Iron Years drop a debut album of gothic darkwave postpunk dance musicJ.R. Nelson and Leor Galilon December 13, 2022 at 8:27 pm

Iron Years Credit: Courtesy Play Alone Records

In 2018, local band Iron Years dropped a compelling demo on Bandcamp that weds several distinct styles: its buoyant bass lines and shimmering guitars recall the Cure’s Disintegration, and its snapping, propulsive electronic rhythms are reminiscent of classic Chicago house. It’s fun to listen to, but it makes the band tough to categorize! (The best Gossip Wolf has come up with so far is “gothic darkwave postpunk dance music,” which feels accurate, if a tad unwieldy.) Anyway, in July of this year, Iron Years finally followed up that demo with a new version of one of those early tracks, “Lucid,” released as a single from the upcoming album Reverie. It came out with a video that seems to prove this wolf’s thesis: the clip culminates with a bunch of lovelorn-looking goth kids meeting at a roller-skating rink, getting into the groove, and popping some unison dance moves. On Monday, December 19, Iron Years will drop Reverie via Pittsburgh postpunk label Play Alone Records, and that same night they’ll celebrate with a record-release show at the Empty Bottle. It’s part of the club’s free Monday series, and the bill also includes fellow gothically inclined groups Kill Scenes and Rose Lake. 

The “Lucid” video, directed by Milo Mendoza

Released on December 2, “Wander” is the second single from Reverie.

Beastii singer and guitarist Jen Larson (from dearly departed punk band Swimsuit Addition) says the group’s new lineup—with original drummer Chris Lee, returning bassist Maureen Neer, and new guitarist Jesse Fevvers—have been hard at work on “a collaborative new full-length album that shoots off in dreamy directions.” In the meantime, they’ve dropped a new tape, B.E.A.S.T.I.I.,  via What’s for Breakfast? Records. It collects previously released material dating back to 2017, with Larson either working via email with Lee or playing in a trio with Lee and former bassist Dom D’Amico. The tape’s got a solid variety of tunes, including the scorching, tuneful punk of the Violators cover “Summer of ’81” and the synth-infused pop update of the pro-union folk song “Praise Boss.” 

Beastii sold out of tapes at their Empty Bottle show on Monday, but their new release is still available on Bandcamp.

On Friday, local label Red Scare Industries reissued a posthumous 1995 compilation from early-90s Chicago punks Sludgeworth called Losers of the Year. Front man Dan Vapid, who also played bass and guitar in Screeching Weasel for many years, put together Sludgeworth around the time Screeching Weasel broke up for the first time in 1989. He recruited Screeching Weasel drummer Brian Vermin, and the two of them brought aboard guitarist Dave McClean and bassist Mike Hootenstrat (both from hardcore group Insolent Respect) and a second guitarist, Adam White, who’d been one of Vapid’s childhood friends. “I really loved Naked Raygun, and I like the Descendents a lot,” Vapid says, describing how Sludgeworth settled on a sound. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, that sounds great.’ Started playing and it did pretty well off the bat.” Sludgeworth were together for only three years, and a highlight of their brief career was opening for Naked Raygun at the Riviera. “I was 20 years old at the time, and I’d never played for that many people before,” Vapid says. “I want to say there was about 2,000 people there. I was nervous as all hell, but we really went all out and did great—I guess we were doing the right thing at the right time.” 

Back in the day, Bay Area punk label Lookout! Records issued Losers of the Year on CD only, and it’s been out of print for at least a decade—Lookout! shuttered in 2012. The Red Scare reissue is the first time the album has been pressed to vinyl, but Vapid wasn’t the one who made it happen. “I play in Dan Vapid & the Cheats, and now the Methadones are back,” he says. “I wasn’t really lighting a fire under anybody’s butts about it.” Red Scare founder Toby Jeg started the ball rolling on a Losers of the Year vinyl reissue more than five years ago, though the process of locating and rescuing the recordings took far longer than he’d expected. While gathering material, he discovered two previously unreleased songs, and they appear on the CD and digital versions of the reissue.

The digital version of Losers of the Year includes two previously unissued tracks that aren’t on the vinyl.

Fans of Chicago hip-hop have no doubt seen local rappers rocking gear from streetwear company Leaders 1354 (often styled LDRS 1354). On Sunday, FourtuneHouse Art Center (4410 S. Cottage Grove) opened an art exhibit celebrating the 20th anniversary of LDRS. The show is on view from 2 till 6 PM every day until it closes on Sunday, December 18.

Read More