Ever since the ungraceful tumble of alternative rock from the Olympus of culture, there has been a proliferation of ‘Supergroups,’ ‘Super-Indie Groups’ and noxious collaborations that are the norm in other genres. For example, like in the cultures of hip hop or pop where every record, mix tape or single is pock marked with feature artists. For what it’s worth, most of these (un)cooperative groups have been nothing but “hot garbage” with their pent energies and styles diverging like oil and water. However, for every Lou Reed & Metallica single or Chickenfoot record there are a handful of superb formations like Battles, The Orphanage, Broken Bells or The Dead Weather (Anything that Jack White touches can be deemed SUPER!). For instance, Their / They’re / There, a contingent of independently famous punk and indie rockers from Chicago who have gained notoriety for their work in groups such as Into It. Over It., Cap N’ Jazz, Loose Lips Sink Ships, Joan of Arc, and so forth. The trio, consisting of Mike Kinsella, Matthew Frank and Evan Thomas Weiss, does what we at BANDxCITY love best, combines smarts, wit and wondrously explosive musicality to create a breathe of emulative and fresh air. What Their / They’re / There creates is an amalgamation of math rock, indie-punk and pop that fails to bore.

If you are searching for a perfect record to get you pumped for the summer festival season, the end of school or the birth of a new journey then Their / They’re / There’s self-titled EP, available for pre-order vinyl and download on Polyvinyl Records, is the path to beat. For too long we have bent our out of shape frames with designer drugs, bass and lasers under the false guise of “rage.” It is time to once again embrace the intelligent and introspective formats such as hip hop and punk as the founders and their followers begin to dictate and shape the future of this global village.