We've had a bit of a rough go of it, huh? I haven't been to a show since March 11 (Marmalade + bugsy tour kick-off at Hi Watt House), which I'm guessing (and hoping) is roughly how long it's been for most of you too. Virtually every DIY band who was planning to tour, record, or release new music had to at worst cancel or at best rearrange everything. 2020 was a year of adaption. Without any of the prior infrastructure supporting a musician's livelihood, everyone had to scrounge together whatever they could to keep sane and try to survive. After approximately nine months of *gestures to everything*, we've hit the end point; the time to reflect. These are just some of the albums that brought me joy this year, that reminded me how incredible it is to be able to participate in such a community. I'm grateful to have been able to interview four out of five of these bands (Dad Bod, you're next) and help share their music and words with people across the state a...

Each new song from Minneapolis' Poolboy is a masterclass in widescreen indie. I don't mean that in the indulgent, Marvel Cinematic Universe sense of skyscraper-sized emotions and sensory overload — rather, the band has honed in on an auteur-style approach, crafting each new song with the delicate ears of the detail-obsessed. "Good Orchard," Poolboy's latest single (released towards the tail-end of November) is one of their most minimal. It begins only with softly pattering drums, an electronic whir, and Seth Conover's placid vocals. The band glows like a wistful lantern; Conover sings of half-remembered sentiments, a maternal world, and "[scaling] the fence of time." Temporality does not apply to the unplaceable uncertainty he is staring down with each passing phrase. Patience is the name of the game for the song's composition. It never quite bursts, but it begins to find its way home by the end. Poolboy shows off an ability to dig up moments of...

    (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," ...

Different bands have found different ways to cope with the pandemic and try to stay productive. Admiral Fox decided to make use of the free time presented by the initial period of lockdown by reworking the entirety of 2018's self-recorded debut Winter in Limbo . "Marcie Make It Better," a live staple and fan favorite, is our first taste of the new version of the album. The original Winter in Limbo was recorded while frontman Dan DeMarco was in the process of moving to Minneapolis, done entirely in GarageBand with his MacBook's built-in mic. The album was released before he had even met any of his future bandmates. In the two years since, Admiral Fox has grown into a quartet and released an album and an EP . The new versions of these old songs retain the "lo-fi, home-recorded edge" of the originals while simultaneously showing off the band's synchronicity. "I had better recording gear, a more capable voice, and more recording experience, so [quara...

(Photo by Trista Marie ) Zaq Baker has been working out. The Twin Cities piano rocker has been literally running, but more importantly, he's been writing a lot of songs. His theatrical and affective pop tunes toe the line between the solo career of Ben Folds, the musical Waitress , and the platonic ideals of teenage heartbreak. After teasing listeners with a series of video singles in the early days of 2020, Baker went back to put the finishing touches on what would become Cardio , his new record out today. We exchanged questions with Baker over email to get an idea of what went into the album's making, where his head was at, and more. Ear Coffee : How did "Cardio" come together as an album? It's been in the works for a long time from my understanding, with the initial video singles teasing towards a different album, "Good Kid Manic Summer." Zaq Baker : Yep! In the works for a long time. For me, the intention especially with this album was to have the s...

(Cover art by Sim Morales ) GET TUFF is ending this hell year on a high note. After releasing one of 2020's best EPs with their band The Weak Days , RB Roe has released a fourth and final single in advance of their debut record. "over it" adds another dimension to GET TUFF, prepping everyone for the head-spin that their full-length is going to be. In a word, "over it" is hypnotizing. Roe builds the entire song on a cyclical synth melody; it spirals infinitely, beckoning you with its siren call. It perfectly soundtracks the experience of watching your ceiling fan spin over and over at 3 am, unable to fall into sleep's embrace. Roe plays with time in a way that matches the repetitive heartbreak they're singing about. GET TUFF's songs operate within the extremely loose concept of "bedroom pop," but "over it" leans into it wholeheartedly. This time, the drama is internal. The dusky vibe is established even before sleepyhead shows u...