The 4-piece Alt-rock band Gardens recently released their anthemic debut EP, Everything Looks Different In Daylight. The band also release video for their stirring track "Haze".

You can catch Gardens at Township on Feb. 16th with Archie Powell & The Exports and Devon Kay & The Solutions.

The Damn Choir are back with a new album, Creatures of Habit. So far the band has released a single, "Morning Glory", and a video for a track called "Creatures".

You can catch The Damn Choir at The Hideout to celebrate the release tomorrow night, Feb. 7th, at The Hideout with The Wild Family.

Every November for the last six year Aaron Cooper (Bear Weather) has released a set of recordings into the world digitally via bandcamp. His November 2013 collection is stripped down collection of acoustic tracks that he wrote, performed, and record himself. Each song is about 2 minutes and each are wonderfully gems that need to be heard.

You can next catch Aaron Cooper performing solo at The Store on March 1st.

Tim Larson (The Drovers) released his latest solo album, Vargar, today. The album’s sound is dark and methodical, which blends well with Larson’s deep, rich vocals.

You can catch Tim Larson @ Saki on Feb. 8th with Transmontane.

Left Hand Signal is a trio (Kristine Sørum-Williams, Jonathan A. Iuro, and Tommy Good) firmly planted in Americana or indie folk. They released their debut EP, Stanza, on January 1st. The three tracks on the EP highlight the band’s songwriting and the strong vocals of Williams.

Kevin Andrew Prchal reached his kickstarter goal to produce his latest album Sorrow Sings. The kickstarter still has 8 days left so there is still time to support and preorder the album.

You can catch Kevin Andrew Prchal with Exit Ghosts and The Quiet Revelry tomorrow night, Feb. 5th, at Lincoln Hall.

Porn and Chicken have teamed up with Miami-based producer Kryoman to released a new single called "Leap Frog". You can grab the insanely fun and additive dance track from free from their soundcloud, and remember "if you’re feeling froggy… Jump!".

You can catch Porn & Chicken on Feb. 3rd at evil0live (1551 W. Division St.) for their Marvel vs. Capcom Banger.

Recent transplant to Chicago, Craig Woods is the force behind the fuzzed-out, lo-fi, garage rock of Hot Bagels. The band released Toasted this month digitally and on cassette via Be Happy Records (vinyl coming in February). The 15 mind melting tracks on Toasted range from 43 seconds to just over 3 mins in length and were recorded in "cars, basements, apartments, and practice spaces" around the city over the last three months. Hot Bagels is the essence of DIY and a band to watch and experience in 2014.

The top vote getter in the 2013 reader’s poll for Best Emerging Artist of the Year was the talented singer/songwriter Pat McKillen! 2013 saw the release of Pat’s sophomore album, The Red Headed Enemy, and a appearance on America’s Got Talent. Pat’s sound on the new album has deep folk roots, as expected, but with the addition of heavy percussive sounds.

Ace Reporter announced the reissue of their full-length debut album, Yearling XL, today by dropping a compelling new video for "Stick To". Chris Synder fronts the four piece band and Yearling XL is based on the year his spent writing and recording one new song every day back in 2010 after his last band, The States, broke up. The new edition of the album will be released on April 22, 2014 via Ooh La La Records and features several bonus tracks.

S. Joel Norman spent most of 2013 in the recording studio working on his forthcoming album, Traveling Light, but was also building a following through raucous live performances. Norman released his debut EP, Take It In Stride, back in 2011 which demonstrated his strong blues foundation. Since that time he has delved even deeper into that world and Traveling Light promises to be all the better as a result. The new album’s title track was released as a single earlier this month.

You can pre-order Traveling Light now, and preorder your tickets for the release event at Metro on March 1st with My My My.

The Wild Family spent 2013 working on the debut self-titled EP which will be released on Feb. 4th. The did release an impressive live EP of their performance at Wise Fools Pub. The 4-piece band have a youthful look and down home soulful sound. Earlier this month the released the first track from their EP, the harmonica-filled "Empty Promises". It is the depth of songwriting and the well placed harmonies that make this young band one of the finest in the city.

You can catch The Wild Family at Hideout on Feb. 7th with The Damn Choir and The Harrow.