It’s been quite awhile since I’ve attended any shows in Richmond. Prior to the onslaught of holiday shows happening at Strange Matter (Down to Nothing, Pig Destroyer, etc.) there didn’t seem to be a lot of shows that were catching my attention. Someone might disagree and point out a few shows at other venues, but chances are I didn’t notice. However, Speedy Ortiz playing with Sundials the first week of the year finally caught my eye.
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve attended any shows in Richmond. Prior to the onslaught of holiday shows happening at Strange Matter (Down to Nothing, Pig Destroyer, etc.) there didn’t seem to be a lot of shows that were catching my attention. Someone might disagree and point out a few shows at other venues, but chances are I didn’t notice. However, Speedy Ortiz playing with Sundials the first week of the year finally caught my eye.
During my initial stint as an RVA Mag intern over the summer, Speedy Ortiz was one of the few bands I was introduced to which struck a chord with me. After a month or two of listening to their debut LP, Major Arcana, I saw them at Fall Line Fest and was super impressed. Monday night’s show lived up to the expectations I’ve built for this band.
Sundials opened the early show on Monday night, playing a similar set to what any local indie/pop punk aficionado has seen them perform in the last year. I’m personally always pleased to see Sundials. Their 2012 release, When I Couldn’t Breath had a heavy rotation in my playlists even throughout last year. Their set wasn’t amazing, it was sloppy at times and certain songs were played a bit too fast, but it was still very enjoyable.
I’m just waiting to hear new Sundials material. They may have played a new song, but I might have just assumed it was a track I was a little less familiar with from their first record, Never Settle. Hopefully that’s not the case, I’m ready for new Sundials songs in 2014.
Spit-Take following Sundials was nice as well. I’ll commend whoever was behind booking this particular show, because the bands complimented each other so well. Very much in the similar vein of indie/pop-punk ala Asian Man Records, Spit-Take are a three-piece just starting to cut their teeth on the east-coast, largely DIY, tour circuit.
I’d recommend checking out their 5-song EP on Bandcamp. It’s pretty moody pop punk; emo, if you’re cool with using that term. While all four bands share tons of musical similarities, there was a certain contrast between the opening bands and the latter two. Grass is Green, who are currently on the road with Speedy Ortiz, play similar noise/guitar pop. They take similar influence from 90’s contemporaries like Pavement. It’s catchy, there’s hooks in the songs, but also feature tons of feedback and dissonance in the effect laden guitar work. They share a similar aesthetic in the album artwork and style, lots of crude hand drawings colored in with leftover RoseArt pencils and markers. I like to think of it as quirky.
Speedy Ortiz‘ set seemingly pleased everyone who came out. Songs from each of the band’s previous releases were played and even debuted a few of the new songs from their upcoming EP, Real Hair. During their set, frontwoman Sadie Dupuis made several mentions of the band’s infatuation with Richmond and Sundials. They even diverged from their planned setlist when asked to play “No Below”, which I’ll argue was one of the best songs from 2013. The band chose to play on the floor as well, which for ‘smaller’ shows at Strange Matter is always the best thing to do. It immediately makes the setting so much more intimate. For a band that seems to genuinely love coming through Richmond, it could not have been more perfect.
