Chicago-based roots-rock outfit Trickshooter Social Club have returned with their new EP, "Porchlight Pie", a raw, whiskey-soaked collection of songs that grapples with the messy, beautiful experiment of modern America. Led by frontman Steve Simoncic and guitarist Larry Liss, the band crafts a grit-flecked style of garage rock with a conscience, steering their music through a sonic landscape defined by low-slung guitars, country fiddles,...

Listening to Cat Cork’s "Simple Song" is a funny thing; the title is a clever piece of misdirection, a plain brown wrapper on a package containing an entire life. This isn't some breezy, three-chord singalong for a lazy afternoon. It’s the sonic equivalent of discovering a shipwright’s meticulously drafted blueprint, detailing the construction of a human spirit from the first plank of childhood to...