Post Animal/Photo: CJ Harvey
Post Animal returns to Chicago to play Thalia Hall on November 18, off the back of an East Coast circuit of shows following the summer release of “Iron” (2025). The local indie outfit is bringing home a bit of a reunion curiosity, having reunited with one of their founding members, who happens to be a famous actor.
The psych-leaning soft-rock group, formed in Chicago in 2014, plays as part of a fall tour celebrating their new record, and in anticipation of the December 5 release of “Iron (Expansion Pack),” an extended EP of the original summer recording. It’s the first album since 2017 to feature all six original members: Dalton Allison (bass/vocals), Matt Williams (guitar/vocals), Jake Hirshland (guitar/keys), Javier Reyes (guitar/vocals), Wesley Toledo (drums) and Joe Keery (guitar/vocals), who helped form the band before his acting career took him west to star in “Stranger Things” and release music as a solo artist.
Originally, Post Animal built their identity in basements and tightly packed local venues, cultivating an impressive but underappreciated catalogue with limited pomp. The band produced terrific, technically superb easy-listening indie with their sophomore record, “When I Think Of You In A Castle” (2018). While impossible not to write about, the celebrity association is neither a PR stunt nor something even remotely promoted or discussed by the band—it is simply the reabsorption of an additional creative voice.
Keery left the lineup in 2017 to focus on acting and later found separate musical success with his solo project, Djo, producing the TikTok hit (and, truthfully, an excellent track) “End of Beginning.” Post Animal has continued recording and touring in his absence, releasing “Forward Motion Godyssey” (2020) and “Love Gibberish” (2022) as their third and fourth studio albums prior to “Iron.” With “Forward Motion Godyssey” representing the group’s most psychedelic and inventive work, and “Love Gibberish” a bit more pop-rock, “Iron” is a slower-moving indie exercise. “When I Think Of You In A Castle,” “Forward Motion Godyssey” and “Iron” represent their most accomplished work to date, and are worth a spot on any local indie fan’s radar.
The band recorded “Iron” in seclusion in rural Indiana, working in an isolated decamped space that forced focus and, presumably, encouraged instinct. Rather than polish songs over months, the six members wrote and tracked in real time over the course of several weeks, relying on the chemistry that defined their early years. Much of the record’s energy and arrangements feel as though they come from that immediacy.
Touring with Post Animal and performing as openers at Thalia Hall are The Slaps, filling out a strong ticket that provides an apt and incredibly flattering snapshot of Chicago’s industrious indie movement over the last ten years. Formed in 2017 at DePaul, The Slaps are local heroes of our lively soft-rock scene. They are wildly talented and addictive to listen to.
Post Animal plays Thalia Hall, 1807 South Allport, with The Slaps on November 18. Advance tickets are sold out; limited day-of tickets will be available at the box office.
