmony-filled chorus. When he adds a touch of Broken Social Scene-esque catharsis like on “Hasbeen,” he sticks the landing. This is patient and powerful songwriting from an artist who inspired some of your favorite new acts.
Djrum, Under Tangled Silence
Under Tangled Silence is the gorgeous and knotty third album from Felix Manuel, the UK DJ and producer behind Djrum (pronounced "drum" and not "DJ Rum"). It's a seamless meld of sampled, improvised piano with skittering drum machines, glitchy electronics, and a keen flair for building tension, the LP doesn't waste a second over its massive 62-minute runtime. Songs like the epically rendered “Waxcap” feature lush cascades of virtuosic piano runs, pops of synth that zigzag around the mix, and a linear, undeniable arc. It’s densely layered but wholly accessible. One of my music journalism pet peeves is when writers say, “This is music to soundtrack [x activity].” That cheapens the work. It’s art, not “chill vibes to study to.” That said, I will say that putting this on at my day job made me feel like I was flying. Few things I’ve heard this year have been so transportive and immersive: the 8.7 BNM it got from Pitchfork is much-deserved.
Eli Winter, A Trick of the Light
Eli Winter is a talented guitarist and composer from Texas who’s lived in Chicago since 2016. He thrives on expansive, pastoral, and often-tense arrangements that effortlessly merge jazz, folk, and indie rock. A Trick of the Light is his latest full-length and his best yet. It’s anchored by two inventive covers with the sprawling, 16-minute opener “Arabian Nightingale” (originally by Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell), which boasts masterful leads and skronks from saxophonist Gerit Hatcher and the centerpiece, a stunning take on Carla Bley’s “Ida Lupino.” Engineered and mixed by Cooper Crain (Cave, Bitchin Bajas), the title track features electric guitar from none other than David Grubbs and bass from Mike Watt, but the real star is Winter’s gentle and perceptive ear for crafting a cohesive narrative—a hard thing to do with instrumental music. While it can turn on a dime from comforting to challenging, all 40-plus minutes of this full-length are intentional, considerate, and elegant.
Kassi Valazza, From Newman Street
When I included Kassi Valazza’s last album, Knows Nothing, in the 2023 No Expectations EOY Best of List, I wrote, “Kassi Valazza is an Arizona-raised, Portland-based songwriter whose voice reminds me of Karen Dalton and Sandy Denny: a commanding, personality-filled, and weathered warble that carries these homespun folk songs to great heights.” Now based in New Orleans, the songwriter and Michael Hurley collaborator keeps some of the timeless sheen of her influences while leaning further into her distinct talent as a lyricist and bandleader on From Newman Street. There are glistening pedal steel wails, jammed-out guitars, and plaintive acoustic fingerpicking that envelop these songs. It’s always subtle and considered as Valazza’s hypnotic voice sings of loss (“Bird’s Eye”) and feeling out of place (“Time Is Round”). On the standout “Your Heart’s a Tin Box,” she channels Joni Mitchell at her most conversational. That song is buoyant and alive, with a sing-along hook, acoustic leads, and gentle drums. She traverses multiple zones of folk and Americana, all while focussed exclusively on writing a damn good song.
Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas, Totality
Two titans of Chicago’s improvisational and experimental music scenes, Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas, team up on the beguiling and masterful collaborative LP Totality. Across four tracks and nearly 45 minutes, these slow-burning songs are exercises in meticulously and gradually reaching a transcendent destination. It’s the second full-length partnership between these two ensembles—the first being 2015’s Automaginary—and it’s a more atmospheric and rewarding effort. This is an album that pulsates, undulates, and wobbles with instrumental flourishes that quickly pop into the mix, flutter away, but stick with you. From the pockmarked thrum that anchors “Nothing Does Not Show” to the breathy woodwinds that mark “Always 9 Seconds Away,” there is so much to hold onto here. It’s a masterclass in world-building. It takes its time and forces you to enter its wavelength.
Mei Semones, Animaru
I doubt you’ll find a more delightful blend of genres and influences than Mei Semones’ excellent new LP Animaru. It gleefully combines bossa nova with jazz, indie rock, and ample breathtaking strings with lyrics in Japanese and English. These are exuberant, frantic, and dazzling songs. Semones is a dynamic vocalist who can wrap herself around her luxuriant arrangements. “Dumb Feeling” explodes with feeling while “Zarigani” moves at a breathless pace. The musical ideas are abundant but never overbearing. She deftly weaves multiple threads without losing the sturdy core of the writing. A singular, distinct talent who excels at songs that are so refreshing it’s almost disorienting.
Uwade, Florilegium
When Fleet Foxes’ Shore came out in September 2020, it felt like a totally welcome balm for a tough year, in no small part due to Uwade’s calming and powerful voice being the first thing you hear on opener “Wading in Waist-High Water.” The Nigeria-born, North Carolina-raised artist was studying at Oxford when she collaborated with the influential indie folk band and five years later, she’s released her debut album Florilegium. Throughout the nine tracks here, Uwade’s voice is as soothing and evocative as ever as she glides through simmering pop tunes like “Call It a Draw” and “Harmattan,” which bubbles with bright hooks and a plucky rhythm. It’s an LP concerned with family histories, grief, and her cross-continental life path. Its title comes from the Latin florilegus, which means a “gathering of flowers,” while florigelium can also mean an anthology of writing. It's a perfect title for something so verdant and attentively autobiographical.
What I listened to:
The No Expectations 107 Playlist: Apple Music // Spotify // Tidal
1. Cash Langdon, "Dogs"
2. Ty Segall, "Possession"
3. Florry, "Pretty Eyes Lorraine"
4. Hotline TNT, "Candle"
5. PUP. "Concrete"
6. Lawn, "Sports Gun"
7. Post Animal, "Last Goodbye"
8. Colin Miller, "Lost Again"
9. Mei Semones, "Tora Moyo"
10. Kassi Valazza, "Your Heart's a Tin Box"
11. SALT, "Burn Me"
12. Japanese Breakfast, "Picture Window"
13. Uwade, "The Second Station"
14. Sister., "Blood in the Vines
15. Blue Earth Sound, "Mariposa"
Gig report: Japanese Breakfast, Ginger Root at Salt Shed (4/30)
Back in 2016, I rinsed Japanese Breakfast’s debut Psychopomp. I listened to it on walks, commutes, at home, and whenever I could. It’s a record that made me cry, but I couldn’t get enough of it. I saw her open up for artists like Mitski and Porches at tiny Chicago venues. I lost my mind when I realized my friends’ tour manager was her bassist. A year later, I was drinking Miller High Lifes with and listening to Black Sabbath for a VICE interview that ended up being one of my alltimer favorite in-person artist chats. No ascent has made me happier and has felt more deserving than Michelle Zauner’s. Her memoir is fantastic, and her songwriting is better than ever. With the caveat that I’m buds with members of her band and her crew, I had such a blast at the first of her three Salt Shed shows last week. Her live show has evolved to a full-fledged rockstar production thanks to the lighting theatrics from maestro Kat Borderud (one of the best and most thoughtful lighting artists working right now).
Gig report: Corridor, Robber Robber at Empty Bottle (5/1)
Robber Robber had one of my favorite albums of 2024 in Wild Guess. The Burlington, VT-based, wildly unpredictable and thrilling post-punk outfit features members of Lily Seabird’s band, Dari Bay, and Rockin’ Worms. On this run, they also enlisted Thus Love frontperson Echo Mars as another guitarist. The result was a jaw-dropping showcase of old favorites and brand-new, yet-to-be-finished songs that will undoubtedly rank among my top tunes of 2025 (or 2026, depending on the album cycle). Though I went for Robber Robber, I was equally floored by Montreal’s Corridor. A post-punk outfit that leans into harmonies, psychedelic grooves, and a totally pro live show. Another perfect night at the Empty Bottle.
Gig report: Prostitute at Sleeping Village (5/3)
Every year, every music journalist has an album they wish they knew about and wrote about as it came out. No matter how much you listen, something will inevitably fall through the cracks and floor you when you finally hear it. In 2025, it’s Prostitute’s Attempted Martyr. (Shoutout Friend of the Newsletter Nina Corcoran for the great Pitchfork review that hipped me to this ripper). Back in February, I wrote about the Dearborn, MI noise-rockers, saying, “It’s always a joy to find a new favorite band from my home state and if their live show even comes close to matching the livewire ferocity of this LP, it’ll likely be one of my year’s best live experiences.” It turns out, the “uncompromising, provocative, and endlessly listenable heaviness” translated perfectly for a packed Sleeping Village show. The band’s mononymous singer, Moe, is an electric and transfixing performer. Each track felt unrelenting, loud-as-hell, and just-right in the room.
What I watched:
The Pitt (Max)
When I first saw the trailer for HBO Max’s latest medical drama, The Pitt, I vowed never to watch it. I thought, “Who cares? Who has the time? Why does it look so cheesy? There are countless better ways to spend my time.” Then, to my dismay, I saw social media posts from people I trust claiming it’s not just good but great. Eventually, I caved, and loved every minute of it. This is not groundbreaking television, but it is a joy to witness a show faithfully stick with a genre and do everything right, from the stellar ensemble cast, the anxious build to the end-of-the-shift, and the whip-smart writing. A well-made, worthwhile thing is still well-made and worthwhile even if it doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
Righteous Gemstones (Max)
Through his television work, Danny McBride has established himself as the foremost comedian of a certain type of American male: hard-headed, vulgar, oafish, and intermittently endearing. From Eastbound & Down, to Vice Principals and now Righteous Gemstones, McBride has dissected and eviscerated an ignorant and uber-confident strain of masculinity into something uproariously funny and often deeply affecting and human. Of this trilogy, my favorite has been Gemstones. Though it could’ve easily ended last season, I’m happy they picked it up again for another one. It didn’t reach the heights of previous efforts, but there’s no TV family I’ll miss more than the dysfunctional Gemstones.
What I read:
White Tears (by Hari Kunzru)
Hari Kunzru’s 2017 novel explores the dark side of obsessive record collecting in the biting and violent White Tears. It follows a pair of college friends, Seth and Carter, both white dudes, who, through field recordings, discover a blues artist performing in a New York City park. Unable to find the man behind the voice, they piece together a mish-mashed track and release it to the internet under the fake name Charlie Shaw. It turns out that Charlie Shaw is a real person with a disturbing past, which spells trouble for the often clueless and privileged protagonists. Kunzru is a wonderful prose stylist who can seamlessly shift from a music-industry come-up to a crime thriller and ghost story with tangible ease. This is a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time, and I’m kicking myself that it had been on my “to-read” list for seven years.
The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar:
The gig calendar lives on the WTTW News website now. You can also subscribe to the newsletter I produce there called Daily Chicagoan to get it in your inbox a day early.