Matt Pryor, Night Tennis, Natalie Prauser, and more of the best local music videos for February
Illustrated by Katelyn Betz
It has been a whirlwind start to the year, and if you’re anything like us, you’re in dire need of some beauty to make you feel something other than deep-simmering rage. So, here’s a selection of recent and not-so-recent songs which may or may not give you some catharsis.
Matt Pryor, “A Totally New Year”
“This is where we begin/ It feels like an ending” is a hell of a lyric, and even though it’s about 18 years old, thanks the passionate delivery from Get Up Kids frontman Matt Pryor, it feels fresh and energetic. Basically, it’s exactly what you need to start out the new year. Even though we’re over a month into 2026, Pryor’s “cleansing ritual of sorts” still works. You can read all about the song and Pryor’s plans for the new year at his Substack.
Matt Pryor’s only local show on his tour for his Matt Pryor & the Salton Sea release will be Sunday, March 15 at Cider Gallery in Lawrence with Aud Whitson plus Tori Brooks & The Meltdowns. Details and tickets for that show here.
The Whips, “Together in Agony”
“Together in Agony” is the first single off the dance rock quartet’s forthcoming EP, From Kansas, with Love, due out Friday, March 6. Building off singer-keyboardist’s Max Cooper’s four-chair turn on NBC’s The Voice and a spot on Team Michael Bublé, the song was written by the Whips’ other Max, guitarist and co-vocalist Max Indiveri.
Starting off quiet and introspective, “Together in Agony” builds to a big, wave your lighter moment as it lives “in the tension between comfort and self-respect.” The Quinn Cosgrove-directed video tells the story of a “relationship you know is breaking,” as Indiveri puts it. As the rise and fall plays out onscreen, so does the song. While a breakup song might be a little much right now, it’s so pretty, we can’t help but giving it one more play.
Boys Life, “Always”
The Ordinary Wars EP marks the first recordings from Kansas City indie-rock quartet Boys Life in nearly 30 years. While frontman Brandon Butler has released several solo albums, and various bandmembers continued on in Canyon and Lullaby for the Working Class, the influence of the band’s shorttime together continues to be felt today. Every time a college radio DJ comes across the Boys Life / Christie Front Drive split, another mind is melted, and it’s great to see these four musicians making new music again.
“Always” feels like a commitment to remembering that youthful feeling of hearing and playing music when you were in your early 20s, and the way this Ally Simmons-designed tattoo comes to life as Mikey Wheeler inks it in Shawn Brackbill’s video feels like the visual representation thereof.
Ordinary Wars is available now from Spartan Records.
Night Tennis, “Piasa” (live)
Self-described Kansas City dreamviolence band Night Tennis have been making noise for nearly two years now, and this live video of the ttle track to last year’s Piasa shows why they’re fast becoming one of the premiere acts on DNR. Milton’s Mayhem captured this video at the Sk8bar show on Thursday, January 15, and you can find a slew of other live videos on their YouTube channel. Per Night Tennis’ Tyler Ruzich, the band’s almost finished writing their next album, The Cedar Tree, which we hope to record in March and release in May.
Piasa: The Album is available on Bandcamp.
Natalie Prauser, 105 Live Session
For this 105 Live Session recorded for Kansas Public Radio’s weekly local music radio show, country singer-songwriter Natalie Prauser performs the first five songs from her newly-released sophomore LP, Everything Is Fine. Much like her contemporaries Kaitlin Butts or Lauren Lovelle, Prauser “blends the introspection of the 60s Laurel Canyon folk scene with the attitude of 70s outlaw country,” as the folks at KPR put it. If this doesn’t make you want to immediately head out to catch one of her many live dates, you’re dead inside.
Everything Is Fine is available at Bandcamp digitally and on vinyl and compact disc.
Limestone, “Starving”
For a band that’s only been around for less than two years, Lawrence’s indie-pop rockers Limestone have the polish and shine of scene veterans. Catching them play a semester kick-off party at the end of January felt like I was seeing a band headlining on a Saturday, not a weeknight matinee. Hearing their latest single, “Starving,” you can understand just why their crowd had a line out the door to get in. This is radio-ready sing along music, and the footage captured here doesn’t half get across just how energetic singer Lizzie Scharpf is in concert, nor how Spencer Timkar (guitar), Max Lajoie (rhythm guitar), Blake Amren (drums), and Andrew Kotch (bass) can absolutely fill a room. Given that Limestone is made up of KU sophomores, here’s to hoping we get a couple more years from the band.
Are you a local act with a new video to share? Email nicholas.spacek@gmail.com.
