News
26 September 2026 – Ax and the Hatchetmen Stick & Poke Their Way Through the Messy Twenties
By Editorial Team - September 26, 2026
Summary
Chicago sextet Ax and the Hatchetmen release Stick & Poke EP, pairing bouncy indie-rock choruses with candid twenty-something romantic misadventures.
Key Facts
- Chicago six-piece Ax and the Hatchetmen release new indie-rock EP Stick & Poke.
- Features tracks 'Funny Valentine', 'Loser', and the buoyant title track led by frontman Axel Ellis.
- Supported by an extensive autumn 2026 tour including Red Rocks, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
- Entities: Ax and the Hatchetmen, Stick & Poke, Axel Ellis, Funny Valentine, The Revivalists, Mt. Joy, Chicago, Red Rocks
- Tags: ax-and-the-hatchetmen, stick-and-poke, axel-ellis, indie-rock, chicago-music, the-revivalists, autumn-tour
Chicago sextet Ax and the Hatchetmen have released Stick & Poke, an indie-rock EP built from springy guitars, danceable choruses and the useful understanding that your twenties provide enough romantic mistakes to keep a songwriter employed indefinitely. The collection includes previously released "Loser" and title track "Stick & Poke" alongside material such as "Funny Valentine," with frontman Axel Ellis describing the songs as snapshots of life's highs and lows and songwriting as a form of personal therapy.
"Funny Valentine" takes the familiar Cupid mythology and replaces the greeting-card ending with the considerably more realistic moment when a promising relationship simply stops working and nobody receives a useful instruction manual explaining why. Musically, the band avoid turning all this romantic damage into a funeral procession. Their sound remains bright, restless and knowingly playful, borrowing some of indie sleaze's bounce without requiring listeners to locate their 2007 skinny jeans.
The release arrives as the band embark on a substantial autumn touring run. Following an appearance at Red Rocks supporting The Revivalists, October and November bring headline dates across Indianapolis, Nashville, Athens, Charleston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and several more American cities, alongside a support date for Mt. Joy in Waco. Stick & Poke consequently feels less like an isolated EP drop and more like the point where a steadily rising live band converts momentum into something tangible. Romantic chaos remains regrettable in real life, but indie rock would face catastrophic supply-chain problems without it.