Folk group Magical Beasts are preparing to release an album, “Peninsula”, and an EP, “When Love’s a Stranger”, on May 1st. The group is led by its core of Nathan Paulus, Ethan Pikas, and Josh Miller, but these new releases feature contributions from several local musicians.

According the band, “Peninsula is a concept album that is dealing with characters who are "dead inside, devolving, or evolving". Below is a track, “Learning and Forgetting”, from Peninsula that was released last week.

FACS will be releasing their debut album, Negative Houses, on March 30th via Trouble In Mind. FACS is the work of Brian Case and Noah Leger (formerly of Disappears) with bassist Alianna Kalaba. The first single for the LP is called “Primary” and it is a dark sonic journey symbolically represented in the new video below. The band also released an equally dark video back in January for the LP’s lead track “Skylarking.

You can help the trio celebrate the new LP at Empty Bottle on March 30th with DIM and Ethers.

Daysee released their debut full-length back, Airbag, in January. Their sound ranges from Dream-pop, “Day’s End”, to crunchy electro-rock, “Dizzy”, and several genre’s in-between.

You can catch Daysee at The Hideout on March 22nd and at Cole’s on March 24th.

Lifted Bells have released a new track, "No One Can Save Us", from their forthcoming debut LP, Minor Tantrums. The LP will be release on March 30th via Run For Cover Records.

You can catch Lifted Bells at Beat Kitchen on April 6th.

Sayers are have announced the release of their debut full-length LP, Horror Stories. The album will be released on April 13th and can be preorder here. Below is the band’s latest single “Get Naked”.

You can help Sayers celebrate Horror Stories on April 14th at GMan Tavern (3740 N Clark).

Local Trio, Lume has released a video for the first single, “Keep Me Under”, from their forthcoming debut LP, Wrung Out. This record will be released on April 20th via Equal Vision Records.

Lume is the work of Dan Butler and brothers Dylan and Austin Hulett. When asked, Butler had this to say about the lyrics of “Keep me Under”. “Lyrically, the song centers around the idea that being a pessimist does nothing but decrease your quality of life, yet sometimes we hold onto these negative feelings and outlooks because they feel good in the moment".

Lume is heading down to SXSW soon, but you can catch them at Burlington Bar on May 5th.

Deanna Devore has release the title track and first single for her forthcoming album, "A Cause”. This track a beautifully dark, beat and synth driven, song that perfectly highlights Deanna’s lush vocals.

A Cause will be the follow-up to her 2016 EP, “X Number of Days”.

Chicago’s Girlsville Records released a compilation album last week called Our Voltage. The proceeds from the album will benefit legal aid for anti-racist activists and a new community self-defense gym in Chicago called Haymaker. The collection itself features contributions from bands across the country including a great cover of The Violators’ “Summer of ’81” by the local trio Beastii.

You can catch Beastii at Emporium Chicago for a FREE show on March 26th with Axons, Pat Chow, and The By Gods.

White Mystery have announced that their 10th anniversary album, Hellion Blender, will be released on April 20th. This is the duo’s 9th studio album and completes their mission to release a new album every year on April 20th. The first single from the album is Psych-rocker called “Paint Yo’Nails”, and be streamed below.

The duo will also be celebrating their 1,000th show this Spring while on the tour, highlighted in the video below, featuring several shows at SXSW. The video also features part of the new song “Unlucky XIII” from the Hellion Blender.

White Mystery will be on Free Radio SAIC on March 31st at 4pm performing tracks from the new album.

Vamos is back after a two year hiatus and they come bearing a new LP called "1~2~3”. This is the band’s follow-up to the 2015 LP, Spiderbait. Below is Part 1 of the hilarious trailer for the album.

You can help Vamos celebrate the release of their new album at Empty Bottle on March 16th with Rich Jones and Lifestyles.

Instrumental Rock trio Sasquatch Turf War will be releasing their self-titled debut album on March 19th via Cavetone Records. Below you can stream two of the tracks featured on the album.

You can help the band celebrate the release on March 19th at Empty Bottle as part of Cavetone Records’ FREE X Year Anniversary Show.

Fran is a four-piece band featuring the songwriting and vocals of Maria Jacobson. They released their debut EP, More Enough, through Lake Paradise Records back in December. Below is the video for their single “Enough”.

You can catch Fran at Empty Bottle on March 4th with Gratitude Journal and Furbie.