Posts by Mac Lockett

Big Thief, one of the best and most adept bands of the 21st century, has done more in six short years than most bands can squeeze out of an entire catalog. Each of their five studio albums has managed to expand their signature homespun charm into exciting, self-contained albums. The sound always moves forward but […]

Give Beach Fossils credit, despite longtime comparisons to Wild Nothing, DIIV, and Real Estate, Dustin Payseur has always done a better job navigating the restraints of his sound. Beach Fossil’s debut is bright and lo-fi jangle rock, Clash the Truth brings a slightly harder and wispy, post-punk edge, and the underrated Somersault glistens in the […]

2020’s What’s Your Pleasure? was a transformative album for Jessie Ware. It was marked by a spectacular burst in confidence, evidenced by the album’s seven singles, but somewhat miraculously, it actually warranted that kind of fanfare. As a dance album, few recent albums this side of Beyoncé’s Renaissance have been able to toe the line […]

If there was one overarching theme of the setlist for Wilco at the Riviera Theatre on March 26th, it was the dominance of that guitar and in turn one of the band’s more lead-heavy albums, Sky Blue Sky.

Radical Romantics is a Fever Ray album in that its fixations swarm around Karin Dreijer, all their proclivities, and all their vulnerabilities. It’s also the closest Fever Ray has ever sounded like The Knife

Almost four decades into their career, a track like “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” should sound like a surprise. It should sound like a discordant,

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of October 24-29, 2022

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of October 19-22, 2022

Dry Cleaning seeped quickly onto the scene, debuting with two of the best EPs from 2019 and one of the best albums of 2021 with New Long Leg. The fact that they were so quick to rush out a second album was concerning. Was it a rush job, or a lighter album helmed on tour stops? Neither, in fact, the seeds of Stumpwork were written before New Long Leg was even finished, which cements that not only are the band prodigious writers but that when the band is given more time to hone their songs, as they do here, the results are that much stronger.

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of October 10-15, 2022: Brian Eno, Todd Rundgren, Bill Callahan

Another Green World is still Brian Eno’s highwater mark, and he does his best to capture that magic on Foreverandevermore.

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of October 3-8, 2022.

Molly Rankin and Alvvays started off as a bright and shimmering, slightly twee indie pop outfit almost ten years ago. The group’s debut soon followed and although breezy and charming, it lent us two mammoth singles, “Adult Diversion” and “Archie, Marry Me”, the latter of which would essentially become the group’s signature song. On Antisocialites, […]

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of September 19-23, 2022 Alex G – “Cross the Sea” God Save the Animals is another classic, an album beguiling in its simultaneous simplicity and intricacy, and a statement that reads: “When is Alex G going to finally slip up”. At this point, he’s […]

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of September 12-16, 2022 The Black Angels – “Here & Now” The Angels may be well past their late-aughts hey-day, and their music may not have changed much since then, but as far as slightly derivative and reliable psych-rock goes, you could do a […]

If 2016’s Light Upon the Lake is set to be Whitney’s high-water mark, then they could do a lot worse. Sure, it will always be the breakthrough debut, and Forever Turned Around will probably always be seen as the sophomore stumble, even if it’s better than you remember, but Spark doesn’t do anything to sway […]

In Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, nestled into one of the fastest growing blocks of the city, is Sleeping Village, a relatively new bar and music venue. Like many of Chicago’s club-sized locales, the venue itself is hidden in the back, discreetly tucked into the end of a hallway, far enough away from the open-concept, foodless-gastropub, and […]

Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from albums released the week of of September 5-9, 2022 Preoccupations – “Tearing up the grass” One of the most unsung rock bands of the last ten years has released its fourth album and given the success of post-punk revival act Fontaines D.C., Protomartyr, and Iceage, you would […]

On My Boy, Marlon Williams has a little more pep in his step than on previous outings. It may not be the equivalent of an ANOHNI going disco revelation, but to his credit, he got the voice right. Those two albums are still very different, but what Williams does manage to capture, more than on […]

Rina Sawayama – “Catch Me in the Air” Sawayama’s rise to becoming a mainstream pop star seems like it’s only an album away, and the bulk of this EP, for better or worse, proves that, and on top of that, that she would be a good one. “Catch Me in the Air” is something special […]