A few Chicago music news bites

• Smith Westerns came out with a video for their new track "Varsity," the first single off their upcoming June 25th album Soft Will. Take in the song and video's chilled out, romantic vibes here.

• Anne Holub of Gapers Block wrote about Howl, the new album from Chicago funky soul act JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound.

• The Chicago Reader has a handy list of upcoming Chicago street festivals to help you plan out your summer. Thomas Conner of the Sun-Times detailed some of them as well as other summertime music happenings in the city in this article.

• Daytrotter announced an update to its subscription service that will allow those who subscribe to the site to see some of the money from the sign-up fee go directly to their favorite artists. Read more about it here.

• Noise-pop/shoegaze band Whales, whose debut album we reviewed back in 2011, are at work preparing the release of their second full length, Size and Scale. As a preview, the band have offered up the dreamy, spacey first single, "On the Floor," via Bandcamp. Take a listen: