The week and the music all seem heavy right now. Sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you. Sometimes you sway gently to a crooner at The Camel, sometimes you lose a tooth in the pit at the Canal Club.
Got a show coming up? New single? Simply want someone to talk music? I am your guy at griffin@rvamag.com.
The Camel
Saturday, November 16th
Erin & the Wildfire, Ms. Jaylin Brown
Erin & the Wildfire are dancing the night away at The Camel in celebration of their new single “Shapes In The Clouds” releasing on 11/15. Their sound is easy, ethereal, and poppy, and even easier to become friends with. This will be their third single this year and it seems like they are getting just better and better, which is saying something as the first two were finely crafted. The trio has some real versatility showcasing funky bass lines in one, sincere guitars in another, and a vocal showcase in the next. I think this will be a very personal show.
Ms. Jaylin Brown is an absolute vocal joy. A lone guitar paints the backdrop over which her voice decorates a landscape of light green and deep purple. The word that I found myself coming to the most while listening is “rich,” there is just so much sonic jewelry to get lost in here.
The Broadberry
Wednesday, November 20th
Chat Pile, Mamaleek, Thirdface
It feels like Chat Pile has been all the rage recently. Their newest album, Cool World, released on October 11th and has sling-shotted them into the future like Apollo 11 going around the moon. You can see the mean mugs allotted onto each member as a song descends into a thick mosh. This new album showcases that they are not one note whatsoever, they are bringing a balance of the mesmerizing and the harsh. The tones that they have captured on this album, brutal, mechanical, unforgiving, are going to create a really unforgettable live show.
Mamaleek is nothing but experimental. They sound like a car doing donuts in the front yard during a gentle rain while you slowly sip coffee on your porch. There is jazz and metal, some of this and a little of that. I think it is hard to find surrealist music but I dare say it is this. Thirdface is maybe the opposite, straight up hardcore blasting in your face. Barking vocals start a revolution while the drums blast open the gates of the palace, where the guitar and bass pillage at will.
Cobra Cabana
Sunday. November 17th
Trauma Ray, Full Body 2, Leaving Time, Shiv
Based out of Fort Worth, Trauma Ray is a shoegaze-esque group that reads like you are swimming through thick waves. They are a maze of fuzz and reverb that you are almost happy to get lost in. As soon as you think you understand the pacing, they bring in an influence that could lull you into a sway as easily as it could launch you into the pit. I think this one will really be a hit for everyone that had a good time at that DIIV show this summer.
It is fitting that the first word of their name is “full,” Full Body 2 has an overflowing sound. There is something incredibly space-like about them, like massive planets spinning into unknown fates. Leaving Time seems a bit more earth based. I think they offer a good place to get a grip before you start climbing up the mountain. They are the hand that is reaching down to pull you up to the next ridge. Shiv is following some of the themes of this show but I think they were hardcore kids growing up, and that gives them a little bit more of an edge.
New Tunes
One Day In A Lifetime by The J.O.B.
This is a really timely song to navigate the churning, violent, and unpredictable waves that life has created recently. It is an inspiring and optimistic almost ballad style number, with a caring but strong voice at its center. It almost reminds me of the later Undertones/Fergall Sharkey releases.
