LEO Weekly has Spotify playlists for each Listen Local column featuring selected tracks from each reviewed release. Check them out here!
Chenille oKeel
“This Town” – single
I’m always happy to get new songs from Chenille oKeel, (the solo project of Francis Christopher deRome). You never know exactly what it is you’re going to get, but you can bet it’s going to be a little quirky, perhaps a bit strange, but always with a lot of heart behind it. And his latest single, “This Town,” does not disappoint.
Much like the tracks “Knuckle Sandwich” and “Magical Fish” released last year, deRome drops the British new wave synth pop of previous releases and returns to his bare bones ukulele and vocals-only style to deliver a sincere, charming, heartfelt song that is distinctly Chenille oKeel.
“Truly about the passing of time; this song is a wonderful melody that came to me. It’s in sympathy still and I just wanted to capture it before I got so good at it that it wouldn’t feel like this anymore” said deRome of the track. And what you get is a sweet, lovely, upbeat song that spotlights not only deRome’s distinctive, unique, slightly odd but wonderfully charismatic vocals, but also his penchant for writing lyrics that are positive and happy, yet thoughtful and introspective at the same time.
At only a minute and 14 seconds long, this is one of Chenille oKeel’s shortest songs yet, but also proof that he only needs a minute of your time to brighten your day!
Producing a Kind Generation
For Love’s Sake – EP
I’ve often called PAKG the most prolific band in Louisville. But as far as releasing quality music, they may just be the most prolific band ever! Anyone can churn out album after album of thoughtless garbage, but it takes an incredible amount of talent to put out a steady stream of well-written, solidly crafted songs that all stand on their own merit. And PAKG has been doing that in droves!
For those of you counting, they just released a 10-song album titled Slump two months ago, and now they’re back with a new 6-song EP, For Love’s Sake. Add in guitarist/vocalist Dre Smith’s side project 10th Street Dre, under which he has already released an 8-song acoustic EP and an 11-song rap album (which also features the rest of PAKG), and we’re up to 35 songs released in the last 7 months! And the capper is that it’s all great music! The kind of material that most band strive their whole career to write is flowing out of these guys like water.
The band has always been rooted in alt-rock with a strong funk backbone, but the six tracks on For Love’s Sake see the band taking some less-prevalent influences and bringing them front and center, such as the bluesy “Tried it All,” the soulful “Come Home”, the R&B burner “The Groove”, and the slow jam “Would You Care.” But the band drives it home when they are in their alt-rock/funk groove wheelhouse on tracks “All of Us” and “Something True.”
PAKG is an anomaly. There is no way music of this quality should be possible to create in this quantity. But the proof is right there, and it’s astounding!
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Sheri Streeter and Cadillac Young
“You Can’t Take That Away From Me” – single
If you’re expecting the melancholic indie folk of Sheri Streeter’s previous material, you’re in for a surprise. Co-written by Shitfire’s Cadillac Young, (as well as featuring Shitfire drummer Luke Stevens), “You Can’t Take That Away From Me” is a post-grunge, alt-rock track that has the mid-to-late 90’s feel of bands like Drugstore and Throwing Muses
The collaboration is part of a special project in which three local vocalists, (Streeter, Young, and Rob Pennington), wrote different songs to the same musical stem. “You Can’t Take That Away From Me” is the first song Streeter has written in three years following her father’s death, which had a profound impact on her and led her to question whether she wanted to continue on as a musician. She knew she would have to write about him in order to get over her block, but she didn’t want it to be a sad song.
Growing up a daddy’s girl, Streeter and her father butted heads when she became an adolescent, with some of their biggest fights ended in her father grounding her from music. So when she received the track from Young; “I decided to lean into how angry I was with my dad back then with all the bratty, mean, you-can’t-take-that-back shit I wanted to say to him when I felt powerless as a kid,” said Streeter.
The result is a burner of a song that features one of Streeter’s most powerful vocal performances to date. And she hopes her late father Glynn would have loved and also been pissed off by this new single. I’m thinking he would be more proud than anything.
Tin Zelkova
“Bring Your Love” – single
Tin Zelkova just released their 2nd full-length album, The Rock Made To Roll, back in March. So how do they celebrate it? Apparently by not resting on their laurels, as they already have a brand new single out. And honestly, I think this is my favorite track of theirs yet!
Built around a catchy-as-fuck guitar hook, “Bring Your Love” features crunchy guitar, thick bass lines that do some great walking around, thunderous drums, and the tight, in-the-pocket musicianship we’ve come to expect from this band.
Tin Zelkova have always created a fine mesh of 70’s classic rock mixed with modern alt-rock, and “Bring Your Love” is one of their best examples of that yet. The main riff sounds like something that would have been on Led Zeppelin II or Rush’s Fly By Night, but the vocals and the rest of the track have a modern rock sheen to them, making for yet another track that is simply Tin Zelkova through and through.
They are masters of mid-tempo, groove-oriented songs with big hooks, and their sound offers a little something for everyone. This really is a band you could put on any bill regardless of who else was playing and they will steal the show! There aren’t many people who could listen to a song this catchy and not nod their head and tap their feet along to the beat. It’s an infectious sound!
These guys have played some high-profile gigs recently, including both the Whisky a Go Go and The Viper Room in L.A., so yes, they are the real deal. So if you’re not familiar with them yet, what are you waiting for?
Want to see your music reviewed in LEO Weekly? Louisville and Southern Indiana-based bands/artists, send a link to your music along with a band/artist bio, (lengthy bios are highly appreciated), a high-resolution pic of the release’s cover art, and any additional information that may be helpful for the review to music@leoweekly.com.
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This article appears in Jul 4-31, 2025.