Full Screams Ahead

All was going well for Chicago’s Redwalls a couple years ago. The alt-rockers, just out of their teens, released their major-label debut, De Nova, and toured with Keane, the Dresden Dolls, and Oasis. Then they hit a bump. “Our record label collapsed,” says guitarist Andrew Langer. “One second, everything was good. Then the next second, it’s like, We don’t have a record label -- time to move on!”

But the quartet quickly regrouped from the setback, recorded some new songs, and independently released an EP, The Wall to Wall Sessions. “We just wanted to get something out there,” says Langer. The Redwalls are now on tour, playing cuts from all their records as well as some tunes from a full-length CD, due in September. “This is where we’re at now,” says Langer. “We were on the road for pretty much a year straight. You hear that evolution.” The new album, which is still untitled, was recorded in Sweden with producer Tore Johansson, who’s worked with Franz Ferdinand, OK Go, and others. His style complements the Redwalls’ own affinity for guitar-fueled Brit-style rock. “We all just sat in a room and recorded it live in two or three takes,” says Langer. “It sounds like a whole band working together. We’re starting to grow into things we’re all comfortable with.”
Fri., June 29, 9 p.m.