Luggage have been a Chicago mainstay for years now. The trio — comprising drummer Luca Cimarusti, bass/lap steel player Michael John Grant, and guitarist/pianist/vocalist Michael Vallera — reportedly have backgrounds in both noise-punk and ambient music, both of which come to bear on their tensely clanging iteration of post-punk. It will almost certainly appeal to fans of Protomartyr, Preoccupations, and fellow Chicagoans FACS — or, to venture a bit further back in time, forebears like Shellac, the Jesus Lizard, and Unwound. Luggage deal in heavy bass-powered rhythms that creep along with a prehistorically violent disposition, woven through with discordant guitar lines and darkly muttered vocals. It’s the kind of music you could beat someone to death with, but also snap in half over your knee.

A new Luggage record called Happiness is coming soon via Ryley Walker‘s Husky Pants label. Walker is extremely enthusiastic about the “slow and weird” combo’s ability to move as a unit while creating a sense of looming dread, a skill set demonstrated by the project’s gloomy lead single “Fear.” It’s out today ahead of the full Happiness release in July. Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Happiness”
02 “Lie Design”
03 “Rot”
04 “Fear”
05 “Idiot Bliss”
06 “Wealth”

Happiness is out 7/16 on Husky Pants. Pre-order it here.