The Needle Drop • August 6th, 2026

INTERVIEW: Fat, Evil Children are just getting started

Have you ever moshed and square danced during the same set? I hadn't until catching Los Angeles four-piece Fat, Evil Children at the opening date of their week-long run up the East Coast. In the basement green room of Schubas, a ~150 capacity Chicago bar-venue hybrid, frontman Nic Skrabak and bandmates Truman Sinclair (guitar), Sebastian Peters (bass) and Diego Fernandez (drums) fawn over venue-provided toiletries and debate mac & cheese preferences. The camaraderie between the boys is palpable,...

The Needle Drop • July 27th, 2026

Sleeper Hit Support Group: "SWIM" by BTS

Welcome to Sleeper Hit Support Group, a column diving into the song currently occupying the bottom spot of the Billboard Hot 100.In a pop landscape that asks more questions that it answers, I'm setting out to answer three questions about each of these songs: how it got here, if the song is good, and where it's going. In this 100th spot we'll find unlikely ascents, falls from grace, and resurgences of hits from bygone eras.Today, we're talking about BTS' "SWIM," a song that fell all the way down...

The Needle Drop • June 17th, 2026

I Wanna Feel It: Mitski's 'Puberty 2' at 10

Mitski is at her best when she's trying to make you uncomfortable. Discomfort and jaggedness are the hallmarks of her most inspired musical moments: the offbeat glitches and droning synth in Be The Cowboy opener "Geyser," the percussive stomps and wretched screams of "Drunk Walk Home," the Tiny Desk performance of "Class of 2013."To be honest, I don't know how much of that Mitski we have left. It shows up in bits and spurts on her latest record, Nothing's About To Happen to Me, but with age and...

June 7th, 2026

Leah Weinstein Senior Thesis 2026 Star-Maker Machinery: The Role of Billboard charts in the Modern Day

Senior thesis about the history of Billboard Chart manipulation and how it mirrors larger trends and developments in the music industry at large.

The Needle Drop • May 26th, 2026

INTERVIEW: feeble little horse are wired in

A cultural backlash-induced luddite movement was bound to happen. On Instagram, the product I get advertised to me the most is a hunk of plastic that locks you out of whatever apps you tell it to. "Analog bags" stuffed with screen-free activities has become a rising trend among young adults. In a time where the pope writes an Encyclical rebuking the technocrats of Silicon Valley and their sweeping AI aspirations, it feels obvious young creative types are desperate to turn back the clock. Pittsb...

The Needle Drop • May 26th, 2026

Sleeper Hit Support Group: "Go Away" by Weezer ft. Best Coast

Welcome to Sleeper Hit Support Group, a column diving into the song currently occupying the bottom spot of the Billboard Hot 100.In a pop landscape that asks more questions that it answers, I'm setting out to answer three questions about each of these songs: how it got here, if the song is good, and where it's going. In this 100th spot we'll find unlikely ascents, falls from grace, and resurgences of hits from bygone eras.Today, we're looking at the kismet back-catalog spike of Weezer's "Go Away...

The Needle Drop • May 22nd, 2026

Inside Kilby Block Party 2026: our takeaways and highlights

The inaugural Kilby Block Party in 2019 was exactly what is said on the tin: a block party taking place outside of the storied music venue Kilby Court. The name has stuck for tradition’s sake, but the scope of the festival has grown exponentially. In just 7 years, 500 attendees has turned into a figure closer to the tune of 90,000. In the continued absence of Pitchfork festival in Chicago and All Things Go’s mainstream pivot, indie fans nationwide have found themselves flocking to Salt Lake City...

The Needle Drop • May 7th, 2026

INTERVIEW: Broken Social Scene provide some conventional human wisdom

When I logged onto my Zoom call with Broken Social Scene songwriter Kevin Drew, I was met with an unexpected second face. At 10:30am on a Thursday morning, Drew was huddled up in multi-instrumentalist (and fellow Scenester) Charles Spearin's garage-turned-studio. The pair gave me a tour of the space before I got a chance to introduce myself, showing me individual pieces of gear that were near and dear to their hearts. They showed me the 8-track tape machine that recorded the group's 2001 debut F...

The Needle Drop • April 20th, 2026

Sleeper Hit Support Group: "Sweet Boy" by Malcolm Todd

Welcome to Sleeper Hit Support Group, a column diving into the song currently occupying the bottom spot of the Billboard Hot 100.In a pop landscape that asks more questions that it answers, I'm setting out to answer three questions about each of these songs: how it got here, if the song is good, and where it's going. In this 100th spot we'll find unlikely ascents, falls from grace, and resurgences of hits from bygone eras.Today, we're taking a look at "Sweet Boy" by pop newcomer Malcolm Todd.Unl...

water runs clear • April 12th, 2026

I need to talk about katseye for a second

American life under fascist oligarchy is draining even without paying that close attention. For reasons that oscillate between masochistic and “to best serve my communities” I try to keep my ear to the ground. It’s gotten to a point recently that the news feels quite cyclical. We have the investigation into a once-in-a-lifetime pedophilic cabal to distract from geopolitical crisis, and geopolitical crisis to distract from the once-in-a-lifetime pedophilic cabal. Zone flooding is the name of the...

The Needle Drop • March 25th, 2026

"I don't feel like it really benefited anybody": Snail Mail on rejecting the "sad girl" genre, vocal surgery, and the Goo

Snail Mail frontwoman Lindsey Jordan is no stranger to confession. She wrote all of the songs on her 2018 debut Lush before she could vote. Jordan's pointed yet complicated tales of queer heartbreak had critics designating her as a wunderkind wise beyond her years. Now eight years, two albums, and a vocal polyps surgery later, Jordan has new priorities. She moved from a small one bedroom apartment in New York City to a big house in North Carolina, got a dog, and is in a happy long-term relations...

The Needle Drop • March 9th, 2026

Sleeper Hit Support Group: "Fame Is A Gun" by Addison Rae

Welcome to Sleeper Hit Support Group, a column diving into the song currently occupying the bottom spot of the Billboard Hot 100.In a pop landscape that asks more questions that it answers, I'm setting out to answer three questions about each of these songs: how it got here, if the song is good, and where it's going. In this 100th spot we'll find unlikely ascents, falls from grace, and resurgences of hits from bygone eras.Today, we're queening out and taking a look at "Fame Is A Gun" by Addison...