Cover art by Keegan Burckhard Anyone who has ever been to a gathering in someone's house has probably found themselves with a small group of people chilling in the kitchen. Hidden away from everyone, those conversations always feel more intimate and honest as you can turn off your public persona and connect with the handful of people gathered with you.  Hannah Morton, most notably known for work with LASKA, is trying to tap into this feeling of honesty and rawness with her new project Kitchen Congregation . In early June, Morton released the first single for the project, "Can't Find Sleep." The single draw you in with a synthy drone and vocalizations from Hannah. For those with backgrounds in the church (like myself), the opening few seconds feels almost like a call to worship or a call to gather. "Can't Find Sleep" deals with struggling to trust yourself and your surroundings. Hannah spends the first verse painting a picture of life's changes and fi...

(Cover art by Lydia Williams) Keep for Cheap are entering a new era. They've finished recording their debut album and are leaving the prairie behind. They have left us with one last gift — their new single "Losing." Intended as a spiritual sequel/B-side to last fall's excellent "Forgive Me," it finds the band indulging in themselves and their influences to create their most expansive song yet. My eyes lit up when I saw that "Losing" has a near-six-minute runtime. On paper alone, I am extremely on board. It's essentially two songs in one: a strong core idea augmented by a fractured and grandiose outro. Keep for Cheap's ability to sew the two together and confidently deliver on such an ambitious structure is a testament to their grow as songwriters since 2019's Get Along . Leisurely wandering from the start, "Losing" matches the gentle vocals of Kate Malanaphy and Autumn Vagle with a frayed 70's riff and a straw-in-the-mout...

Before the pandemic, a majority of bands could rely on shows as their primary (if not only) means of self-promo. Maybe they had some Bandcamp demos to send to the people running different house venues. Maybe not. As long as they could rip a gig every week or so, it didn't necessarily matter if they had an EP or album out. Despite their lack of recorded material,  Sockhop Massacre  held a sterling reputation as a go-to injection of noise for any bill, whether it was a prime weekend spot at Rowhouse (RIP) or a Tuesday at the Kitty Cat Klub. Almost a year-and-a-half later (and just in time for shows to start coming back), the Minneapolis quartet is making their triumphant re-entry with their new song "The Revolutionary." If we temporarily disregard their May 2020 single " Enhanced Interrogation Technique ," then "The Revolutionary" is their first officially released single. The group is working with Ear Coffee favorites Kitchen Knife Blood Pact to final...