Biography
The Chicago quartet Melkbelly fuses experimental noise rock, pop grunge, math rock, and classic indie rock into a fresh hybrid, drawing renewed vitality from established influences through their own intensity and command. After sharpening their approach across a run of singles and EPs, the group reached a wider audience with the jaggedly melodic 2017 album Nothing Valley before delivering a broader, more theatrical follow-up in the 2020 release PITH.
The band assembled near the close of 2013, its members arriving from contrasting musical histories. Miranda Winters, who sings and plays guitar, had previously released folk-rock material as reddelicious, while brothers Bart and Liam Winters had run a Chicago performance space before taking up guitar and bass. James Wetzel, a jazz-trained drummer from the noise duo Ree-Yees, completed the lineup. Starting out in the city’s D.I.Y. venues, the newcomers landed support slots with avant-rock duo Xylouris White and Brian Chippendale’s Black Pus project.
In 2014 Melkbelly recorded its debut EP with Bitchin’ Bajas’ Cooper Crain, finishing tracking in one day and mixing the next. The six-track Pennsylvania EP invited comparisons to the Breeders and Lightning Bolt by pairing the former’s melodic rock focus with the latter’s turbulent noise. Additional singles further shaped their sound, among them the abrasive 2015 tracks “Piss Wizard” and “Bathroom at the Beach.” The 2016 7-inch pairing “Elk Mountain” and “Mount Kool Kid” was cut with Dave Vettraino at Public House in Chicago. For their first full-length the band worked more deliberately, again enlisting Vettraino, developing much of the material inside the studio, and capturing it on eight-track analog tape. Nothing Valley appeared in October 2017 as the inaugural release on Sadie Dupuis’ (Speedy Ortiz) Wax Nine Records, a Carpark sister label.
After nearly two years of steady touring, Melkbelly traveled to Russian Recording in Bloomington, Indiana, to track their second album across two sessions held six months apart. Reuniting with Vettraino and making use of the studio’s vintage synthesizers and tube microphones, they pursued a more experimental direction. PITH surfaced in April 2020 on Wax Nine.
The band assembled near the close of 2013, its members arriving from contrasting musical histories. Miranda Winters, who sings and plays guitar, had previously released folk-rock material as reddelicious, while brothers Bart and Liam Winters had run a Chicago performance space before taking up guitar and bass. James Wetzel, a jazz-trained drummer from the noise duo Ree-Yees, completed the lineup. Starting out in the city’s D.I.Y. venues, the newcomers landed support slots with avant-rock duo Xylouris White and Brian Chippendale’s Black Pus project.
In 2014 Melkbelly recorded its debut EP with Bitchin’ Bajas’ Cooper Crain, finishing tracking in one day and mixing the next. The six-track Pennsylvania EP invited comparisons to the Breeders and Lightning Bolt by pairing the former’s melodic rock focus with the latter’s turbulent noise. Additional singles further shaped their sound, among them the abrasive 2015 tracks “Piss Wizard” and “Bathroom at the Beach.” The 2016 7-inch pairing “Elk Mountain” and “Mount Kool Kid” was cut with Dave Vettraino at Public House in Chicago. For their first full-length the band worked more deliberately, again enlisting Vettraino, developing much of the material inside the studio, and capturing it on eight-track analog tape. Nothing Valley appeared in October 2017 as the inaugural release on Sadie Dupuis’ (Speedy Ortiz) Wax Nine Records, a Carpark sister label.
After nearly two years of steady touring, Melkbelly traveled to Russian Recording in Bloomington, Indiana, to track their second album across two sessions held six months apart. Reuniting with Vettraino and making use of the studio’s vintage synthesizers and tube microphones, they pursued a more experimental direction. PITH surfaced in April 2020 on Wax Nine.
Albums
Singles
