Slape blends the emotional depth of Midwest emo with the infectious hooks of pop, creating a sound that’s both haunting and anthemic. The band’s music explores themes of finding a home, relationships and personal reflection. The name of the group is rooted in the personal history of guitarist and lead vocalist Evan Arnold, whose maternal family is the source of the surname Slape. Arnold is backed in the band by Mikey Merrit on bass, William Guy Shoemaker on guitar and Liam Feighny on drums. Slape’s first release, Demos, hit Bandcamp in November.

Formed in 2022, three-piece rock band Sidestreet Detour has performed on dozens of stages across the region — from beer joints like Jack’s Place in Superior to the resplendent Bayfront Festival Park. “We play classic covers from several decades, plus a growing list of original music — which is slowly becoming our primary focus,” said keyboard player Stephanie Jago, who shares vocal duties with guitarist and frontman Russ Sackett and drummer Bart Porter. The band released a self-titled album in July. Original tunes such as “Little Bit,” and “Give” get the groove going, while “Into the Night” and “Time is Short,” are the toe-tappers.

Shadows of Me is a hard-rock/metal band that finds influence from the early 2000s post-grunge, nu-metal and metalcore bands. Rick Chida and Cory Christofferson make up the band’s vocal and guitar duality. Bassist Matt Erickson and drummer Ryan Gundstrom carry the rhythm section. Shadows of Me was originally formed in 2005, and has been a staple of the local metal scene for the past 20 years. The group released the album Aurelia in 2023 showcasing those early 2000s influences and has expanded its catalog of music with many modern metal inspirations.

seym0ur glass is the computer-music project of Ned Netzel, and half of the nucleus of synth-psychedelia collective PYLON. Via a catalog of field recordings, retro video-game samples, soft-synths, original compositions and remixes, Netzel aims to “create immersive experiences based around spontaneous composition and arrangement.” He has been working on this project since 2014 pumping out sounds ranging from “the bitcrushed banks of a babbling brook to the clank and bombast of a futuristic warzone, in genres including lo-fi hip hop and house, in all the glorious frequencies of the auditory spectrum.” But to get straight to the point, Netzel said his set “pairs well with PBR and recreational cannabis use.”