Torn Light Records Bringing Jazz, Post Punk And More To Bucktown's Milwaukee Avenue (2024)

BUCKTOWN — A record store with an emphasis on jazz, post punk, experimental music and many other genres sourced from lesser-known labels and bands is now open in Bucktown.

Torn Light Records opened late last month at 1855 N. Milwaukee Ave. While it’s new to Chicago, the store is actually in its 11th year in business: Co-owners Alex York and Dan Buckley started it more than a decade ago in Kentucky before moving to Cincinnati.

After many years in Ohio, York and Buckley realized they were spending more and more time in Chicago. They started looking for spaces here in early 2023 and decided to move their operation — which includes releasing records and tapes of their own and consulting on other projects — to the city.

Earlier this year, the duo took over the former home of the Chicago Teachers, Inc. store, which has been vacant for several years. They’ve spent the past few months prepping to build out the space and reopen.

Torn Light stocks a wide range of vinyl records, CDs and tapes — plus a curated selection of books and T-shirts. While that includes many rare finds from international and micro labels, more mainstream albums and titles are available, too.

“For us, the store is a place for someone to walk in and truly explore. … That’s why we opened the store in the first place,” York said. “I want people to be able to come in and maybe not know what they want, but just say, ‘I have $20, can you recommend something? I’ve been thinking about this or I’ve been feeling about this, or whatever.'”

Buckley and York launched Torn Light in a tiny storefront in Newport, Kentucky, that was “the size of a closet,” York said. It was immediately a success and gained a dedicated following as York and Buckley moved the business across the Ohio River to Cincinnati.

But over the past several years, the duo started spending more time in Chicago, where Buckley has family. They realized the city’s vibrant record collecting and music scenes could be a good fit for the business.

“We started testing the waters a year and a half ago, started asking the friends up here what they thought, friends who collect records who have been to store in Cincinnati. ‘What do you think about if we were to do this?'” York said. “We just had a lot of momentum pushed behind us, so we decided to make the change. This is just a better-suited home for us for everything that we’re involved with.”

To ease the transition, Torn Light’s lease in Cincinnati was taken over by Feel It Records, a local label that had wanted to open a brick-and-mortar spot, York said.

The Milwaukee Avenue space is about the same size as York and Buckley’s previous store. It will also feature the same range of genres and hard-to-find titles.

“A lot of those things, we might be one of three stores in America with copies,” York said. Buckley “and I are here, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m going to email this store in, you know, Budapest and see if I can get three copies of this record.’ And maybe it’s only three copies, but it’s the only ones in North America. It’s exciting to be able to say, ‘This is unique; check it out.'”

While York and Buckley didn’t move to Chicago with the sole intention of landing in Bucktown, they’ve come to love the store and area.

There are numerous local businesses on their stretch of Milwaukee Avenue — including Graveface Records and Uprise Skateshop— and it’s close to the hub of record stores around Milwaukee and Ashland avenues.

So far, the reaction to the new store has been great, York said.

“People are very, very, very excited about the selection,” he said.

Torn Light Records is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

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