Former Critics are a five-piece Detroit group that blend elements of punk, hard-rock, and maybe even a little bit, just a bit, of shreddy-metal, post-hardcore and Midwest emo!

Now, what do any of these attributive compounded nouns and sub-genres actually mean, you ask? Well, we explore that together on this week’s MI Local—fitting since the group’s name conjures a vocation that I, myself, use to have, (read: a music ‘critic’) who would often get preoccupied with these cryptic descriptors, like, say, for example, “graveyard punk!”

Former Critics started ten years ago and have since released two EPs and two full-length albums. Their most recent album, “I Wanna Be Dramatic”, came out just two weeks ago, hot on the heels of their recent mid-summer tour!

The band formed out of a high school friendship between singer Jessica Murray, guitarist Doug Luenner, and drummer Mike Pakulski, initially beginning as an acoustic trio. Bassist Branden Szymanski and guitarist Dave Holm round out the current lineup, althought Szymanski wasn’t able to join us in-studio due to a recent injury, (he’s okay and will still be performing with them live, later this weekend)!

Former Critics’ arrangements blend breakneck tempos with exceedingly catchy, headbanging-inducing hooks and anthemic choruses, typically laced with distortion-shredded guitars and lyrics that cut with blunt social commentary, heart-wrenching confessionals coated in a goth/macabre-adjacent vocabulary.

And their live shows absolutely match the frenetic energy of their recordings: you can see them live this Saturday at the Loving Touch in Ferndale!

I premiered “Black Hole,” the third single from Former Critics’ latest album back in June and the group has since released a music video that you can watch below!

But what a treat, because they ALSO performed that song live, acoustically, during this week’s MI Local! And yes, you can translate hard-rocking graveyard punk to a softer acoustic side, I saw it and heard it with my own eyes and ears.

Also new this week: We heard new synth-pop sounds from the Detroit duo known as Deadbeat Dad, and an in-case-you-missed-it spin of the latest single by Matthew Smith, current leader of The Matthew Smith Group and former leader of Outrageous Cherry!

Another notable spin this week was the latest from the psych-folk singer/songwriter known as Santiparro, a born/raised Metro Detroiter who recently collaborated with well-known alt-folk pioneer Bonnie “Prince” Billy. You can see Santiparro perform live this Saturday at Third Man Records!

Speaking of shows happening around the region, the throwback pop stylists known as Lyons Lane will join Drey Skonie at El Club this Friday night for a prom-themed concert, and organist John Szymanski will be busy this week, performing with his post-punk art-rock group Eck! on Friday night at the Paris Bar then traveling to Ann Arbor at the Great Honk Fest at Olson Park.

Lastly, we also spun a great new track by Detroit-based R&B dynamo Beth, with “Call Me.” WDET recently featured Beth during our Sounds Like Detroit Showcase, a live concert hosted at Batch Brewing last month! Check out the new music video by Beth below, and scroll further for the full playlist from this week’s show.

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

• “Runaway” – Light Scene Factory
• “DANCE TRACK” – deadbeatdad
• “Call Me” – Beth
• “Fall” – Tariq Gardner & the Evening Star
• “Remember Me” – Bevlove
• “Others” – The Matthew Smith Group
• “Chaos Incarnate” – Santiparro
• “Babytalk” – Lyons Lane
• “Woke Up” – Eck!
• “Can You Feel It” – Former Critics
• “I Wanna Be Dramatic” – Former Critics

Tariq Gardner grew up in Detroit surrounded by music. His mother is renowned bassist Marion Hayden. Jazz was in the house and his hands from an early age.

He studied jazz and contemporary improvisation at the University of Michigan. Gardner has played everything from straight-ahead jazz to neo-soul, hip-hop, gospel, and Afro-Cuban. He’s performed at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Cape May Jazz Festival, and with artists across the country.

He leads Evening Star, a band of longtime collaborators who blend Detroit’s jazz tradition with global rhythms and modern grooves.

The band is a featured artist in WDET’s 2025 Sounds Like Detroit Music Showcase.

Tariq Gardner joined the show to discuss his musical journey.

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