Sam Vicari started out like most start out: idolizing bands and quietly recording bedroom demos onto cassette tapes. Growing up in Crown Point, IN made it fairly easy to retreat to Chicago on weekends to immerse himself in a city known for exceptional music. He excitedly attended dozens of shows. Once, while watching Mike Hard of the seminal noise-rock band God Bullies perform, Hard accidentally punched Vicari in the face (don’t worry, they’re both okay).

He went on to release his first proper full-length, Keep Careful, in 2010. Chicagoist called the record “an undiscovered gem” and even named it one of the best local releases of the year (even though he still lived in Indiana at the time, shh…). In 2012, Vicari finally DID move to Chicago and immediately began recording his second record. That record, Heart Explosion, was independently released in the summer of 2013, accompanied by weeks of national touring and airplay on Bagel Radio (San Francisco), WLUW (Chicago), KXSC (Los Angeles), KPSU (Portland), and many others.

Vicari’s third record, Giving Up, is 10 songs and 26 minutes of wailing guitars and crashing drums, urgently delivered under the assumption that the listener has no time to waste. It will be released by Sip City Records on April 7, 2015.