Nico Play, Enemy Airship, Kitz Row

Nico Play: Nico Play is the bilingual project of Nicolás Perea. Born in Mexico City and currently based in Chicago, Nico writes songs in both Spanish and English. Enemy Airship:  At least two kinds of cool exist. One looks and feels effortless — it’s the currency of rock bands and of movie stars whose visages can withstand being magnified 50 feet tall. The other demands constant effort. This is the creative labor of taking a concept, even a color, and turning it over and over again until you discover what truly makes it cool. Somehow Enemy Airship manages to harbor both sides of the cool. Once a Columbia band, now based in St. Louis, the trio of Zach Biri, Logan Epps and Michael Hopkins craft songs with real dimension. Skate their surface, and the charisma is clear: gliding guitars, forward rhythmic motion, emotional valleys and volleys.