An essential addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transforms every song into a moment of collective catharsis. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aims to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (out now on ATO Records) embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Where we've been, Where we go from here has catapulted Friko into the national spotlight, with glowing reviews from Pitchfork, SPIN, Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Paste, and more, along with placement on several “Best Of 2024” lists including Vulture/New York Magazine, A.V. Club, Paste, who named “Where We’ve Been” their #1 song of the year so far, and NPR Music, who deemed “Get Numb To It!” a contender for one of the year’s best songs. The band has also received airplay from influential radio stations such as WXRT, Q101, KUTX, WYMS, and KCMP, and Where we’ve been, Where we go from here also charted in the top 10 on the NACC Top 200 College Radio chart. Following spring tours with Water From Your Eyes, WILLIS and Mind’s Eye, a summer with performances at Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and Fuji Rock, Friko will cap off 2024 supporting Royel Otis across North America before embarking on their first European headline run. Friko hopes that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanizing impact on audiences.

Rose Main Reading Room, the fourth full length by Peel Dream Magazine, is a lush, inviting headphones record; the kind of album made to accompany city bus rides and rainy-day solo trips to accidental destinations. The band, whose name nods to the BBC Radio 1 legend John Peel — arbiter of all things underground, quality, and (it must be said) "cool" — has since its inception been a genre-hopping experiment, jumping from motorik krautrock to shoegaze and space age pop, and their newest work is a perfect starting point for the uninitiated, beckoning toward a newfound romance and nostalgia with their catchiest collection of songs to date. Set to the backdrop of New York City and its towering landmarks — The American Museum of Natural History, Grand Central Station, and the like — songwriter Joseph Stevens weaves personal stories into the wider fabric of the natural world, touching on themes of instinct, animality, and evolution. On tracks such as “Central Park West” and “Migratory Patterns,” Stevens and his principal contributors, vocalist Olivia Babuka Black and multi-instrumentalist Ian Gibbs, evoke a woodland sound palette juxtaposed against drones and various electronics, like on side one closer “Gems and Minerals.” Pre-release singles “Wish You Well” and “Lie In the Gutter” conjure the driving feel of the band’s earlier output, which often draws comparisons to Stereolab and Yo La Tengo, while songs like “Dawn” revel in arpeggiating woodwinds and mallets, recalling the wide-eyed contemporary classical of Steve Reich and Sufjan Stevens. Rose Main Reading Room also touches on Y2K indie pop nostalgia by incorporating breakbeats and acoustic guitar-driven ear candy, as heard on tracks like “Counting Sheep” and “Four Leaf Clover”. Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in.

The Sewing Club is a four-piece bedroom rock band that began in basements of college homes in Nashville, Tennessee. Together, Hannah McElroy (lead singer/writer), Stephen Meaux (Electric Guitar), Will Harris (Bass Guitar), and Zach McCoy (Drums) have created a sound that is reminiscent of sparkly 90s rock and grunge with hints of punk and Nashville indie influences. From different places across the country, The Sewing Club now calls Nashville home and continues to spread their sound live through all of the southern regions, and beyond. Taking the stage alongside artists like Fleece, fanclubwallet, and *Repeat Repeat, the band has continued to grow a loyal and evolving fanbase.  Recording in Stephen’s garage, bedroom, or in the hills of Hartsville, TN at Polychrome Ranch, they have stayed true to their DIY Rock roots. Most recently, The Sewing Club has released singles, “Trying”, “Clarity”, and “My Dad Wants You Dead” with Jared Corder of *Repeat Repeat. The band continues to write and record at The Ranch, working hard on their debut EP that is set to release soon.