Artwork by Natali Wiseman

On May 28^th, The Brokedowns and Vacation Bible School will release a split 7” via It’s Alive Records. Each band recorded three new songs with Joe Gac in Elgin, IL, and all songs were mastered by Dave Williams, (of the band Crusades). Check out an exclusive stream of the entire record below.

Restorations are a five-piece band that formed in 2008 and hail from Philadelphia, PA. LP2 is their first album for Side One Dummy and it proves to be a layered and varied record that’s engaging from start to finish. “D” is the first song and it starts with interwoven guitar melodies that give way to a charging rhythm section before the emergence of some hypnotic and dizzying guitar work. Eventually the slightly worn yet assured vocals come in and the listener knows that they’re experiencing something uniquely special. “Let’s Blow Up the Sun” is an exceptional track that demonstrates the band’s understanding of dynamics and restraint. Around the two-minute mark the music quiets to just the singer and one guitar, but soon the rest of the band joins in and spends the duration of the song rockin’ out with reckless abandon. “Civil Inattention” sounds like an amped-up version of The Weakerthans, which is of course a good thing, while “New Old” is the album’s most punk-influenced entry, as well as its catchiest. LP2 concludes with “Adventure Tortoise,” an epic, personal closer that’s six minutes long but remains interesting throughout. Perhaps one of Restorations’ best attributes is the fact that they don’t sound like every other band that’s out there nowadays. They combine a variety of genres with skillful songwriting, resulting in a finished product that’s both distinctive and accessible. Don’t be surprised if you hear a lot more about these guys in the near future.

Photos by Katie Hovland, Layout by Studio Erbo

On April 2^nd, Mike Felumlee, (former Smoking Popes and Alkaline Trio drummer) will release his latest solo EP, entitled Adelaide. It contains a total of four songs and was recorded primarily at Backthird Audio in Aurora, IL, as well as at Felumlee’s home. Felumlee played most of the instruments on the recording and handled the vocal responsibilities, but received help from friends Travis Brown, (drums, lead guitar and acoustic guitar) and Brian Birkland, (backing vocals). In the coming weeks, Adelaide will be available on 7” vinyl, (100 translucent blue/100 translucent red) and all copies will be hand numbered. We’re streaming one of the record’s songs below, “Meet Me in November,” and when asked to describe the song, Felumlee said “It’s basically just a love song. The basic message is when times are tough and everything seems like a mess that will never get better, you have someone there for you. It’s about being there for the ones you love when they need you the most.” On Saturday, April 6^th, Felumlee will play a release show for the EP at the Penny Road Pub in Barrington, IL. The show starts at 7:00 PM, costs $7 and is 21+. Supporting acts include Lights Over Bridgeport, Sketch Middle and Zion.

With Home, (their third full-length overall and second for Epitaph) Off With Their Heads has managed to mature without compromising what they’re most known for. Singer/guitarist Ryan Young’s gruff and gravely vocal approach is still present, but he’s also perfected a clean singing voice to use when necessary. His lyrics cover familiar topics like alienation and despair, though there’s now a greater sense of hope than ever before. Some of the songs feature slower tempos, which allows for more variation, yet it’s all brought together by producer Bill Stevenson, who creates a sense of energy and rawness throughout the recording. The album begins with “Start Walking,” a raging opener that doesn’t even hit the two-minute mark, but is able to convey some of the record’s central themes, (self-deprecation, angst and isolation). “Nightlife” is one of Home’s catchiest tracks, complete with buzzing guitars, tons of backing vocals and an instantly memorable part where the music stops and Young deadpans, “Never felt worse in my whole life.” “Altar Boy” details Young’s experiences and issues with the Catholic Church, and it’s followed by “Don’t Make Me Go,” one of the album’s most barren and personal songs. The second half of the album builds with speed and aggression, culminating in “Take Me Out,” a shout-along anthem that ends with a cascade of gang vocals. Home contains some of the best songs that OWTH has written to date, as well as some of their most expressive lyrics. Fans of Midwestern punk with an emphasis on sincerity will no doubt find this to be a highly enjoyable record.

Photo by Katie Hovland

Last year, Masked Intruder released their debut album and subsequently took the pop punk world by storm. They take a unique approach with genre, combining ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll with contemporary punk influences, and emphasizing catchy melodies and humorous lyrics. The finished product is well-played, highly addictive and simply a lot of fun. The band recently played Beat Kitchen and we spoke with them before the show about their new record label, what recording the album was like, their upcoming European tour and more. Pictured above from left to right are bassist/singer Yellow, guitarist/singer Green, drummer Red and lead singer/guitarist Blue.

Bill – Your debut album was recently re-released by Fat Wreck Chords. How did you guys end up partnering with them?

Blue – We were on Red Scare and Toby, who used to work for Fat Wreck Chords and is friends with Fat Mike, he passed along the record to him. Mike liked it and I guess that was kind of what happened. It was mostly between those dudes, sort of backroom dealing-type stuff. We didn’t really have too much to do with it. Then one day we got a call and Toby asked us if we’d want to be on Fat Wreck Chords. We were like, “Yeah, definitely.” We all love Fat Wreck Chords and grew up listening to their releases and just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Bill – What are you looking forward to most about being a part of the Fat Wreck family?

Blue – Being on the label with all those bands that we love so much, and the people at Fat are really cool. They can offer us a lot of extra opportunities.

Green – Hopefully it will just allow more people to hear our music and that’s real cool, ya know?

Blue – Yeah, cause the more people that hear your music the more chicks hear your music, and the more chicks hear your music the more they might let you make out with them.

Green – So really, the answer is more chicks.

Bill – What was it like recording the album with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios?

Blue – It was great. Matt’s a consummate professional and he’s got a real process down for making things sound really good. It was cool to see that kind of process firsthand. He’s definitely recorded a lot of legendary records.

Red – Yeah, he was a whole lot of fun to work with at the same time too. Even though he was very professional about everything, he was always having a good time. He really makes you feel at home. He really is a beautiful man.

Blue – Yeah, and also he drinks a lot of Busch Light and the fridge always has beer in it, which was very comforting for us. As far as how the record turned out, I’m still surprised by how good everything sounds. It’s so awesome to be able to sit down and listen to it and have it be a total realization of the vision that we had going into it.

Bill – In the liner notes of the record, you make it clear that no Auto-Tune was used in the making of the album. Why did you feel it was important to clarify this?

Blue – When we started making it, we were working on the vocals and Matt was like, “You guys can sing. We won’t even use Auto-Tune on this record and I’m going to tell people that we didn’t use it.” We were like, “Okay, that’s kind of cool.” Then we were talking about The Beach Boys and how they put that no synthesizers were used in the making of their record, so it was kind of an homage to that. A lot of people use Auto-Tune, which is fine to do, but we figured it would just be cool to stamp it like that.

Green – We’re like authentic and stuff, (laughs).

Bill – In addition to some of the classic Lookout! Records bands of the ‘90s, who would you say are some of your band’s primary influences?

Green – I really like Green Day for what they did for punk rock and also they’ve got a really cool name.

Blue – I know that we’re all really big fans of Weezer; they’re a definite big influence on us. I think that we listen to a lot of different music and we have a lot of pop influences, especially classic ‘50s and ‘60s doo-wop and Motown. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was a huge influence on our record. Whatever that song is at the beginning of Adventures in Babysitting, “Then He Kissed Me,” that’s an influence too.

Yellow – Yellow listens to mostly Megadeth, so that’s also an influence. The basslines are pretty heavy.

Bill – “Wish You Were Mine” is one of the more unique songs on the album. What inspired its creation?

Red – Mostly like Kirsten Dunst. I think she mostly inspired that song. Or do you mean creatively? I don’t know; you’d have to ask Blue about that.

Blue – I don’t know, that one just sort of came to me. I thought it would be cool to have a song with a cappella at the beginning. It just sort of happened. The true thing about songs is you really don’t know. You can say all day that it was this or that, but the truth is that you write what you feel and then there it is.

Bill – What are you most excited about regarding your upcoming tour with Teenage Bottlerocket and The Queers?

Red – We toured with Bottlerocket a couple times before and we’ve become pretty good friends with those dudes. I’m really looking forward to spending some more time with them and hanging out. We live far apart and don’t get to see each other very often, so that’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m also excited about all the buzz that’s going around for this tour, some people are saying it’s like a generational pop punk thing. I think it’s pretty cool to be a part of that with us being the new guys, Bottlerocket before that and of course The Queers who have been around forever and who are great.

Green – The Queers are legendary and stuff, and it’s very cool to be included in a tour that’s so unique.

Yellow – I was listening to The Queers too, when I wasn’t listening to Megadeth.

Bill – What can you tell me about your European tour that’s scheduled for this spring?

Yellow – It’s in Europe and there’s gonna be a lot of European chicks there I think. I hope.

Green – We’re going to the UK, right?

Red – We actually got asked to do a radio show in the UK, I’m not 100% sure if we’re doing that or not, but I’d really like to. They want us to do an interview on the air and then some live songs. That’s in London, that would be the first day that we were there, and then our tour would start the next day. We’re definitely doing some days in the UK, and then we’re also doing Germany, France and Belgium. We’ve very excited for the Groezrock Festival in Belgium. I’ve never been anywhere in Europe, I think Blue did some hiding out there for a little while, but I’m not too sure about that. From what all of our peers tell us, Groezrock is supposed to be one of the best shows you’re ever gonna do.

Blue – A lot of UK and a lot of Germany, and we’re playing with bands like The Flatliners, The Dopamines, Riverboat Gamblers and Polar Bear Club. We’re definitely playing with a lot of cool bands.

Bill – Do you ever worry that your true identities might be revealed with the continued success of your band?

Green – I think our true identities are revealed.

Yellow – This is who I am, this is my true identity. It’s not a secret, man.

Blue – Yeah, that’s true. A lot of people ask us, “What’s your true identity? Are you a janitor? Are you a dad? Are you a dancer? Who are you?” We’re all of the above, right? We’re dancing dad janitors.

Red – If anybody asks, we’re Teenage Bottlerocket.

Bill – After wrapping up your European tour, what else do you guys have planned for the rest of the year?

Red – Right after we get back from Europe we’re doing a little bit of touring with Mixtapes, around Pouzza Fest. We’re going up to Canada for Pouzza Fest and we’re also doing a show right after that with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, in a town that I cannot pronounce its name because it’s very French. We’re very excited for that show. It’s also cool to be touring with Mixtapes, since we did that one track with their singer Maura on our record, so we get to do that song every night. That will be very, very cool. Then in July and August we are very excited to be doing a tour with Elway and Sam Russo, the Red Scare Tour.

Blue – We’re definitely going to do more touring in the US for the rest of the year.

Green – We’d also like to get some recording done, but it’s really hard to do everything.

Blue – It’s hard to find time to get in the studio and track the new record, but we’re gonna do it. We’ll be in the studio later this year, absolutely. We definitely want to put out a new album as soon as we can and maybe some other stuff before that. No exact date or details on anything yet, but we’re definitely gonna be working on it this year when we’re not touring.

Hanaway and Haase both spent years working in various restaurants, learning what it takes to make a successful eatery. After acquiring the tricks of the trade, they decided that the time was right to open their own business. “It was probably about seven or eight years ago that we got the idea to open a restaurant,” Hanaway said. “We always said that we’d open a restaurant when we got old and now we are. We tried several times in the past, but things never worked out for whatever reason. This place has been in the works for close to two years now. We found the space over a year ago, built it and opened a couple months ago. It’s kind of been a lifelong thing that we thought would be a good idea to do.” When asked to describe Ground Control, Hanaway provided a detailed response about the restaurant’s core values, along with a dash of humor. “I think we’re just a good restaurant. We spend a lot of time making everything from scratch or as from scratch as possible. We put a lot of work in, we care a lot and we’re here all the time,” he said. “We’re not some restaurant group that just pops up a place expecting to make money. I feel like the food is really good and we try to focus on big flavors. It happens to be vegetarian as well, but we don’t really try to advertise it like that. We’re both vegetarian and that’s how we cook, but hopefully it would appeal to all types of people. And we have beer, so you can’t really go that wrong. If you hate the food just get drunk here.”

After obtaining the necessary permits, Hanaway and Haase went about hiring contractors to build their restaurant. Nine months and a few unexpected bumps in the road later, Ground Control was ready to open. When the interior was finished, it unintentionally matched the restaurant’s diverse menu. “With the dining area, we kind of loosely thought of a futuristic vibe from the ‘70s. Clockwork Orange was kind of a pseudo inspiration I guess. We started building and it was like, ‘Oh, it would be cool to put a circle in the wall’ or ‘it’d be cool to do some kind of patterned wallpaper stuff.’ I don’t know; it’s just what it turned out with, somewhat all over the place,” Hanaway said. In terms of what business has been like so far, Hanaway offered an optimistic assessment. “We opened in December and business has been up and down. We’ve had some really encouraging days and some really slow days, but that’s to be expected. Overall I would say it’s been good because we’ve had solid business,” he said. “The weekends have been great. We had a group of 40 people come in and we opened before hours and did a family style buffet. We’re starting to do more events in the space next door and we’re going to start doing brunch on the weekends. That’s kind of what we’re planning to get business rolling a little bit more, just concentrate on those two days for now until the weather gets a little bit better and more people are stopping by.”

When it comes to Ground Control’s menu, the two main ingredients are diversity and flavor. One of their most popular items is the Tofu Wings, which are available in either buffalo style or sweet and spicy BBQ. There’s also the Cheesy Italian Sandwich that features house made seitan and provolone cheese. In addition, they’ve got Baja Tacos with breaded fried tofu, as well as Smothered Sweet Potato Tacos. Other highlights include the Avocado Pineapple Salad, Beet Burger and White Bean Pasta. When asked to describe the menu, Hanaway said “It’s a little bit all over the place right now. We’re still focusing, but we have Latin and Italian options. We’ve got a handful of sandwiches and we make fresh pasta in house. I guess eclectic is how it’s been described and we’ll probably keep it like that. We recently added some stuff to the menu and we’ll probably keep adding. We get bored pretty easily. We’d like to change it up every couple of months and go from there, see what people like and see what we like making.”

Looking ahead, Hanaway hopes to expand Ground Control’s lunch menu and possibly open a bar in the space that’s adjacent to the dining room. He’d also like to extend the restaurant’s hours and be open for brunch. When speaking about why someone should try Ground Control, Hanaway said “I definitely think we’re the best vegetarian restaurant in Chicago. I think that we’re a solid restaurant, and even if you eat meat you can still get a good, hearty meal here. We have good beers, we’ve got some good wines and we’re good people. We put a lot of effort into doing this every day, probably more effort than we need to, but we promise that you’ll have a good time here.” Ground Control is located at 3315 W. Armitage Ave. They’re closed on Mondays, but are open for lunch Thursday through Sunday at 11:30 AM. On Tuesday and Wednesday they open at 4:00 PM, and most days they close at 10:00 PM, but on Fridays and Saturdays they’re open till 11:00 PM.

With Divides, The Sky We Scrape has crafted nothing short of an impressive debut album. Having formed in 2008, the band has worked steadily over the years to hone their sound and refine their musicianship. The end result is a record that displays significant growth and incorporates an array of influences, yet remains consistently listenable throughout. Their sound is rooted in post-hardcore, but is accented with intricate guitar leads and a healthy dose of gritty Chicago punk. There’s also an emphasis on unique song structures and soaring choruses, all of which is brought to life by producer Charles Macak. The fact that the album was mastered by Stephen Egerton of Descendents/ALL fame doesn’t hurt either. Divides gets underway with “Sing Your Way Home,” a fitting opening track that enjoys a driving rhythm, technical guitar work and a spirited chorus. “Continental Divide” begins fast-paced and aggressive, but eventually gives way to a substantial, sunny-sounding hook. Further highlights include the melodic anthem “The Shortest Distance” and the urgent rocker “Albatross,” the latter featuring guest vocals from Garrett Dale of Red City Radio. Before the record draws to a close, “Southern Hospitality” takes center stage and proves to be one of the album’s most personal tracks. It’s also undeniably catchy and serves as a great example of each band member’s musical talents. Without question, Divides marks a new chapter in the story of The Sky We Scrape and positions the band for a larger audience. Take a listen to “The Shortest Distance” below and get acquainted with one of Chicago’s new favorites.

Photo by Katie Hovland

Last month, Dropkick Murphys released their eighth studio album, entitled Signed and Sealed in Blood. Compared to their previous full-length, which was somewhat of a concept album, this record is rowdy, upbeat and packed with sing-along anthems. It also does a fine job of retaining the band’s signature sound, while simultaneously exploring new themes. Producer Ted Hutt skillfully captured Dropkick’s energy and spirit, resulting in a cohesive work that’s sure to please fans both new and old. We recently spoke with multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa and discussed the making of the new album, the record’s unique packaging concept involving fan tattoos, their upcoming U.S. tour and more.

Bill – Signed and Sealed in Blood marks the second time that you guys have worked with producer Ted Hutt. What do you like best about working with Ted?

Jeff – At this point he’s like the eighth Beatle or whatever. He really is good at working with all of us. I mean, seven different guys and seven different ideas, he’s almost like a manager. He manages all of our creative ideas, as well as our personalities, so well. I can’t imagine working with anybody else at this point. He gets everybody and really understands how we work.

Bill – In terms of how the record sounds, what aspects are you most pleased with?

Jeff – I just think it sounds way better than the last one for some reason. Maybe it’s bringing in a new engineer that tried some new tricks, I don’t know. James R. Brown engineered and he did some work with Foo Fighters’ last album, stuff like that. I think he did a great job and that was definitely a cool thing.

Bill – Your last record, Going Out in Style, was a concept album. How would you say that the new record compares to it?

Jeff – I wouldn’t really compare the new record to it. I would say that Going Out in Style kind of had more peaks and valleys, and a little bit more of some experimental ideas for The Dropkick Murphys. With this one, we just kind of went into it with the whole notion of wanting to write songs that we could play live. We wanted to do stuff that was fun and that we could enjoy playing at shows. We wanted to make songs that people could easily sing along to by the second chorus.

Bill – Tell me about the video that you guys made for the song “Rose Tattoo.”

Jeff – Like a month or so before we shot the video we had put the album artwork out and then we asked anybody that was crazy enough to get a tattoo of an album’s cover that they hadn’t heard yet. We promised that we’d put their picture in the artwork of the album and in the video, so it’s kind of a picture video of sorts. It’s just our way of crediting all of our loyal fans. I’d been bashing that idea over everyone’s head in the band for a long time, but then all of sudden I think Ken got all the credit. That’s probably how it goes, (laughs). I’d like to say that I came up with it, but I’ll have to check my email history on that one.

Bill – “Rose Tattoo” features banjo from Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons. What led to you teaming up with him?

Jeff – Well, I was at a festival in Europe and with festivals in Europe you get to play with all these bands and mingle with them. It’s a different scene than in America. We both play the same kind of banjos, Deering Banjos, and I emailed this lady at Deering and said, “Hey, I’m playing this show with Mumford & Sons. Should I say ‘hi’ for you or something like that?” She wrote back and was like, “Oh, Winston is so nice. You have to go up to him and say ‘hello.’” So I did at catering that day and he was totally nice and totally a fan of our band. Then he said that he’d love to see our set that night. We played way late, like 1:00 AM, but their whole entire band came and rocked out on the side of the stage to our set. We were just blown away by that. Then when we got home after that tour we got asked to play with them on their tour that they were doing in the States. So, we opened up for them in Maine like a week later. It was so fast. We were in the middle of recording and we asked Winston if he wanted to try and put his banjo on one of our songs. We actually recorded it in an ancient barn in Kennebunk, Maine. We brought Ted up there with a couple microphones and he did it in one day. He had a great time, we all had a great time and they were all very hospitable to us.

Bill – Do you have a favorite song from the new album?

Jeff – I really like “Don’t Tear Us Apart.” I like them all, actually. We recorded the album in such a quick manner. By the time Going Out in Style was finished I was kind of sick of the record, but we did this one so fast that I still like them all so much. “Rose Tattoo” is obviously another one that I’m really fond of.

Bill – What sort of things are you most looking forward to regarding your upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Tour?

Jeff – Well, I’m from Boston and we all are, and it’s kind of a feather in the cap to be able to say that you played The Boston Garden. I think every one of us as kids probably dreamt of playing there one day or whatever. It’s going to be great. In terms of Chicago, I’m sure it would be like if you got to play at Wrigley Field or something. It’s just a real cool thing and an honor to be able to play at such a legendary place.

Bill – Dropkick Murphys are definitely an example of a band that excels in a live setting. What is it about playing live that’s most exciting for you?

Jeff – As you know me, I love playing music and I love playing live. Just getting to see to all the people every night, going crazy and having a great time, it puts a smile on your face. I think our shows are about the whole experience. Every night is that person’s one chance to have a fuckin’ really good time. We do get a little burnt out after being on the road for a while, but every night it’s still the same in terms of everyone’s excitement. Sometimes I ask James, our guitar player, I’m like “Oh, how do you think it’s going to be tonight?” He’ll be like, “Jeff, it’s going to be fuckin’ awesome, like it is every single night.” I think everyone that comes to our shows is really out just to have a great time. James is right too. Every night is the same; awesome, idiotic craziness. It always ends in a mess, which is good.

Bill – What else does the band have planned for the rest of this year?

Jeff – Nothing about going home, that’s for sure. We’re doing a whole world tour, going all the way out to Hawaii and some Australia shows too, all the way around. I think we’re doing Coachella, that’s pretty exciting. We play a lot of the big festivals in Europe, but we never really play that many big festivals here in the States. That’s another feather in the cap I guess. We’re going to be touring a lot for the next four months. I’m really looking forward to Hawaii though. We’ve played there a couple times and it’s always been really good. There are a lot of troops out there that come and support us. The first time I went there with the band I was wondering what the show was going to be like and the majority of the crowd ended up being troops from the Midwest and stuff like that. I’m also looking forward to going out there and seeing my wife’s cousin. She’s living out there and she’s with the troops, so that’ll be fun. After that we’re just going to keep moving and do our best to see all the fans.

Photo by Katie Hovland

Chicago’s Meat Wave formed in late 2011 and last fall released their debut, self-titled album. The band’s lineup is comprised of singer/guitarist Chris Sutter, bassist Joe Gac and drummer Ryan Wizniak. In addition to Meat Wave, its members also play in bands like Wide Angles, Elephant Gun and Truman & His Trophy. By combining contemporary influences with traditional punk tendencies, Meat Wave has created a sound that’s urgent, unique and deserving of attention. We spoke with the band before their recent show at Subterranean and discussed how they formed, what recording their album was like, future plans and more. Also, check out a stream of Meat Wave’s song “Brother” below.

Bill – Given that all you guys play in other bands, how did you end up getting together and forming Meat Wave?

Ryan – I was hanging out with some friends of mine in the suburbs and our friend Frank, who’s in Truman & His Trophy, asked me to join that band with Chris. I didn’t know Chris, but I was just like “Yeah, I’ll totally do it,” because I was only in Elephant Gun at the time. Truman & His Trophy was a band for a while and we still are a band, but we kind of went on a little break. Chris and I, how did we decide to start this again?

Chris – I think we kind of both had a love for different-sounding music than what we were playing. We both really liked Hot Snakes and bands like that, so we wanted to start something a little different. We were talking about it for a while and I think Joe was the first person we thought of to play bass. We asked him, he agreed, we practiced and that was it.

Bill – How would you describe your sound?

Ryan – We kind of wanted to go for the punk energy sort of thing, but instead of just straightforward punk, make it a little more dynamic.

Chris – Yeah, and not limit ourselves to the tropes of punk rock.

Joe – It’s punk without the fashion.

Bill – Are there any active or current bands that inspire Meat Wave, or do most of your influences come from older stuff?

Chris – We’ve never really talked about influences, ever, within our band. I mean, we’re all obviously influenced by stuff. This band Women, who I don’t think is together still, but they released this album Public Strain and I got really into that. That probably inspired some Meat Wave songs.

Ryan – I think we’ve been kind of influenced by bands that do heavy, dynamic punk or rock-type stuff. Joe and I are into a lot of older punk bands, like Jesus Lizard. I like Brainiac a lot; they’re one of my favorite bands. Detachment Kit and Les Savy Fav too. Stuff that’s in the punk realm, but I guess more post-punk.

Bill – Where did you record your album and what was that experience like?

Joe – We recorded it at Todd Pot’s house, where I have recorded many other bands in the past. We pretty much recorded it live. We just set up and played through the songs, and then we overdubbed another guitar and vocals. Really simple, not a big deal. We spent like a day on it and then came back and did the overdubs.

Ryan – Our friend Frank drove us there in his minivan and that was the last day that his van worked. It started overheating on the way. It was leaking stuff everywhere and it died in Todd’s driveway. We were able to pour water on the engine and get it home, but that was it.

Chris – We killed Frank’s van.

Joe – I think the recording turned out great though and I know we’re all pleased with how it sounds. I think the songs themselves stand out a little bit from what a lot of the other bands are doing around here. That’s what we’ve been going for the whole time, so I think we’ve succeeded on that front.

Bill – Is there one song in particular that you feel best represents your band?

Chris – Maybe “15 Years.” I don’t know, but I’d like to see what Ryan thinks about it.

Ryan – “15 Years” or maybe “Brother,” just because “Brother” is pretty straightforward but has an interesting ending.

Joe – I like “Lurie Garden Chopping” a lot. Here’s a fun fact, the first time we ever played that song all the way through is what you hear on the recording. We tried like three times before and couldn’t get through it, then we tried a couple times after and it didn’t work.

Ryan – Didn’t we try to get really baked before we recorded it?

Joe – That’s off the record, (laughs).

Bill – Do the record’s lyrics share a common theme?

Chris – I guess the only theme would be that they’re pretty cynical, kind of critical of the world around me. A lot of them have bigger themes that are much bigger than me, so it’s kind of just commenting on all these things going on around me. As far as like something narrative or anything, no.

Bill – Have you written any new songs since releasing the album?

Ryan – Yeah, we’ve got five or six so far.

Chris – We’re going to try and record an album in April.

Joe – We’ve been really busy with playing shows and we’re all on very tight schedules, so sometimes there’s weeks where we don’t practice and we substitute practice for a show. That’s kind of been a problem a little bit. We’re all really busy. We should be practicing, but instead we’re playing tonight.

Bill – Speaking of playing shows, what was it like playing at Ian’s Party this year?

Joe – Pretty good. We played early, at like 8:30 PM. A lot of people were there though.

Chris – More people came than last year. It was a definite step up.

Ryan – We were sad that Bird Sounds didn’t play. I don’t know anything about why they didn’t play, but I love them.

Bill – Where are some of your favorite places to play shows around Chicago?

Joe – Ronny’s. Just kidding.

Ryan – We played a couple shows at Empty Bottle and that place has been really fun. Same with Township. They’re both places where the staff is really friendly and they seem like they’re into what they’re doing. It’s really refreshing to play places where the people working there aren’t super jaded and bummed out. They both sound really good too. We kind of want to do more house shows, but there aren’t a lot of houses around. I guess I just don’t know where we’d do a house show.

Chris – There aren’t any houses that would want us to play, (laughs).

Joe – You got to mention Cole’s, because the shows are free and the people watch the bands whether they’re there to watch the bands or not. It’s one of my favorite bars and the staff there is pretty generous too.

Bill – What does Meat Wave have planned for 2013?

Chris – Like I said, we’re going to try to record and release an album, and then go on tour.

Ryan – We’re going to try and go to Awesome Fest. We haven’t been invited to play this year, but we’re going to see if we can make it happen. We’re thinking about doing a two-week tour there and back, with either Rad Payoff or Wide Angles. We’re also going to make t-shirts this year.

Joe – That’s priority number one, t-shirts, (laughs). We tried an idea once where we sold a button with a download code attached to it. I don’t know, it was original I guess, but we didn’t sell too many. Then two months later we gave the album away for free. Sorry guys.

Earlier this month, Hot Water Music released a live CD/DVD via No Idea Records. Entitled Live in Chicago, it was recorded over two nights at the Metro in February of 2008. The CD contains a total of 30 songs that span 90 minutes, while the DVD features 24 songs, including one that’s not found on the album. Live in Chicago is also available as a triple LP, on six different colors of vinyl that are limited to 550 copies each. Check out one of the songs from the DVD above, “Turnstile,” and be sure to catch Hot Water Music on their current tour with La Dispute and The Menzingers.