Get Tangled in the Perfect Chaos of Uniflora’s “Jack and Annie”
Uniflora refuse to settle on their sound, and despite (or because of) their creative fluidity, every evolution of their process feels completely authentic.
Photo by Josh Darr
The Chicago-based, post-punk trio of Quinn Dugan, Ruby O’Brien, and Theo Williams has switched things up on “Jack and Annie,” their newest release since their 2025 debut record, More Gums Than Teeth. Dugan and Williams traded their retrospective guitar/vocals and bass roles, and the experimentation gives the track a loose, raw spirit.
The bandmates have known each other since kindergarten and started playing together for a holiday party, officially forming Uniflora in 2023. That level of familiarity is clear in the band’s creative vulnerability and willingness to trust each other in the studio. “Jack and Annie” evokes the nostalgia of childhood, especially the stolen moments away from adults’ expectations for obedient behavior—hanging out in the back corner of the yard during recess, the coveted classroom holiday party days when you got to watch TV at your desks, whispering to your friend when you’re supposed to be working. The song is frenzied, it’s chaotic, it’s fun, and it’s a reminder that we can break our own rules.
The track opens with a thrumming beat overlaid with stuttered plinking like dropping a full box of Legos. A sing-song, almost taunting lyrical delivery breaks into screaming, and rowdy and unstructured guitar squealing is barely contained by the pounding drum beat. Uniflora says that “Jack and Annie” was inspired by the time-traveling protagonists Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books, specifically the cover of Danger in the Darkest Hour, an absurd image of the children parachuting behind enemy lines in 1944 Normandy through a sky bursting with explosions. This juxtaposition of fiction and reality mirrors the whiplash of the song, which continually breaks the rules it creates like a playground game. It’s a track that will take you by surprise no matter how many times you listen to it.
If you’re in the Chicago area on October 30, catch Uniflora live when they’re slated to open for Sweeping Promises at Empty Bottle. Also keep an eye out for the upcoming “Jack and Annie” music video directed by Jack Massuci.
