I did not write about a ton of music this year due to the stressors that affected all of us. Despite my burnout and a lack of drive, there was a ton of fantastic local releases put out during a year where hanging out at a gig involved the chatbox of a live stream. It was still amazing to be able to interview, write about, or just enjoy the music put out by bands here in Minnesota.  Granddad - What Happens After  (Brace Cove Records) What Happens After follows up  the Minneapolis-by-way-of-Alaska emo act's turbulent 2018 record. The EP chronicles the existential dread of moving into your late 20s and figuring out what to do with yourself. Vocalist Kellen Baker spends much of the release reckoning with what it's going to take to grow as a person. I've always loved Granddad's ability to turn otherwise bleak feelings into moments of combined catharsis. We don't have it figured out, but we are in this together. The band is joined by a host of their friends to bring thi...

    (Cover art by Dillon Bauman) Careful Gaze has had a busy year and they're ending it with a bang. Despite the crushing uncertainty that comes attached to every day since the middle of March, the Minneapolis post-hardcore trio has found unique ways to create and release new music — three standalone singles, a fourth song tied in to a novella that will see yearly updates, a Christmas cover, and now a six-song EP to give 2020 the send-off that it deserves. As long as the pandemic rages on (which seems to be at least for the next 8-10 months), bands seem to be drawn towards what might be described as "stopgap" releases — shorter batches of songs that they can put together remotely and use as a way to retain the momentum they built pre-COVID with touring and recording. Careful Gaze is defying those assumptions with LOUD HOWLS THE ETERNAL WOLF!   "We knew we wanted to end the year out with something that felt larger, more cinematic, and more important together," ...