Chicago musician Jack Riedy (pronounced “ree-dee”) announces his debut album Raw Deal, out March 10, 2025, and drops new single “Why Say Anything” with a Bandcamp-exclusive remix.
“‘Why Say Anything’ was my motto in a bad relationship where I felt totally unheard,” Jack says. “It felt great to turn that frustration into the chorus.”
Raw Deal builds from guitar-buzz to include sub bass synths, breakbeats, and live horns, sometimes within the same song, inspired by the anything-goes sonics of TV On The Radio, They Might Be Giants, and The Clash. Call it remix rock.
“I write songs about the little things: love, sex, work, and death,” Jack says. “The album is about the fear that market logic has turned even our relationships into transactions,” he says. “And worse still, that I might be getting ripped off.”
Raw Deal is a good-time album about finding relief from global calamity in crowded venues and big noise. “Your Timeline” is a breakneck anthem for haunted yuppies moshing in the backroom at imagined 4AM bar the Neon Ditch, which was playlisted by Chicago Reader and Real Ones. “Love Is A Delivery Boy” depicts the effects of restaurants, romance, and everything else available on demand over sunny major-sixth chords. “Like A Dog In A Dream” is a laptop funk lament of a domineering lover, boss, or both that leaps into double time on the chorus. The album concludes with “I Know I’ve Got A Check Coming Soon,” a bar-band blues for the end of the world.
Jack Riedy’s secret origin: he was struck by the organ chords of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” like a bolt of lightning. He played bass in bands beginning in middle school, learning to balance melody, harmony, and rhythm in punk, ska, funk, and jazz alike. Riedy moved to Chicago in 2018 and documented the vibrant indie music scene as a journalist for local and national publications. Beyond playing onstage, he developed his dance-rock sound through an instrumental EP with Cornerian Flight Academy and remixes for songwriter Wire Crow and pop star Liska, who lent backing vocals to “Your Timeline” in return.
Jack will be promoting the album with full-band performances in Chicago this spring, including Saturday 2/15 at Burlington Bar. He will also be DJing at The Getaway on Monday 2/10 as part of Welcome to the Show.