Best Midwestern

The results are in from round 1 of our Midwest Ska Battle, and we preview the matches for round 2. We also review new stuff by The Addisons and Pet Symmetry.

In our first ever BM tournament we pit 16 Midwest ska bands past and present against each other! Listen to find out how to cast your vote. We also review two Chicago bands' new albums- Droughts and What Gives.

After we had so much fun talking about Slapstick last week, we decided to dedicate an entire skank-able episode to Midwest ska. Scott's wife Aubrey join us.

We take an in-depth look at all the bands that spawned from Chicago's ska punk legends Slapstick, from Alkaline Trio to The Lawrence Arms and all the lesser known but great bands.

Synth nerdy abounds with our talk with Closeness, featuring Todd Fink of the Faint and Orenda Fink of Azure Ray, who have teamed up to make rad dark electronic rock.

We have a tech-cursed talk with Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life who just released a solo album / movie soundtrack. We play clips from all his bands and are huge nerds with him.

Mike Felumlee tells us all about the brand-spanking-new EP by The Bigger Empty (out today!) and we play tracks, and he also tells us about rejoining the Popes and the fun he's having with his video channel Live From the Rock Room. Also, drummer talk.

We sit down physically and virtually with all 4 members of Squirtgun (Lafayette, IN) to talk about the Lookouting and all the projects each member has been a part of through the years.

We review new records by Cloud Nothings (Cleveland), Joan of Arc (Chicago) and Fred Thomas (ex-Saturday Looks Good to Me, Ann Arbor). Also, fuck Donald Trump, fuck Mike Pence, fuck Steve Bannon, fuck all those guys.

We review three Midwest albums we spaced on in 2016, Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper (Chicago), My Woman by Angel Olsen (St. Louis/Chicago) and Lives We Tell Ourselves by Sleeping Cranes (St. Louis). Recorded immediately after watching Trump's first press conference, let's just say the intro is… heated.