Negative Scanner

Ignited by vocalist/guitarist Rebecca Valeriano-Flores' commanding presence, Chicago's Negative Scanner cranks out fierce post-punk that updates the wit and outrage of the Wipers and the Fall. The band's immediate, irreverent bursts of vitriol -- exemplified by 2018's Nose Picker -- brightened the darkening mood of the late 2010s.

The band formed in 2012, soon after Valeriano-Flores and drummer Tom Cassling's previous group Tyler Jon Tyler disbanded. With guitarist Matt Revers and bassist Nick Beaudoin completing the lineup, the band quickly made a name for itself with fiery live performances and a pair of singles for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Trouble+in+Mind%22">Trouble in Mind</a> ("Ambitious People") and Tall Pat Records ("Pastel Blue/Clinical White"). Negative Scanner recorded their self-titled debut in their practice space, with Chicago punk veteran Mike Lust engineering and <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Mikey Young</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:5vjPLkDLdB76i8EO1PFOT6">Total Control</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6EBtwTGHBGlCKqIvjUwLkW">Eddy Current Suppression Ring</a> mastering the sessions. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Trouble+in+Mind%22">Trouble in Mind</a> released Negative Scanner in July 2015. Cassling oversaw the tracking of 2018's Nose Picker, a blunt, fiery set once again recorded at the band's practice space and mastered by Young. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi