Music

Our Featured Local Artist for February is Sex Dream, a 3-piece from the Chicago suburbs, playing Ramonescore punk with a hint of twee pop. Currently featuring Maria Surfinbird (bass, vocals), Drew (guitar, backing vocals), and Andrew (drums), the band started in fall of 2018 when Maria moved to the US

by Jesse Hudgins and Chloe Kallberg Alternage is approaching its third birthday, which means we’ve been closely following release schedules of our favorite punk, pop punk, emo, and alternative genres since we began college. Meshed with our own personal wish lists, here are three predictions we have for what’s in

Our Featured Local Artist for January is Oscar Bait, a four-piece Chicago band that mixes elements of hardcore, pop-punk, and emo into their sound. The band primarily focuses on volleying melancholic melodies toward the listener at the speed of light, with vocalist Jim Coleman Howes delivering seriocomic musings in his

By: Andy Jachim Despite playing a few of his tracks over The Crossroads’ history, Cody Johnson has never been a featured artist. That changes this week as we take a look into his newest album, Leather, which was released on November 3. This is Johnson’s 11th set of tracks and

Our Featured Local Artist for November is Unto the Earth, a four piece metal band from Naperville and Aurora, straddling the lines between stoner, desert, doom, and sludge, with shoegaze and heavy psych influences. Formed in 2019 by guitarist Mike Yoshida and bassist/vocalist/instrumentalist Simeon Papacostas, along with lead guitarist Jed

Our Featured Local Artist for October is The Koop, an experienced and well-traveled working musician, regularly performing as a solo acoustic player throughout the Chicagoland area. So far this year, he’s played over 50 three-hour shows of what he likes to call his “essential acoustic melodies.” From wineries to breweries

by Jesse Hudgins Hardcore has been a genre since the late 70s, originating with bands like Black Flag, Middle Class, and Circle Jerks. In his book, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, author Steven Blush states that the original hardcore album to come out was Out of Vogue by Middle Class

by Jesse Hudgins Growing up straight edge, there was always a weird aura to it. I never treated anyone terribly if they didn’t want to be, but at times, I felt alienated and like I didn’t fully fit in among others. College was when it hit me that there were

Our featured local artist for July is Chicago’s Totally Cashed! The group released their latest full-length album, The World’s First Country Band, on June 2nd, featuring 10 songs in this new style of music they’ve dubbed “country.” Totally Cashed recently unleased their new sound to a sold-out Chicago crowd for their

Blu Heaven is a DIY rap and guitar duo. Their sound exists anywhere between ambient lapsteel textures to Neptune-style synths. Hailing from Chicagoland, they employ a 5 piece band to perform their songs live in an electrifying pseudo-punk style. After releasing singles in 2019 and 2020, they released their first