ANCHR's Artist of the Week: The Murder Capital

Photo by James Kelly

This week’s artist of the week goes to The Murder Capital.

Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, The Murder Capital consists of members James McGovern, Damien Tuit, Cathal Roper, Gabriel Paschal Blake, and Diarmuid Brennan. The group has a sound that tiptoes the lines between experimental rock, punk and post-punk— if you’re a fan of Shame, Dry Cleaning or Fontaines D.C., then they should definitely be on your radar as well.

The Murder Capital first started playing together back in 2017, but their first recorded release came in 2019 with singles like “Feeling Fades” and “Green & Blue,” which led up to their debut album entitled When I Have Fears. The band actually released this album on their own label called Human Season Records. Most recently, the band put out their sophomore album entitled Gigi’s Recovery, which just dropped in January of this year. The album begins with an atmospheric, slow-burn of a track called “Existence” that starts off with an eerie instrumental as vocalist James McGovern slowly recites the lyrics “Existence fading.” Eventually the introductory track swells into a crescendo that runs right into track 2, “Crying,” which features similar atmospheric, electronic elements that blend into more traditional guitar riffs. This push-and-pull pattern continues throughout the album’s twelve tracks, where certain moments soar to an explosion before being met with a more serene plateau on the other side. The record’s title track really exemplifies this motif, with another gradual build-up that ebbs and flows throughout the course of the song.

In support of Gigi’s Recovery, The Murder Capital is currently on the road in North America, including a stop in Chicago at Lincoln Hall on April 3rd. See all of their tour dates here, and tune into the music video for their single “Return My Head” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Geese

Photo by Daniel Topete

We've got some new and exciting rock coming out of NYC everyone! Lucky for us, they’re migrating west for the winter and playing three shows in Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Chicago before heading out on a European tour.

Geese is a 5-piece group composed of teenage friends Max Bassin, Dominic DiGesu, Gus Green, Foster Hudson, and Cameron Winter. A career in Rock & Roll was not originally the aspiration of the band. Being 18 and 19 years old, the group figured they’d have some fun making music in the downtime Covid-19 provided and then head off to college once they graduated high school. Plans for college, however, have since been put on pause once Geese's music began to take flight.

Right as the pandemic began to swoop across the country in Spring 2020, Geese uploaded some of their self produced songs on to Spotify, to which lead to them getting management and eventually a label. Fast forward to Halloween weekend 2021 and they now have given us a great album to enjoy. They haven't played many live shows or gone on tour yet, but they do have a music festival under their belt in the 2021 presentation of Atlanta's Shaky Knees Music Festival. They even made their late night debut when they performed on Colbert. In May, they will be on tour opening for indie rock heroes Spoon on the West Coast leg of their tour, but ANCHR readers don't need to wait that long to catch them. They will be performing at Chicago's Tomorrow Never Knows Festival headlining a show at Lincoln Hall that also sports two other ANCHR favorites: Native Sun and Gustaf. I personally am excited to check them out. Their song “Low Era” is a certified bop. Come through so you can say you saw Geese's first Chicago show— get tickets here!

ANCHR’s Artist of the Week: Mdou Moctar

Here at ANCHR, we don't really dive too deep into rock music from the Sahara, but when the music hits, you just gotta take your licks and do what you can to spread the musical gospel for all to enjoy. I, Michael Perez, feel that I am the man for the job and all you readers should feel very lucky to have me. That being said, I present to you: Mahamadou Souleymane, professionally known as Mdou Moctar. Mdou is a self taught virtuoso guitar master from Agadez, Niger who specializes in the Taureg style of music called assouf, aka Desert Blues. Coming from a religious household, his family was averse to rock music because of the flaunted lifestyle of partying, chicks, and booze that's exhibited, but Mdou realized his calling after attending a concert and proceeded to make his own guitar out of wood and strings he took from bicycle breaks. Thankfully for us, his makeshift guitar helped him become the musical artists he is today.

Photo credit: WH Moustapha

Mdou Moctar has recently found success in the states after releasing his triumphant album Afrique Victime. The album is sung in Tamasheq, which I do not speak, but from reading past reviews, song themes range from love to politics with women's rights and even religious radical terrorism being some of the topics. Whether you speak Tamasheq, or are just a general music lover, this album slaps. Afrique Victime is anthemic, melodic, dancey, and filled with beautiful guitar riffs. The song that sticks out most to the American ear is the title track “Afrique Victime.” Give it a listen and if that song doesn't cause you to either tap your foot, sway your shoulders, bop your head, or just plain dance, slide in my DMs and let me know. I'm interested in knowing who all of ANCHR’s readers are insane.

Mdou's band is rounded out by Ahmoudou Madassane on rhythm guitar, Souleymane Ibrahim on drums, and Michael "Mikey" Coltun on bass. Along with being the bands bassist, Coltun also produced and engineered Afrique Victime throughout the bands touring in 2019. Based in Brooklyn, Coltun travels 20 hours by air and 28 hours by bus to reach Agadez so the band can practice and record. Fairly safe to say Coltun does not have commitment issues. When I saw Mdou Moctar perform at Lincoln Hall in September, I arrived minutes before their set since I was coming straight from Riot Fest, and the house was packed. I slithered my way to the center back of the floor, right in front of the sound stage, and it was as good of a spot I could ask for to see and feel the Mdou Moctar performance. Being in my thirties, I would usually not be all that excited to have to continue standing at another show across town after walking and standing all day at a music festival, but my lack of enthusiasm was swiftly purged after the first song. They had the crowd swaying and dancing right off the bat and even had some of their friends accompany them on stage to dance for a number of songs.

Afrique Victime is very much worth a listen and an Mdou Moctar concert is definitely worth the ticket price. Your next chance to see Mdou Moctar is in March when they open for Parquet Courts at the Riv. If my spidey sense is as good as I think it is, I wouldn't be surprised if they make it back to Chi-city during festival season as well.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Vérité

The project of Brooklyn-based singer and musician Kelsey Byrne, Vérité delivers electro-pop anthems that are driven by Bryne’s dynamic and powerful vocal range. As an independent project, Vérité has seen amazing streaming and touring success, garnering millions of streams online.

Vérité’s extensive catalog dates back to 2014’s EP Echo and includes two independently released albums as well as several other EPs. The most recent single “he’s not you” starts off with a staccato drumbeat and falsetto vocals from Byrne before a funky bass line kicks in with layered harmonies. While Vérité songs always seem to push into new realms and explore different sounds, they’re all almost certain to get you dancing or singing along with the chorus.

On top of that, Vérité has always put on such a captivating performance every time I’ve seen her, and I’m excited to see her back on the road this Fall. Check out her upcoming tour dates here, which include a stop at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall on November 10th.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Lewis Del Mar

photo credit: rubberband.

Chances are you’ve heard the song “Loud(y)” by Lewis Del Mar, which attracted the ears of many music fans with its cinematic production and swelling chorus. If you were living under a rock circa 2015-2016, allow ANCHR to introduce you.

Composed of childhood friends Danny Miller and Max Harwood, Lewis Del Mar officially released their debut self-titled album in 2016, but the pair began making music together long before then. The duo played trumpet together in grade school band before ultimately forming a garage rock band in high school that took them to New York City. Their debut release has pockets of that rock influence, but heavily leans toward an experimental side with some hip hop and electronic nods as well.

Since the touring success and critical acclaim that Lewis Del Mar saw following the release of their self-titled record, Miller and Harwood took some time to step back and reflect before setting out to work on their sophomore album. The second record, entitled AUGUST, came out in August 2020— nearly four years after Lewis Del Mar. Recording for the second album began in 2017 and spanned more than two years as Miller and Harwood worked out of their converted studio in a Rockaway Beach bungalow. The band says the emotional framework of AUGUST is rooted in the tension between the spiraling New York City summer that awaited them and the critical year-long period of reflection that followed, and that the songs depict the way life fractures and comes back together in new forms. That sentiment rings especially true following the start of the pandemic, and now the beginning of live music coming back in new ways.

Speaking of live music, Lewis Del Mar is currently back on the road and wrapping up their current tour in Chicago on Friday, October 15th. We hope you snagged your tickets because not only does Lewis Del Mar have their second album to showcase, but they also released a new EP entitled BOUQUET earlier this year, so there will be plenty of new songs to experience for the first time. See where you can catch them on tour next here, and watch a live performance of “Rosalie” below.