Asbury Park musician Mike Chick, best known for steering the beautifully unhinged ship that is Yawn Mower, is gearing up for the release of a new solo LP titled Congarts, out April 17 via Mint 400 Records. No, that’s not a typo: A cake gifted to him once read “Congarts.” The universe spoke, and Chick had his next album title.
The first single, “Tomorrow Is All A Blur,” landed February 20, paired with a cover of The Minutemen’s “Corona.” The second single, “Atom Bomb,” drops March 20, doublind down on this single’s formula with a well-selected B-side take on Guided By Voices’ “Teenage FBI.”
“Tomorrow Is All A Blur” feels like indie pop wired through a basement drum machine that hasn’t slept in weeks. Buzzing synths and fuzzed-out guitars crash in over a stiff, looping beat that refuses to blink. It’s restless, mechanical, and strangely comforting, the kind of track that stares at the ceiling with you at 2 a.m. and doesn’t pretend to have answers. The repetition isn’t lazy so much as it is deliberate. The fog is the point.
On “Corona”, Chick reins it in, drains the twitchy chaos from the original, and rebuilds it into something breezier and more reflective. Warm organ, nimble guitar lines, a steadier pulse. In place of confrontation, there is nuance and drift. It’s not cosplay punk, and it keeps the song feeling fresh without sacrificing what made the original Minutemen version so special.
Congarts follows 2023’s More Thrills, Less Hills and plays like a mixtape made by someone who never stopped tinkering. Drum machine and combo organ lead most of the charge. There’s one full-tilt rock burner, two acoustic cuts, and even an intermezzo stitched together with a homemade recording of backyard crickets. It was recorded mostly between Summer 2024 and Fall 2025 while Chick was also grinding through the next Yawn Mower LP.
The record features vocals from Martin Howth across all tracks, plus contributions from Bob Paulos and Nicole Scorsone, who add live drums, guitar, synth, violin, and viola to select cuts. Raindrops leak into one track. Trains pass in the backgrounds of other takes. Imperfections stay in and only add to the charm. “Atom Bomb” hits March 20. Congarts drops April 17. Misspelled or not, the message is clear: keep working, keep recording, keep the tape rolling. That’s where the magic comes through.
