The Melismatics formed at the turn of the century in the fertile ground of the Minneapolis indie-rock scene. Their debut album “Postmodern Rock” quickly caught the attention of college radio stations around the country and garnered favorable reviews from critics around the world. Shortly thereafter, Minneapolis indie-rock king pin Ed Ackerson (Motion City Sountrack, The Replacements, The Jayhawks) signed the band to Susstones Records and produced their next two albums “New Infection” and “Turn It On”. The Melismatics toured the country numerous times over and continued to win loyal fans with their high-energy and unpredictable live shows. Their music has been featured on MTV’s “The Hills,” “The City”and “Laguna Beach,” NBC’s “Windfall”; Animal Planet’s “Jockeys” and they’ve played such notable events as Lollapalooza, Summerfest, and CMJ. The Melismatics released “The Acid Test” on CC Entertainment/E1 Music (2008). Renowned producer John Fields caught the band performing at 2007 SXSW in Austin, Texas and signed on to produce the album. The music video for “Digging Deep” charted at #2 on MTVU and received widespread airplay.

The Melismatics’ new album “MANIA!” was produced by Jon Auer of The Posies and Big Star, along with Ed Ackerson (Motion City Soundtrack, Golden Smog, The Replacements) and was mixed by John Fields (Jimmy Eat World, Rooney, Har Mar Superstar, etc). The LP was mastered at Sterling Sound in NYC by Chris Athens (Coldplay, Beastie Boys, NERD, etc) and features collaborations with Dan Wilson (Adele, Semisonic) and Jon Auer who also lends vocals to several tracks.

Led by drummer Brad Elvis (Screams, The Elvis Brothers, Big Hello, The Romantics) and vocalist/guitarist/saxophonist Chloe F. Orwell (Big Hello), Chicago’s The Handcuffs will be releasing their fourth studio album Burn The Rails. The 13-song album was tracked at Kingsize Sound Labs, Chicago with producer/engineer Mike Hagler (Wilco, Neko Case, Billy Bragg, Mavis Staples, My Morning Jacket, The Mekons). Burn The Rails is being released by Pravda Records in June on CD, download and via streaming platforms and later on 12″ vinyl.

For the the new album, The Handcuffs found inspiration from the heady, analog days of early 1970s rock & roll, weaving together elements of glam, indie, garage, art and blues rock. Inhabiting some of the same musical turf as T-Rex, Mott The Hoople, Roxy Music, The Raconteurs, P.J. Harvey, Led Zeppelin, and Patti Smith – all filtered through a modern lens – they deliver bold, sexy songs with memorable melodies and unexpected twists.

Guest keyboardist Morgan Fisher (Mott The Hoople) demonstrates his synthesizer and piano prowess on a couple of tracks on the new LP. The relationship with Fisher, a musical hero of the band, began after singer Orwell’s rave review of Mott The Hoople’s 2018 reunion tour went viral on social media, attracting the attention of Fisher, who got in contact. From there a creative collaboration was sparked, in-spite of an ocean separating the now real-life friends.

Finishing the record during the peak of the pandemic and lockdown, gave several of the songs an  inadvertent anthem-for-the-times feel – with themes of love and loss, heartache and hope, and even the great ideological divide that was as omnipresent as the virus.

Elvis and Orwell formed The Handcuffs from the ashes of Big Hello, their first band together, which released three indie label records and toured from coast to coast. Elvis’ career also includes a few major label go-arounds, arena tours, and a backstory that will be documented in a new autobiography in the near future. The duo’s eagerness to explore new sonic territory and evolve into an entity that aligned more with their ever-expanding influences and broad range of musical tastes prompted a change. The Handcuffs began as primarily a studio project, in which Elvis and Orwell wrote and recorded an abundance of material. During the process, they realized that they missed the live band experience, and so The Handcuffs as recording artists and a dynamic live band was born. Completing the line-up are bassist Emily Togni, lead guitarist Jeffrey Kmieciak, and keyboardist Alison Hinderliter, all of whom originate from different parts of the country, but have made Chicago their home.

The Rebel Sect began as an idea in May of 2013. Since then, TRS has blossomed into one of the most unique rock bands of it’s generation. With influences ranging from hip hop, r&b & rap to psychedelic & indie to punk & post-hardcore & even crossing into electronica & classical at times, TRS completely blurs the lines of modern music genres & brings a new take on rock to this intensely digital world. With “The Sea is Silent” LP in the process of being recorded (projected release date : 10/26), a music video for “War Musik” on it’s way & a slue of shows on the horizon, TRS is making a name for themselves that won’t soon be forgotten.

Sporting a sonic kaleidoscope that includes intimate shoegaze, dark new-wave and driving dance beats, Chicago’s Vanarays have quite the pedigree for major success in the area. Vanarays are a consistently shape-shifting entity. This is a band of well-schooled multi-instrumentalists, clearly writing and performing on their own terms with a canyon-wide palette of slinky, ominous sounds.