This article was featured in RVAMag #24: Spring 2016.
This article was featured in RVAMag #24: Spring 2016. You can read all of issue #24 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now. To check out the first installment of Record Reviews click here.
Rugbie
Demo 2016
This duo quietly dropped one of the Richmond’s best debuts in recent memory with a four song collection that straddles the line between melodic pop and emocore. Don’t let the name of the release fool you as these songs are as strong as any proper studio recordings thanks to the pensive energy that effortlessly loops in and out of these wistful lyrics. (DN)
Colin Thibodeauxx/Ghosts
Split EP
Two melodic indie-rock songs each from two up-and-coming Richmond guitar-slingers. Collin Thibodeauxx has some upbeat catchy jangle-pop for you with a drifting, whimsical feel. Ghosts have a harder edge, but are still super-catchy–think early Weezer crossed with Guided By Voices. Both of these artists are sure to make you smile. (AN)
Ultra Flake
Loudmouth
(Bad Grrrl)
This new RVA hardcore-punk band features ex-members of Hot Dolphin and Bitchmouth, but what sets Ultra Flake apart from other local bands with similar sounds are the complex, dynamic riffs of guitarist Samantha Pearl. This goes by quickly and keeps you guessing, while also giving you plenty of reasons to point your finger and scream along. (AN)
Venus Guytrap
The Jell-O Shot Demos
After a short wait, Venus Guytrap recordings are a thing! Over the course of three songs, the band displays a strong prowess for nineties grunge while creating a sound all their own. “Prommunism” is full of speedy lyrical bursts and lush harmonies that show the unpredictability of Venus Guytrap and what makes them so wonderful. (SC)
National Reviews
Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Arc
(Relapse)
For a band that once released a 20-minute, 100-song CD to fill nearly half an hour with just three songs is decidedly irregular, but it seems Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s command of sludge is just as strong as their dominance over hyperspeed grind. Vocalist Kat Katz takes the lead here, giving us a femme-powered blast of slow-mo brutality. Sick. (AN)
The Anchoress
Confessions Of A Romance Novelist
(Kscope)
A thrilling collection of thematic break-up songs that form a narrative so strong that it might just deserve placement on Broadway. Catherine AD’s new stage name allows her to branch out with an engaging art rock sound that has you guessing at every sonic twist and turn of the record, all the while wondering how you never heard it coming. (DN)
The Black Queen
Fever Daydream
(self-released)
Greg Puciato’s turn as a Mike Patton-esque semi-power balladeer in The Dillinger Escape Plan has rubbed many a fan of the band’s old-school material the wrong way. That said, the singer’s somewhat mucousy wail has a certain magnetism to it, which fits right into The Black Queen’s dark, sexy, and sleek update on Depeche Mode-style synth-pop. (CE)
Bloodiest
Bloodiest
(Relapse)
The second album from this Chicago-based heavy, experimental rock group has some pretty obvious metal guideposts — the prog-sludge riffing of Mastodon and the complex rhythms of Isis are apparent ancestors to this band’s particular brand of heaviness. Despite this, it isn’t a straight-up metal record. Thin, gritty guitars, classical influences, and Bruce Lamont’s singing set this material apart. (CE)
