Guardrail/ The Rifleman/ Universal Public Fiend/ Bigger Than Mountains/Sweet Thorns

Guardrail is the world's first Diet Punk band. Basically, we understand we're not punk—Minor Threat and Good Charlotte have that covered, thank god. We're also not really pop, which explains why we haven't hit it big. We're just a combination of those things that uses Splenda instead of real sugar. And because of that, until you get used to us, we're going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Sweet Thorns is a new indie/punk band from Chicago. They identify as “four queers born out of a desire to do something good for the community” after starting out as complete strangers in a rock-lotto style fundraiser for Girls Rock! Chicago; giving them seven weeks to learn a cover and write two originals. Their debut EP Picky Eater feels raw and real in a way that a lot of modern indie rock forgets to be. The songs sit somewhere between lofi punk and late night bedroom recordings, full of restless energy and emotional honesty. The EP was recorded at Experimental Sound Studios with Kate In, and mixed/mastered by Hayes McIntosh.