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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: May 4 – May 10

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FEATURED SHOW
Wednesday, May 4, 8 PM
Indie Pop Night at Black Iris, feat. Hotspit (Photo by @2hevns), Winkler, Ten Pound Snail, Frames @ Black Iris – $8 in advance, $10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Something nice I’ve noticed as the live music scene here in Richmond has thawed and reawakened after the eighteen-month virtual freeze of the pandemic is the increased role being taken in bringing live music to our town by two different important local entities: Black Iris, and Baripete Productions. I’ve particularly noted the things the Arts District-based social club and the up-and-coming promotion outfit have been working together on. For a few months toward the beginning of this year, Baripete were running weekly jazz nights on Wednesdays at Black Iris as part of a series called “Doors At Eight.” Since then, in addition to the growth of the Brambly After Dark series of concerts at Brambly Park and a few noteable presentations at The Hofheimer’s multiple live rooms, Baripete’s brought several other events to Black Iris, of which this Indie Pop Night is just the latest.

And while the jazz fans who loved Doors At Eight might be a little bummed that this event has such a different theme genre, those of us who adore the many melodic indie bands making gorgeous tunes around the Richmond area are in luck with this evening. Hotspit is at the top of the bill, and they’ve really taken some big steps over the last couple of years. The latest is demonstrated by “Wane Mouth,” the single the band released a couple months ago as their first new music in the wake of 2021 debut album CC. It’s both more concise and more directly focused on the beautiful melodies at its center than any of the songs on CC were, and it shows that Hotspit are reaching a new level with their craft — a level that will immerse you in memorably lovely sounds.

Three more bands grace this bill in addition to Hotspit, though, and all have considerable charms. Let’s start with the one from out of town: Winkler are a jangly, acoustic-focused Boston combo who demonstrate an old-fashioned folky charm on new single “Mona.” It definitely leaves you wanting more, and they’ll be bringing plenty more to Black Iris tonight. As for Ten Pound Snail, their Red House Painters-ish slowcore sound is infectious, and a little bird tells me they’re getting ready at some point in the relatively near future to release a fresh batch of excellent tunes to all of us eager listeners. Get a preview of what they’ve got in store at this show. And hey — make sure you show up right on time at 8 o’clock sharp for this one, because missing a second of the opening set that incredibly talented emo-pop group Frames opens the evening with is a crime against music. Be there or get locked up. Hey, I don’t make the rules.

Wednesday, May 4, 9 PM
Pardoner (Photo by Chloe Mullowney), Blunt @ Fuzzy Cactus – $7
Alternately, you might wish to head to Northside and spend your Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you… I know, it’s terrible) evening at Richmond’s 21st century home of rock n’ roll, Fuzzy Cactus, where the talented San Francisco-based group Pardoner will be unleashing an evening full of excellent indie rock riffs. And like, look people — nostalgia is a curse. Pop culture is so doused in it circa 2022 that I wish it had physical form, so I could pick it up and wring the nostalgia out of it like a wet washrag. But nonetheless, when I hear people talking about Pardoner having a nostalgic sound that harks back to the early-90s days of underground alternative rock on their latest LP, Came Down Different, well… I can’t deny that I get what they mean.

But let’s reframe this, folks. When I listen to Pardoner, I hear a band capable of energetic indie rock that pulls from sources as diverse as early 80s UK postpunk, the psychedelic garage rock revival led by their fellow San Franciscans Thee Oh Sees, the Americana-infused jangle-pop of early REM, and, yeah OK, the many feedback-laced melodic guitar rockers from college towns like Boston and Chapel Hill who infused the indie scene of the early 90s. Why can’t what these guys are doing today just constitute another wave of this evergreen sound? I for one think it does — every time I’ve put on Came Down Different over the past couple days, I’ve quickly forgotten that I was doing a “research listen.” This band is more than good enough to be a band that you don’t just indulge for extramusical reasons. And they’ll certainly present a show that’s way more than good enough to get you through another year of unnecessary lightsaber references.

Thursday, May 5, 7 PM
The Chisel, Dark Thoughts, Quarantine, Public Acid @ Studio Two Three – $15
Another big change in the post-pandemic world of local live music is that I’ve found I can’t just source all my information about upcoming shows on Facebook anymore. Which is great, because I hate Facebook (I’m a Twitter girl, at least for now). However, these days, I’m finding the place I have to go — and do a fair amount of hunting while I’m there — is Instagram. I can deal with Instagram, but I much more oriented toward words than pictures, so it doesn’t come the most naturally to me. Thankfully, the more time I spend on there, the more often I find amazing shows like this one, featuring great underground bands tearing it up at venues that are a little off the beaten path. Many times, the most truly memorable live music events take place in circumstances like that one.

But even if such high-flown reasoning isn’t likely to draw you out to some random punk show, rest assured you should make time for this one. UK punk rockers The Chisel have blown a lot of minds in the punk and hardcore world over the past year or so, first with a series of killer singles, then with their incredible LP of last November, Retaliation. I hear people talk when they listen to this band about oi! and other such micro-genres, but I’m not gonna get into the weeds with all that, because to me, The Chisel is just a straight-up old-school punk band with a ton of energy, fury, and that patented British snarl all the best late-70s UK bands excelled at, coupled with some great rock n’ roll riffs that stand outside any particular momentary movement. Whether you dig Blitz, 9 Shocks Terror, the New York Dolls, the Back From The Grave comps, or some combination of all of them, you’ll find something to love in the music of The Chisel. And you should really be there for what’s sure to be one of the better shows to come to RVA this season. Regardless of what social media you did or did not find out about it from.

Friday, May 6, 7 PM
Suppression, Kontusion, Left Cross @ Cobra Cabana – $5
Here’s an absolutely mind-blowing fact — Suppression have been a band for three full decades. Formed by bassist/vocalist Jason Hodges back when he was a teenage grindcore nerd living in Roanoke, they spent most of their first decade as a quintet with constantly shifting lineups, of which Jason was the only constant member. When he moved to Richmond at the dawn of the 21st century, the lineup settled into its present incarnation, with the illustrious Ryan Parrish (also of Darkest Hour, Iron Reagan, and a million other bands) on drums and Jason handling everything else (so: bass, vocals, and a million distortion pedals and noise machines).

They’ve been through a ton of evolutions in just the time since the duo of Jason and Ryan became the band’s permanent lineup, and in recent years they’ve returned to a sloppier and even more noisy and primitive version of the grind/metal/noise/core sound they were making during their Roanoke days in the mid-90s. 2021 digital compilation Oblivion Rats collects all the noise they made between 2015 and 2018. It includes two full-length albums and six split EPs, and runs to 99 tracks, many of which are run-together medleys featuring three or more songs. So yeah, this is a bunch of blurry, distorted noise, of the sort that makes most of what “power violence” seem downright slow and accessible. 30 years later, well into their 40s, Suppression are still making the kind of noise that will not only alienate your parents, but probably your kids too. And if that isn’t a commendable achievement, I don’t know what is. Go celebrate it with them at Cobra Cabana this Friday night. Do it for posterity.

Saturday, May 7, 8 PM
The Great Beforetimes, Abby Huston, Tess Fisher, Rebekah Rafferty & The Wakes @ The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
The Great Beforetimes are a minimalist acoustic trio that brings together singer-songwriter Aern Stapel and artist Ceili Galante with guitarist Taimir Gore, whose name is more familiar to me from post-rock band Kristeva and Black Liquid’s new metal band, Armagideon Time. It was definitely that unusual combo of people involved in this project first caught my attention, but I wouldn’t have stuck around long enough to write about them if it weren’t for the sincerely intriguing sound they create on their brand-new self-titled LP, the release of which this Saturday night show at The Camel is intended to celebrate. With a percussion-less sound fundamentally oriented around banjo, there’s a temptation to write them off as old-time music, or Americana, or whatever.

But if you actually spend some time with the music of The Great Beforetimes, you’ll soon realize that they have far less in common with scratchy old 78s recorded in Southwest Virginia hotels 100 years ago than they do with psych-folk rangers like Devendra Banhart, the early works of grandiose weirdo singer-songwrite Sufjan Stevens, or even Richmond hometown hero Josh Small. Like the music of all of these artists, The Great Beforetimes’ music steps outside of any studied, formalistic appreciation of the music of a bygone culture to connect with us all in the here and now. This band uses banjo, acoustic guitar, and voices raised in harmony to create songs that actually reach us all the way here in our digital-as-fuck 21st century world and make real deep connections that’ll have you placing these tunes into “new favorite tracks” playlists right alongside Lizzo or Wet Leg or Drug Church or whatever else you’re digging so far in 2022. There’s no contradiction here. Great music exists outside time. That said, this show takes place in a very defined chronological moment, and I encourage you to spend the hours between 8 pm and midnight this Saturday night at The Camel appreciating every gorgeous, unique moment of it.

Sunday, May 8, 7 PM
Soul Glo, Listless, Dumb Waiter @ The Camel – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Speaking of music we’re adding to playlists featuring our faves of 2022 thus far, it’s highly apropos that Soul Glo are bringing their frantic, chaotic brand of hardcore to Richmond at The Camel this Sunday night. Because their new LP, Diaspora Problems, is — at least for me — the most fully realized expression of what it is that they do that’s come into the world thus far. And I mean, I loved Soul Glo even back when I first heard them back in 2016. Nonetheless, Diaspora Problems seems to me to bring all of the elements of what they do into perfect proportion to create an absolute hardcore classic. The song structures are chaotic and unpredictable without being confusing or alienating. The guitars are noisy and harsh, but the choruses are so catchy and memorable that you’ll be singing along with the best of them after only one listen — even when that means you’ll catch yourself mumbling, “Who gon’ beat my ass? Who the fuck gon’ beat my ass?” under your breath while washing dishes.

That’s the other thing about Soul Glo that stands out from moment one — the larger than life personality of vocalist Pierce Jordan, who screams, rages, and rants a thousand miles a minute throughout this album, showing off a verbosity that I, a person who writes this long-ass column once a week, can’t help be impressed with. Soul Glo’s lyrics bring a realness that gets much closer to what it’s actually like to be alive than 99% of lyricists ever even attempt, as well as a strong political consciousness that isn’t going to let any of us off the hook for any of our day to day bullshit. Specifically, they focus quite a bit from an intensely personal perspective on the struggle of marginalized Black people in the United States in the year 2022, something a lot of white people like me (and maybe you?) have let ourselves mostly forget about now that the monuments are down. Soul Glo’s an incredible band pushing the boundaries of what hardcore and punk rock can be, and they’re sure to blow your mind musically. But the lyrics and the statements they make with their music are just as important, and that if anything is why you should make The Camel your destination this Sunday night.

Monday, May 9, 7 PM
Chris Acker, Jackson Lynch, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers, Brady Heck @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I know, I’ve said it many times before, but I’m always so thankful that The Camel bothers to book shows on Monday night, a night when many other local venues are generally dark and shuttered. This time around, though, they aren’t just bringing us a charming little locals-only bill; instead, they’re hosting touring singer-songwriters Chris Acker and Jackson Lynch. Acker hails from Seattle, while Lynch was born in Ireland and raised in New York, but the city that appears to unite the two of them is New Orleans, where both have spent quite a bit of time during their careers. They’re currently on tour together, both in support of recently released full-lengths that show off their respective powers.

Where Acker is concerned, the LP in question is Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise, his third, released last year and featuring an impressive collection of tunes that make abundantly clear why people compare this dude to the legendary John Prine. It’s the voice, yes — they do sound similar. But it’s also the strength of the songwriting, the way Acker is skilled at capturing all the tiny events that make up the lives of ordinary people and setting them to beautiful, bittersweet tunes. As for Lynch, his new LP is All By My Ownsome, his first full-length release. It mixes covers of century-old tunes by pre-war blues legends like Lonnie Johnson and Josh White with Lynch originals that show how deeply indebted Lynch is to the old-time blues and folk traditions, but also display how creative he is and how much personality he brings to his music. Both Acker and Lynch will be well worth your time to see, and the fact that local purveyors of Americana sounds like Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers and Brady Heck are also on the bill only sweetens an already delicious cup of musical iced tea. Drink up.

Tuesday, May 10, 6:30 PM
Higher Power, Earth To Heaven, Reflect, Torment @ The HofGarden – $15 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I like a lot of different kinds of music, but I’ve never pretended to be anything other than a hardcore kid at heart, so whenever a really great hardcore band comes through town, I try my best to get them into this here show column. You’ve seen some evidence of that already in this edition (see the Soul Glo blurb above), and here’s another example. Higher Power hail from Leeds, over in the UK, and while the UK’s hardly been a hotbed of hardcore greatness over the decades, I don’t think there’s anyone who will deny that this band is in the top tier of hardcore right now. And that’s got a lot to do with the intensely musical nature of their work.

Past generations of hardcore bands have embraced the slogan coined by fellow UK HC band Discharge: noise not music. But Higher Power is doing a lot more than just making harsh, angry noise. On 2020 album 27 Miles Underwater, Higher Power demonstrate influence from groundbreaking bands of the past 30 years, from Quicksand and Snapcase to Glassjaw and Turnstile. And the result is memorable, full of catchy singalong choruses without losing an ounce of the energy we all come to hardcore for. Higher Power might not be exactly what anyone in 1982 or 1996 thought hardcore would sound like today, but it’s pretty goddamn great, and isn’t that what ultimately matters? Spoiler: yes, it is.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

VA Shows You Must See This Week: January 22 – January 28

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FEATURED SHOW
Prsmcat Birthday Bash Minifest
Friday, January 24, 8 PM
Spooky Cool (Photo by Joey Wharton), Deau Eyes, Kate Bollinger, SHE
Saturday, January 25, 8 PM
Sleepwalkers, Majjin Boo, Castle OG, Hollywood Cemetery
@Poor Boys – $12 in advance/$15 at door/$20 two-day pass (order tickets HERE)
It’s my birthday today; I am 44 years old, which means I’d only be considered “young” if I was running for President. But Prsmcat Presents is definitely younger — the up-and-coming RVA show booking concern is less than a year old at this point. Therefore, the Prsmcat Birthday Bash Minifest happening this weekend at Poor Boys is not actually a celebration for the booking group’s birthday but that of Prsmcat leader and Majjin Boo guitarist Zavi Yueske, who is… (checks notes) 16 years younger than me. Wow.

Let me stop worrying about how old I’m getting and move on by saying: Happy birthday, Zavi! His birthday gift is for the entire city’s music scene, as he’ll celebrate with this two-night, eight-band extravaganza of talented musicians from around Richmond and the central Virginia region. On Friday night, we get the double-dose of Richmond indie melodicism that is Spooky Cool and Deau Eyes. Both of these groups have exercised a “less-is-more” philosophy where recordings are concerned, which means you’ll surely hear some unrecorded tunes during both sets, and that’s a lovely thing from two world-class talents like these. Friday night will also feature Charlottesville singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger, whose laid-back, tuneful approach should pair well with the others on the bill.

Then Saturday night, Zavi gets to strut his stuff with Majjin Boo — who, in case I haven’t made it clear in this column before now, released the Richmond records I loved the most last year, the “Tension Rod”/”One Wing” single and Egghunt Records full-length Go Between. These guys are essential listening and will surely remain so going forward in 2020. They share Saturday night’s bill with fellow Richmond mainstays Sleepwalkers, who you should all know and love by now, as well as smooth-sounding indie mainstays Castle OG and difficult-to-google newcomers Hollywood Cemetery. Celebrate the wonderfulness Zavi Yueske brings into the world while enjoying that very wonderfulness all weekend at Poor Boys!

Wednesday, January 22, 7 PM
The Adicts, No-Heads, Talk Me Off @ The Broadberry – $25 (order tickets HERE)
If you’ve paid attention to UK punk anytime in the last four decades, you’re sure to have heard of the Adicts. This catchy melodic punk band styled themselves after the droogs of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, and have been cutting a memorable figure in the world of punk since they broke out with 1981 debut LP Songs Of Praise. Their singalong choruses are infectious enough that they’ve had chart hits in the UK with tunes like “Viva La Revolution” and “Bad Boy” — songs you’re sure to remember if you’ve heard them even once.

The Adicts’ heyday was in the 80s, but they’ve never really stopped recording and touring; they’ll be coming through RVA in support of their 11th album, And It Was So!, released by Nuclear Blast in 2017. The group’s core members have stayed the same throughout the past four decades, and their entertaining costumed live performances are still a fun, active spectacle. If you’ve never caught the Adicts live before, this is the perfect time to do it, and wear your best Malcolm McDowell eye makeup while you’re at it.

Thursday, January 23, 8 PM
Kai Orion, Kill The Druid @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Every musician is creative, but it’s rare to find a musician out there who dismantles every assumption about musical orthodoxy with each new song they create. However, that is exactly how Kai Orion creates. The DC-based songwriter plays over a dozen instruments on his latest album, Start To End, some of which can only be described as “instruments” (vacuum cleaner, lawnmower, wine glasses, etc). He often works by himself, creating thickly layered compositions through use of a microphone, a loop creator, and a menagerie of voices, instruments, and random objects he has at hand.

The result is a collection of catchy and enjoyable tunes on his records, and a fascinating spectacle to behold in a live environment. At Garden Grove Brewing this Thursday night, you’re sure to see Orion create songs out of all sorts of random sounds, and you’re sure to be impressed how beautiful the end result is — especially with his Peter Gabriel-ish vocal chords unleashed overtop. Richmond post-rockers Kill The Druid will open this one up with an instrument-switching set that’s sure to both set the stage for Orion and remain much closer to a conventional rock show. The whole evening is sure to be a blast.

Friday, January 24, 9 PM
Fat Spirit, You’re Jovian, Alison Blue @ Fuzzy Cactus – $5
Fat Spirit have settled into a solid role as utility players in the Richmond alt-rock scene. They haven’t released any new material since 2017’s Nihilist Blues, but they continue bringing their raucous, exuberant performances to local venues on a regular basis, keeping the spirit of the slacker-rock 90s alive and evoking the spirits of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. with their loud, guitar-driven tunes. You know what you’re getting with Fat Spirit these days, but that’s certainly not a strike against a band who always delivers a rockin’ good time.

They’re joined on this occasion by Hampton Roads residents You’re Jovian, who have a solid dose of the 90s embedded in their sound as well. On 2019’s Singles, this group shows themselves as occupying a similar territory to that of Fat Spirit, though Elliott Malvas’s more ethereal vocals definitely push the needle away from grunge and toward shoegaze — in the original Ride/Swervedriver/JAMC sense, rather than the MBV-plus-postrock context its taken on in the past decade. Putting these two groups together on a single bill makes for a great evening, especially if you’re the sort of guitar lover who can’t get enough of that sweet, sweet fuzz. Youthful VA Beach shoegazing fuzz-lovers Alison Blue will kick the whole thing off with a further dose of what you’ve been looking for, so don’t miss a minute of this one.

Saturday, January 25, 9 PM
DJ Williams’ Shots Fired @ Fuzzy Cactus – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Saturday night, and it’s right back to Fuzzy Cactus, this time for a homecoming show by one of Richmond’s favorite sons, DJ Williams. Around town, he’s known for his time fronting the DJ Williams Projekt, but this talented, blues-inclined guitarist has achieved more widespread fame beyond these shores in recent years with his work in Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. He’s also put together an all-star cast of sidemen for a new group called DJ Williams’ Shots Fired, who released a mostly-live LP called Live From Over Where back in 2018.

The funky, bluesy, Southern-tinged rock n’ roll that group shows off on their debut LP is exactly what they’ll bring to Brookland Park Boulevard when they show up at Fuzzy Cactus this Saturday night. I can’t tell you for sure who will be firing the shots behind Williams during this performance, but the group has included Williams’ fellow Tiny Universe members, as well as musicians from Dave Matthews Band, Slightly Stoopid, and Lenny Kravitz and Dr. John’s respective backing bands. Rest assured, no matter who DJ Williams brings with him on this jaunt, they’ll be talents equal to the kind of firepower he lays down. And as anyone who’s been paying attention around here for a while knows, that’s some serious six-string pyrotechnics.

Sunday, January 26, 6 PM
RVA Rap Elite Season 3 Premiere, feat. BASIC, Easalio, Tr3demark, Bravo vs. Chance Fischer, Team 804 Cypher (Vintage A, Henny LO, Habeeb, Tone Redd, Yung Sums) vs. Team 757 Cypher (BASIC, Will Jung, Amir Driver, Illien Rosewell, Eastcoast Mikey), Music by Hip Hop Henry & Melodic, plus Open Cypher @ The Dark Room – $10
Hip hop shows take research, y’all. For one thing, there are always a ton of people on the show (indeed, the Open Cypher on this bill will feature another 20-plus rappers I decided not to even attempt to list). For another, there are never any website links listed for any of them. And sometimes, you have to do some digging just to even get a list of who’s on the show. But I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining; the fact is, it’s all worth it when you encounter a show like this, full of a murderer’s row of talented MCs battling it out for lyrical supremacy.

There’s been a renaissance of battle rap on the Richmond scene over the past year or two, and RVA Rap Elite has been right at the heart of it, so it’s no surprise to see what a stacked lineup they’re bringing for the premiere edition of their third season. Personally, I’m most excited for the throwdown between world-class lyricists Chance Fischer and Bravo, but the Team 804 vs. Team 757 cypher battle promises some serious fireworks as well. And really, the overall atmosphere is the best part of all this; when RVA Rap Elite is happening, everyone wants to bring their A game, and the results are sure to delight any true hip hop head. So end your weekend at the place The Cheats Movement says is “making its claim to be the [hip hop] venue of choice” — The Dark Room at the Hofheimer.

Monday, January 27, 9 PM
Dark Thoughts, Sensual World, Ugly Muscle @ Fuzzy Cactus – $8
Dark Thoughts is the sort of band name that might lead you to expect a sound resembling that of Christian Death, or TSOL — punk, but a decidedly gothic take on punk. However, as the band’s fans well know, Philadelphia’s Dark Thoughts are made of much catchier stuff than those classic LA death-rockers. Their new LP, Must Be Nice, came out last month on Stupid Bag Records and is loaded with tracks that split the difference between snotty Dead Boys-style rockers and the Ramones at their most clumsily lovelorn.

Dark Thoughts play classic punk for classic punks, and since it’s the middle of a freezing January here in Richmond, you officially have no excuse for not breaking out your leather jacket for this shindig. You’ll get a bonus as well, in the form of two great local punk bands filling out this bill with their own excellent sounds. Sensual World brings a sort of forlorn jangle to their downbeat rumble, almost Gun Club-ish in execution; Ugly Muscle strip down their sound into a pounding, minimalist attack fueled by atonal synths and screaming. The whole thing is sure to delight any among you who appreciate the articulate aggression that punk rock is all about.

Tuesday, January 28, 6 PM
Shadow Of Intent, Signs Of The Swarm, Inferi, Brand of Sacrifice, Seraph @ The Canal Club – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been 50 years since Black Sabbath’s debut album acted as the starting gun for the metal genre. Bands have progressed in all sorts of far-flung directions from that initial ground zero in the intervening half-century, and it’s difficult to find any band still playing a pure form of metal that would have been recognizable to Ozzy Osbourne in 1970. Nonetheless, there are a lot of outstanding musicians at work in the genre, producing milestones that may very well appear equally seminal once they’re 50 years in the rearview.

Shadow Of Intent’s 2019 LP Melancholy may or may not be one of those (though MetalSucks certainly likes it), but no matter how you slice it, the New England quartet definitely gave us a memorable slab of truly redoubtable heaviness when they released their third album last year. It’s both the deepest, darkest death metal and a particularly impressive display of musical omnivorousness, integrating orchestral melodies and gothic lyrical themes into their always-brutal sound in a manner that allows room to breathe while still pummelling listeners with a wonderfully aggressive efficiency. Seeing all of this brought to life on the Canal Club stage is sure to inspire a veritable forest of banging heads. Join the raging sea this Tuesday night, and celebrate the ongoing bounty that is the music of metal.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Thursday, January 23, 6:30 PM
Blackalicious, Black Liquid, Waasi, Grayling Skyy, DJ Almighty @ The Southern Cafe (Charlottesville) – $25 (order tickets HERE)
Hip hop has always been a genre that focuses on skills, but there are some hip hop artists that stand out even in a crowded sea of fantastic MCs and DJs. Blackalicious, the duo consisting of rapper Gift Of Gab and producer Chief Xcel, is one of those, and has been for the past two decades. They haven’t exactly been prolific in that time; they’ve only released three LPs since 1999 debut Nia. However, regardless of how long they take to bring out new material, it’s impossible to deny that Blackalicious continues to make some of the most challenging, intricate, and talent-loaded music in the hip hop world.

The current Blackalicious tour is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Nia‘s release, so you can certainly expect a set list that leans heavily on that initial statement of purpose. Nia dropped right in the midst of the bling area and showed an entirely different worldview in the way Chief Xcel’s beats created mellow, soulful landscapes for Gift Of Gab’s witty lyrics about life and love. Blackalicious has remained on their own wavelength ever since, and if you’ve kept up with their less-than-prolific release schedule, you know that anything they want to bring us is more than worth the wait. That said, who knows when they might be back to VA after this? Get to their gig at The Southern this weekend while the getting’s good.

Saturday, January 25, 7 PM
Black Mass//Un-Baptism, feat. Xeukatre, Serpentshrine, Athame @ Pourhouse of Norfolk – Free!
Black metal is a notoriously intense genre, and while keeping it real did go wrong for a while in the mid-90s when the scene’s leading lights were killing each other and destroying thousand-year-old architecture, you have to admire the people who make this music’s commitment to the evocation of evil. That’s why I can’t help but be impressed to see three black metal bands from the MD/VA area teaming up with Satanic Norfolk this Saturday night for an honest-to-Lucifer black mass at Pourhouse of Norfolk.

Norfolk’s Serpentshrine, who occupy the middle slot on this bill, are musical advocates for Satan themselves, and the trio cranks out some old-style gritty riffage on latest EP Occultum Exordium. You Bathory fans out there will get a big kick out of these guys. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s Xeukatre kick out some guttural lo-fi roars and classic tremolo-picked riffs on their split with Hagerstown’s Athame, who round out both that split and this triple bill with the fastest and filthiest take on black metal of these three bands, Transilvanian Hunger-style. But of course the big event is the black mass; how intense is that gonna be? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to show up. Bring your own blood.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: July 11 – July 17

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, July 14, 7 PM
Vinyl Conflict 10th Anniversary Celebration, feat. Night Birds, Dark Thoughts, Gumming, Scarecrow, Talk Me Off @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I had no idea Vinyl Conflict had been around an entire decade now. Why, it seems only yesterday that the store’s original owner, Brandon Ferrell (RIP), opened this little shop in the middle of a residential block in Oregon Hill. But of course, the older you get, the faster time seems to pass, and I’m pretty goddamn old at this point, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the store’s sudden longevity. Since Vinyl Conflict was taken over by current owner Bobby Egger, it has if anything become even more an essential part of the local music scene, not only bringing us an unparalleled selection of new and used punk/metal-related sounds but also releasing a variety of EPs and tapes by up-and-coming locals on their Vinyl Conflict Records label.

And now it’s time to celebrate their decade of essential service to the world of RVA hardcore punk, and kick off the next decade of awesomeness in the finest fashion possible. They’ll be throwing a huge party at Gallery 5 this Saturday night, and you’ll know it’s guaranteed to be a hell of a rager when you see that Night Birds are your headliners. This New Jersey band mixes a melodic sense derived from the best of the early-80s US punk wave (The Misfits, The Adolescents) with a breakneck fury that is half 82-style USHC and half early-00s East Coast fastcore (think Tear It Up). They haven’t released anything in a couple of years, but the hints they’ve been dropping on social media recently sure indicate that new material is coming — maybe this show will give you a preview? Don’t quote me on that though.

Night Birds will be bringing Philadelphians Dark Thoughts down with them, and this bouncy melodic punk group has just released an album called At Work that has a lot of energy and a bit of darkness in the mix as well; as with Night Birds, if you dig stuff like the Misfits and the Adolescents, you’re going to find something to enjoy in the music of Dark Thoughts. The bill will also feature a Raleigh, NC band called Scarecrow who have very little info available online — although I can tell you that they’re not the same as Raleigh jazz/fusion band Scarecrow’s Brain. I know that much. I also know the two RVA bands on the bill, Gumming and Talk Me Off, will kick this party off with a lot of energetic fury all their own. So get to Gallery 5 this Saturday night and give props to Vinyl Conflict — if the past decade hasn’t already proven to you how great an asset to Richmond this store is, this show is sure to win you over.

Wednesday, July 11, 7:30 PM
Divided Heaven, Eaves, Two Cars, Having Keepsake @ The Camel – $8 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Grown-up punks, take note; Jeff Berman’s Divided Heaven project is rolling through town and stopping off at The Camel tonight. While this group may seem like a late development in Berman’s career, following on his early days in NJ hardcore/punk groups like The Boils, Protagonist, and The Rites, he’s actually been fronting this project for most of a decade now, and they’re about to drop their third LP, Cold War, on WireTap Records. The advance singles, most notably “1983,” showcase both a wistfully mature outlook on life beyond one’s youthful days, and an incredible melodic sense that shows just how much talent Berman has to offer. Honestly, it would have been a huge waste if he’d spent the rest of his days playing angry punk.

We’re still a little more than a week away from the release of Cold War, so right now you can only hear two of the album’s songs online. But you’ll undoubtedly hear more tonight, as well as some classic tunes from Divided Heaven’s earlier, more acoustically-oriented LPs. Plus, you’ll get some excellent emotional post-hardcore sounds from up-and-coming local group Eaves, who turned in an impressive debut LP late last year with As Deeply As You Do, and are only headed upwards from there. Local newcomers Two Cars and Having Keepsake both bring their own emotional melodies to the table, making this an evening of moods and hooks that’s sure to please you.

Thursday, July 12, 8 PM
The Body, Lingua Ignota, Womajich Dialysiez @ Gallery 5 – $12 (order tickets HERE)
The Body’s been around for nearly two decades now, and they’ve come a long way from the sludgy noise they started out creating. Always more of an experimental band than anything, they’ve really foregrounded their exploratory efforts in recent years, somehow going both noisier and poppier than ever before with 2016’s No One Deserves Happiness. This year’s follow-up, I Have Fought Against It But I Can’t Any Longer, brings us a new approach, in which the group cuts up previous recordings, sampling them over programmed beats and electronics to create a unique work of art you’d be foolish to dismiss as a mere “remix album.” It’s difficult, it’s noisy, it’s dark as fuck, and somehow, amidst all that, it is bizarrely danceable.

But will people be dancing to The Body’s set at Gallery 5 tomorrow night? Or will they do as they’ve done in previous RVA performances over the years and use powerful walls of noise to wipe the floor with all of us? It wouldn’t surprise me if the answer turned out to be “both,” and it’s well worth the price of admission to learn for yourself. They come to Richmond this time around accompanied by Lingua Ignota, an intense solo project from Rhode Island’s Kristin Hayter that lands somewhere between the confrontational avant-garde work of Diamanda Galas and the soul-baring noise terror of Pharmakon. Their most recent EP is entitled All Bitches Die, and features a song entitled “Holy Is The Name (Of My Ruthless Axe)” …just to let you know what you’re in for. The experience you’ll have at Gallery 5 Thursday night isn’t that predictable, but if one thing is certain, it’s that you’ll be affected by it.

Friday, July 13, 6 PM
June Parker, Opin, Blush Face, Goldfeather @ Hardywood – Free!
My wife and I took a trip deep into the heart of Virginia’s Northern Neck region this past weekend. Not for any real reason, just to get out and explore parts of the state we’d never been to before. While we were passing through Tappahanock, we noticed several businesses named after a woman we’d never heard of before. Now, less than a week later, I find myself writing about a show by a band that is also named after her. I have no idea who June Parker was or is, but I know one thing — somebody in this band has made that same drive out to Tappahanock at least a time or two.

June Parker used to be known as California Death, but their 2017 full-length, We’re Exactly Where We Are, showed that this local shoegaze band has upped their game since changing their name. The first track from the new EP they’ll bring into the world at this show, “I Can’t Relate Anymore,” adds a jangly indie sensibility to their hazy guitar fuzz, upping the melodic quotient and bringing them to their highest level yet. With this preview in mind, it seems a safe bet that the new EP will be their best work yet. Find out for yourself at Hardywood Friday night, and get a set from enjoyable New York indie-folk combo Goldfeather, plus some excellent sounds from always-reliable locals Opin and Blush Face, in the bargain. It’d be a deal at any price — and since this show is free, it rises to the level of unmissable.

Saturday, July 14, 7 PM
Bangladeafy, Teen Death, Foresterr, Swathe @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Bangladeafy may seem like a weird name to give a band, but when you learn that this group is a duo made up of a Bangladeshi drummer and a bassist who is… well, not quite deaf, but certainly has a hearing disability (sensorineural hearing loss, to be specific), it all starts to make sense. The wry sense of humor displayed by this choice of name also shows through in the band’s unpredictable musical hijinks, especially on songs like “Act Like An Adult” and “Say It With Your Chest,” from their most recent LP, 2016’s Narcopaloma.

This LP is an excellent showcase of Bangladeafy’s bizarre instrumental attack, which integrates jazz, prog, and metallic elements into a speedy, unique sound that might just remind you of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew-era rhythm section doing Lightning Bolt covers… or maybe that’s just me. Grungy local punk n’ rollers Teen Death will offer quite a contrast with their opening set, but if you dig loud, energetic bands, you’re sure to enjoy both. Also on the bill are New Yorkers Foresterr, who do the sort of noisy, off-kilter post-hardcore grooves that bands like Barkmarket and Sliang Laos excelled at two decades ago. These guys are worthy successors to the outstanding track record of those bands. Locals Swathe offer some pummeling sounds in the vein of the Melvins and Unsane to get you in the mood for what awaits. This show is gonna rule.

Sunday, July 15, 7 PM
JD McPherson, Chamomile and Whiskey @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $20 (order tickets HERE)
I don’t know how aware young punk types are of what’s going on in the world of rootsy rock n’ roll, but I’ll go ahead and admit that I never would have known about JD McPherson if it weren’t for the fact that he gets played over the PA regularly at one of my favorite hangout spots, Sheetz. Seriously, not only does that place have the best three-cheese sub in the Richmond metropolitan area, their muzak station is the best radio station in this town. But I’m not here to advocate for Sheetz (I do that enough on twitter); I’m here to tell you that you need to go see JD McPherson at Capital Ale House Sunday night.

McPherson’s third album, Undivided Heart And Soul, came out last year on New West Records, and it beefed up the rollicking rockabilly sound of his first two albums with a sort of retro-soul vibe that also shows up in artists like White Denim and even The Black Keys. But make no mistake, the man’s still about some straight-up rockin’, and songs like “Let’s Get Out Of Here While We’re Young” and “Style (Is a Losing Game)” make this abundantly clear. When McPherson hits the stage at Capital Ale House, he’s sure to get the whole place on their feet and shaking their tailfeathers. It’ll be an outstanding way to end the weekend, and give you an emotional high to carry you through a soul-draining Monday back at the office. Don’t miss out.

Monday, July 16, 9 PM
Church Of Disgust, Cemetery Filth, Future Terror, Night Hag @ Wonderland – $5
I have pretty much not talked at all about metal this week, but we’re gonna fix that situation right now with a thorough discussion of this Monday night show at Wonderland featuring the almighty Church Of Disgust. This  band hails from Texas and Florida, and the swampy Southern heat bleeds through their music, as does the clear influence of classic Floridian death metal past. Sometimes they’re thrashy, sometimes they’re moshy, but on 2016’s excellent Veneration of Filth LP, they most often strike the tone of classic riffage from early Morbid Angel, Deicide, or even Death. You headbangers out there better be paying attention, because this is a band you are guaranteed to love.

Johnson City, TN’s own Cemetery Filth will accompany Church Of Disgust on their trip to Shockoe Bottom, and their work on recent split EPs show this band to have a similarly ripping, brutal death-thrash attack sure to appeal to fans of prime Obituary and early Carcass. The thrash fiends will be pleased to hear these guys as well, and one can at least hope that all in attendance will receive Future Terror positively too. This Richmond band is treading in the footsteps of extremely blown-out crustcore bands like long-gone DC/RVA legends Aghast to churn out some incredibly noisy D-beat fury, and it’s awesome. Sludgy local newcomers Night Hag open up this show with some darkness of their own. Get ready to bang your head, y’all.

Tuesday, July 17, 6 PM
Backyard Boogie Tour, feat. Fly Anakin, Ohbliv, Al Divino, Billie Essco, Ankhlejohn @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
RVA hip hop is always fertile ground, and it seems 2018 is going to bear particularly excellent fruit where the genre is concerned. Not only do we get an excellent new Nickelus F release, Mutant Academy’s Fly Anakin has come together with production titan Ohbliv to create an album that represents a high-water mark for both. Backyard Boogie shows off Ohbliv’s predilection for murky soul vibes throughout, and gives just as much shine to Fly Anakin’s excellent flow and cutting lyrical wit. It hit the streets in April, and Fly Anakin and Ohbliv clearly recognize how excellent a statement it is for both of them, as they’re spending next week touring up the East Coast. They’ll start the week off right, with a hometown show at Gallery 5 that brings the album’s fire to life onstage.

However, there are more reasons to come to this show than just the local superstars showing off their stuff. Indeed, this event finds Fly Anakin & Ohbliv meeting up with a powerful package of touring MCs from up north. First on the list is Massachusetts’ own Al Divino, a hard-rhyming lyricist who has had Fly Anakin drop features on his tracks before — so you know he’s legit. Then there’s NYC rapper Billie Essco, aka Uptown Chase, whose recent LP Cafe mixes lyrical skills with a somewhat introspective vibe that’s sure to draw you in. DC’s Ankhlejohn rounds out the touring trio with some cinematic styles showcased perfectly on recent EP Knowledge. This show is jam-packed with hip hop talent from all over the East Coast — miss it at your own peril.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

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