New Music From Charm School, With A Track Mixed By Steve Albini
Charm School is the latest project from Louisville, KY born and LA-based multi-hyphenate artist Andrew Sellers and his longtime collaborators Matt Filip, Drew English & Brian Vega. Sellers grew up immersed in Louisville’s underground music scene, soaking up local legends like Slint, Crain, & Rodan, as well as the catalogs of Chicago’s famed indie labels Touch & Go and Drag City. Add in a little Post-Punk pepper, and Charm School’s influence recipe is fairly complete. Their first EP Finite Jest, released in July of 2023, introduced listeners to a philosophically minded, crushingly loud critique of modern life’s increasingly maddening realities. Their debut LP Debt Forever, from January 2025, introduced a broader range of stylistic influences and an even more acerbic viewpoint, its lyrics drenched in addictively salty, satirical humor, and 2026’s Schadenfreude Ploy includes further musings on humanity’s collective tortured psyche and the many confounding implications of living in today’s technocratic hellscape. Simulacra Remixed, at radio now, finds Sellers returning to the band’s roots with new remixes of an early track, including one by the late, legendary Steve Albini.
Sellers says, “‘Simulacra’ was the first song I ever wrote for Charm School. I wrote it back in 2021 or 2022. At the time we recorded it and were mixing it with my friend Nick Roeder, but we also booked 2 days of mixing with Steve Albini at his studio Electrical Audio in Chicago. Unfortunately we had some technical issues setting up the session (not Electrical Audio’s fault) and Steve was also having to talk to doctors on the phone about some health issues his wife was having, so it became clear at the end of day 1 that we wouldn’t have enough time to get through all the songs on the EP. In that moment Steve made me a very gracious offer — he told me he didn’t believe that I was gonna get what I came up there for, and as a result he offered to waive his and the recording studio’s fee for the 2nd day so that I wouldn’t have to pay the full price for both days and then go home without finishing the project. It was the kind of display of integrity that Steve is known for, but that didn’t make it seem any less gentlemanly to me in the moment. I was kind of blown away, expressed my appreciation and accepted his offer. We then went on our merry ways. Little did I know he would pass away less than a year later. I’ve thought about that offer he gave me a lot since it happened. I’m a good bit younger than Steve but we did and do have some mutual friends from Louisville from years past and while that may have helped, it still seems incredibly kind for him to have essentially let me out of a binding contract which cost both him and the studio money. Needless to say it left an impression on me. So when we decided to do a little remix EP project for ‘Simulacra’ we dusted off Steve’s remarkably balanced mix, and with a little help from two of his assistants from Electrical Audio, Audio Mike Bridavsky (mixing / finishing touches) and Josh Bonati (mastering), we’re finally ready to release it into the world. Here’s to you Steve. You’ve done a lot for Louisville, and that’s just one tiny bit of what you’ve done for the broader world.”
“Emanating from a place where the B-52’s, PIL, The Fall & Gang of Four might find a shared sonic playground.” -Post-Punk.com
“Charm School has tapped into a well of influence that includes both The Fall and Pere Ubu and more modern No Wave-esque post-punkers Lithics and Protomartyr.” – Queen City Sounds & Art
“A rebellious shimmy, taking a stab at today’s twisted politics while you’re gettin’ down.” – Last Day Deaf
FCC Warning: Track 3, “Simulacra (INHALT Mix)”
Label: Surprise Mind Records
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