July is waning and the summer rays are getting fewer, but the music scene is still hot as hell here in RVA. In fact, there is so much new music on hand right now that we can’t fit it all in this column or the Sounds of RVA site. This is a good problem, though. Keep it up, kids!
July is waning and the summer rays are getting fewer, but the music scene is still hot as hell here in RVA. In fact, there is so much new music on hand right now that we can’t fit it all in this column or the Sounds of RVA site. This is a good problem, though. Keep it up, kids!
Thanks to Bogart’s and the following bands, we had our third successful “Sounds of RVA Showcase” this past weekend. For the past few months, Bogart’s has really stepped up their game as far as booking a variety of either free or cheap shows. Almost every night of the week contains some sort of musical entertainment, and once a month our showcase takes the spotlight. Here are a few notes and photos from Saturday’s event:
Time Machines opened up the night with heavy guitars and post-prog compositions, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. The tone was: loud. Drummer Brandon Ellison killed it on the kit while guitarists Jared Gaines and Wayne Miller flip-flopped vocal duties. The guys in the band have apparently been playing together for years, and the dynamic allows for some tight-knit psychedelic excursions.
Everyone Dies in the End took the stage next, and their droning, slow-building epic rock had everyone in the room dripping with anticipation. The four-piece post-rock outfit controlled the attention of everyone in the room, and guitarist Luke Deskins’ solos involved some sort of metal tool as an implement on the strings, which we learned was a piece of a drum beater from friend TJ Childers (Inter Arma).
Finishing the night was Sea of Storms, who picked the audience up and dropped us on our faces. Guitarist/vocalist Brandon Peck’s birthday began just as the band started playing at midnight, and friends and cohorts were on hand to sing happy birthday before SofS got started. Bassist John Martin slew our ears with his grungey low end while drummer Chris Brown pierced through the anthemic punk rock guitars. The band played an instrumental encore before calling it quits. Thanks again, guys!
As far as new music goes, let’s start off with Graphic Melee and his new album, Going Away Present. The moniker behind which Phillip Gilliam-Cuffee operates, Graphic Melee is self-described as “a musician raised on funk, hip-hop, jazz, and rock transforming the images from his life into dense walls of sound so real you’ll swear you can see the music.” His account is pretty accurate, as you’ll see below. There are so many sounds fusing with each other that it’s easy to get lost. We dig how classy his name drops are, from Coltrane to Miles and George Clinton. Enjoy glitch-hop, psych hop, and jazz fusion at one time with this badass mother.
photo by Muhamad Khalid
Cat Be Damned has released a followup to their 2012 album Singing About Places I’ve Never Been, which placed on last year’s top LPs of 2012 list. The Top of the Mountain Looks Just Like the Bottom was released on July 11th, and it is another mature yet contemplative listen. The project is led by Erik “Neil Young” Phillips and calls both RVA and Raleigh home. Phillips is helped by drummer Kyle Chappell and bassist John Kovalchik. Check out “No Equation” for a sweet baritone guitar riff and a trippy, dreamy feedback solo reminiscent of Radiohead.
The new joint from Sub-Versatile is spiritual and mind-expanding. The beats and soundscapes contained in the album utilize spooky soul samples and distorted electronics (see “The Soul that Captured Mine”). The spoken word messages are a bit far out but if you go with it, you flow with it. RIYL: Ohbliv, chillwave.
Gritter has just released a limited-edition EP called Welcome to the Sinkhole, wherein the sinkhole is life, hell, or something deep like that. The six-track metalcore album starts off with a 4:20 minute long ripping “Black Teeth.” “The sinkhole is crawling with assholes…”
Cheyenne are back with, literally, 3 Songs. Complex post-punk gutiar riffs combine with dreamy emo-punk vocals for effusive sounds. Complex time signatures abound, as in “Something New,” with its shift to 4-4 and back. The atonal vocals work really well with the tone of the guitars on this track.
Here are a few new tracks circling the scene right now. Hype guaranteed:
Strumpet ft. Lucy Dacus – “The Kids Said Dance”
This track reminds me of Black Girls, perhaps, mixed with Avett Brothers and Wilco. “The Kids Said Dance” is a song from the band’s upcoming EP. RIYL Ben Folds, Fiona Apple. Stay tuned.
photo by Alex Mernin
The Milkstains – “Desert Demo”
The long awaited album from The Milkstains is on its way, and this rough basement track is signalling good things to come. Perhaps inspired by desert rock, a la Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s project with Bombino, the song’s guitar (John Sizemore) hits desert blues territory. Of course the song also features the ‘Stains’ signature surf and syncopation.
Butcher Brown – “Inside You” (Eddie Henderson cover)
Butcher Brown is always releasing some new track or video, and this one is a treat. The cover of Eddie Henderson’s “Inside You” is a lengthy R&B/funk track that is smooth and, ahem, sexual.
photo by Liz Morton
Valdosta – “The Room”
David Shultz’s new project is called Valdosta, named after his birth town in Georgia. Along with Willis Thompson (My Old Ways) and James Mason (Mason Brothers), Shultz combines Southern rock with alt-country in a fresh way.
By Sarah Moore Lindsey (soundsofrva.org)
