It’s ramping up out here and it’s a wonderful thing to see. Friday Cheers is now officially in full swing, and this week Daniel Donato brings his cosmic country to Richmond, just as foreign punk bands electrify the Richmond Music Hall earlier in the week. Additionally, don’t miss the Ar-Kaics album release show at Get Tight Lounge. Dive into this issue for my take on Destructo Disk’s new cover and the latest track from an up-and-coming group in the Los Angeles underground scene. I’ve got it all for you and more on this week’s SOUND CHECK.
Are you a band with new music, a listener with suggestions, or just want to say hi? Send an email to Bones@rvamag.com
FRIDAY CHEERS
DANIEL DONATO’S COSMIC COUNTRY W/ MACKENZIE ROARK AND THE HOTPANTS
Friday, May 10th @ Brown’s Island
Doors: 6:00 pm
If you like psychedelia and country music, then Daniel Donato is what you need — trust me. One does not expect a lightning fast shredder to be fronting a band that identifies as country, but I have learned to stop expecting the boxes that people put themselves in to fully describe them. What’s country about Daniel Donato? His voice perhaps, his song structures for the most part, but Donato in the past had a tendency to go full on cosmic. If you want a good introduction to him as an artist, then look no further than his most popular track on Spotify, “Fire On The Mountain;” an epic 90 minute track that takes turns rises and falls only to turn again in a different direction. His most recent record Reflector is far more country inspired, but he still has the extra bit of flavor that sets him apart from the pack.
I’ve spoken of Mackenzie Roark a few times over the last year + that I have been doing this weekly column, and with good reason. Roark’s personality driven music blends 70’s rock and roll with aspects of country and folk that make her an her backing band an unobtrusive experience for any listener. If you’re even slightly interested in catching Daniel Donato, then I would say that Roark and company opening the show would be enough to seal the deal. Check out her 2022 record Rollin’ High, Feelin’ Low to get a feel for the sound, and then make your way down to Brown’ Island this Friday for an evening of country fun.
OUT OF TOWN ACTS TO SEE
AR-KAICS ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
Sunday, May 12 @ Get Tight Lounge
Doors: 7:30
Celebrating the release of yet another album, Ar-Kaics welcome See The World On Fire into the world. A truly epic record the in the most traditional sense of the word, See the World On Fire harkens back to the days of 60s British rock, but with a grander scope than often associated with the first waves of British rock bands to hit the us. Their psychedelic sound that pervades the majority of the record is a classic tone that can be enjoyed by any rock enthusiast, but they can get pretty strange and obscure when the moment calls for it (such as in the album’s closing track “Never Ending”). A unique record as far as the city is concerned, and just another entry from a veteran band with over a decades worth of experience. Head on out to Get Tight Lounge this Sunday to see Ar-Kaics put on one hell of a show.
THE CHISEL, HOME FRONT
Wednesday, May 8th @ Richmond Music Hall
Doors: 7:00pm
Nothing like violent punk music for a Wednesday evening. The Chisel came out of England in 2020, and I’ll be the first to say that their sound isn’t for everyone. Their title and opening track off their most recent album What A Fucking Nightmare is, in fact, hardly a track at all, but instead a 40 second chant repeated at increasing volume and intensity. Their vocals almost lack melody entirely – save for the occasional pop inspired hook such as in “Cry Your Eyes Out” — while not quite falling into the realm of more hardcore screaming, and simultaneously not quite becoming rap rock either.
Home Front hails from Canada having formed even more recently in 2021. The group embrace a punk ethos with harsh vocals and power chords, but what makes them interesting is their lack of rigidy to the traditional sound, firmly planting them in the post-punk tradition of great names like Elvis Costello and Fugazi. Their merging with another great genre of the 80s, synth pop, can be best heard in tracks like “Kill The Time” where the pop hooks are sung through highly distorted microphone while synth arpeggios light up the sonic bed beneath.
LOCAL & REGIONAL RELEASES
DESTRUCTO DISK – “BOYS DON’T CRY” (single)
Destructo Disk’s cover of the iconic song by The Cure does what I often want a cover to do; puts a unique spin on the original while keeping the spirit of it alive. Gideon’s’ harsh vocals provide a rougher-around-the-edges-feeling that makes Destructo Disk such an interesting act to begin with. The recording sound brighter and fuller while also slightly more overdriven, so if you’re a fan of the original I highly recommend this version by one of Richmond’s premiere ensembles. And who knows, if you’re not familiar with The Cure, then perhaps this track can serve as a bridge for Richmond’s youth acquaint themselves with the music that made some of today’s greatest bands who they are.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO
ZOE KILGREN – “CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE” (single)
The rock princess out of Los Angeles has delivered track after track in the first half of 2024, and this time around I felt I had to talk about it. With a memorable riff opening the song and disjointed drum beat underscoring the verses serve to make “Can’t Do This Anymore” distinct in the strangest way. That is all before evening mentioning Kilgren’s vocals, which are able to move seamlessly between whispered and wistful to towering and painful as she hollers out the titular line time and time again into a breakdown that verges on the truly hypnotic. Gaining significant steam on the west coast, the Zoe Kilgren band have been playing iconic venues once inhabited by the greats, and can’t stop putting out tunes, so for those keeping their eyes on the underground scene in LA, make sure to keep tabs on these young upstarts.
Top photo by Ant Braaten @antbraaten courtesy of Daniel Donato
