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VA Shows You Must See This Week: August 1 – August 7

Marilyn Drew Necci | August 1, 2018

Topics: .gif From God, 37th and Zen, Betrayer, Beyond The Grave, Birds In Row, Can't Swim, Cardinal Skate Shop, Carl Anderson, Castle Of Genre, Cruelsifix, Death Palette, Deathsinger, deviant, Drug Church, Flight Club, gallery 5, Haircut, Hardywood, Haybaby, Hill Walkers, Jake Mayday, Lunar Vacation, Lunger, Microwave, Nic Perea, Noisem, Nosebleed, Piranha Rama, Portrayal Of Guilt, Promise Breaker, Rata Negra, Secret Cutter, Self-Inflicted, Sensual World, Serqet, Shormey, shows you must see, Slump, Sonnets, Sons Of Bill, Spooky Cool, strange matter, sundials, The Broadberry, The Canal Club, The New Reign, True Body, Wonderland, Wrinkle Neck Mules, Yeehaw Junction

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, August 3, 4 PM
Spooky Cool, Haybaby, Piranha Rama, Castle Of Genre @ Hardywood – Free!
It’s been a long time coming. Spooky Cool, the band formed from the ashes of psychedelic indie-folk group Zac Hryciak & the Jungle Beat, have been a steady presence on the local scene for a good three years now. And throughout that time, they have maintained a policy of mysteriousness, keeping social media to a minimum and staying entirely out of the studio. For the first year or so they were around, if you wanted to hear them, you had to go see them. For a while after that, live videos from Good Day RVA and other random YouTube uploaders with iPhones were all you could see.

But now, finally, three years into their career, Spooky Cool have taken a step into widespread availability with the impending release of their first EP, Every Thing Ever. The five-song cassette is coming this Friday from Citrus City Records, and along with it is coming a free celebration of its release at Hardywood. Whether you’ve been following this band for six months, two years, or since their first show, it’s sure to be a relief to finally have Spooky Cool tunes you can listen to somewhere other than live venues. And it’ll be even cooler to see them play all these songs live this Friday night, knowing that when you get home, you can listen once again to the songs they’ve gotten stuck in your head.

The free show Friday afternoon is also a celebration of a new brew release at Hardywood, so it’ll kick off at 4 PM to give those of you off work by then a chance to enjoy the tasty beverages. Music won’t start til 6, though, so you’ll have time to drive over after work and still catch it all. In addition to the headlining set by Spooky Cool — and the opportunity to purchase their new EP — this event also offers for your listening pleasure a set by RVA-via-Brooklyn indie-poppers Haybaby, who keep things off-kilter and unpredictable but never fail to deliver the melodic goods. Piranha Rama will be on the scene too, and if you missed their own recent record release show, this event will offer you the chance to catch up with these indie-garage-psych heads as well. Castle Of Genre will open up with their own unusual brand of synth-inflected indie melodies. Hurry over from work, you don’t want to miss a minute of this one.

Wednesday, August 1, 8 PM
Rata Negra, Haircut, Serqet, Sensual World @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Not to turn into Raymond Carver or anything, but we need to start this one out by discussing What We Talk About When We Talk About Melodic Punk. See, there are some of you who will thing such a genre tag indicates universally terrible music. Some of you will think I’m saying that Rata Negra sounds like NOFX or something. Some of you are in both of those groups of people. But I strongly encourage you, before you head out to Strange Matter tonight, to throw away all your preconceptions. Rata Negra is something else completely.

This Spanish band’s sound is driven by uptempo rhythms, bouncy basslines, melodic guitar leads, and catchy vocal choruses. But they have a dark undercurrent to their sound that draws from early dark punk groups like The Bats or The Wipers, even as they’re also bringing in a European flair that makes me think of Gorilla Angreb. They definitely don’t have a shred of 90s skate punk to offer — and that’s definitely a good thing. Rata Negra will be joined on this bill by a trio of local killers that’s led off by raging hardcore punkers Haircut, whose EP last winter certainly fired up the Christmas season (and will heat up this rather chilly and damp summer, too). Melodic peace-punks Serqet will get things started along with Sensual World, the latest project from the always-talented Julie Karr. You need this show in your life.

Thursday, August 2, 8 PM
Sons Of Bill, Wrinkle Neck Mules, Carl Anderson @ The Broadberry – $18 (order tickets HERE)
I haven’t been all that aware of Sons Of Bill, the band made up of brothers Sam, Abe, and James Wilson, plus a rhythm section, and I feel kinda bad about it. Not only are they from Charlottesville, they’ve released five albums over the past decade or so, and done a bunch of touring in Europe. How have I missed out on this band? Well, better late than never, I suppose. Their fifth album, Oh God Ma’am, just came out at the end of June, and it’s a good spot to jump on the Sons Of Bill bandwagon — so what are we waiting for? Let’s do it!

On their latest album, Sons Of Bill walk a fine line between multiple genres. At times, they seem to follow in the footsteps of alt-country pioneers like Wilco and Son Volt; at other times, their dark, new-wave vibes land somewhere between the spooky synth-pop of early Echo and the Bunnymen and the lush desolation of Red House Painters circa “Mistress.” All of it is subdued, but the emotional overtones that wash over you from the Wilson brothers’ heartfelt vocals and the layers of ringing guitars and reverberating piano leave an impact, for sure. While Sons Of Bill have a subtle initial effect, they will be impossible to ignore in a full-volume live environment. Let them draw you in.

Friday, August 3, 9 PM
Noisem, Secret Cutter, Cruelsifix @ Wonderland – $15
At long last, Baltimore thrashers Noisem return to RVA. These kids aren’t as young as they once were, and it’s been three years since they released any significant new material. However, they’re still at it, loud and heavy as ever, and they’ve just inked a deal with Relapse that promises to deliver their long-awaited third album sometime in the near future. Before they head into the studio, though, they’ve been hitting the road to sharpen up their chops and get ready to lay down some killer riffage. They’re sure to have plenty of ripping speedy thrash with which to tear shit up in Shockoe Bottom this Friday night, and if you like to headbang, you won’t want to miss this one.

From Sick/Tired to Amygdala, this year has seen Noisem joined on tour by a variety of bands with appeal beyond the world of straight-up thrash, and this Wonderland show is no exception. PA’s Secret Cutter, who recently refined their unique grind-sludge-noise hybrid on brand new LP Quantum Eraser, will be blowing into town in the company of Noisem, and you headbangers won’t want to miss their brutal, powerful brand of heaviness. It’ll twist your head around — as will openers Cruelsifix, who bring us a new take on a classic sound, updating classic Florida death metal for a new millennium. This one will rock you so hard, you’ll be glad for the relative brevity of a three-band bill, just to give your neck a break.

Saturday, August 4, 4 PM
Sundials, Yeehaw Junction, Jake Mayday @ Strange Matter – $8-10 (donations to RRFP)
Sundials are spread pretty thin these days. The emotionally-driven pop-punk quartet from RVA have been steadily spreading further afield over the past couple of years — Harris moved to Boston, then Chris moved to Philadelphia. Now, it seems, Carl will be leaving for the UK, leaving only one member still based here in Richmond. It’s been several years since Sundials released their last EP, Kick, back in 2014, and for most of that time, they’ve been a rare presence on the live scene around Richmond. Now, for obvious reasons, Sundials live performances are only going to get fewer and farther between.

All of which is makes it essential that you make it out to Strange Matter this Saturday afternoon to catch Sundials at the top of a matinee bill. You’re not gonna see them again anytime soon. You’ll also want to welcome a new presence on the local scene — Yeehaw Junction, a synth-driven pop band with a punky bounce and sincere, heartfelt lyrics, who recently arrived here from New England and have sounds that are sure to charm you. And of course, Jake Mayday, a longtime friend of Sundials and the Richmond scene — and probably pretty much everybody who’s ever met him, he’s a total sweetheart — will kick off the show with a set of sincere acoustic tunes that will make you smile. Who knows when we’ll see Sundials together on the same stage again — show up at Strange Matter this Saturday evening and give them a proper sendoff.

Sunday, August 5, 8 PM
Birds In Row, Portrayal Of Guilt, Sonnets, .gif From God, Lunger @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Oh wow, this is exciting. I’ve been a follower of French label Throatruiner Records for most of a decade now — their commitment to harsh, metallic hardcore at a time when such sounds were losing favor with mainstream HC and metalcore audiences made every new release on their label worth a listen. It was Throatruiner who brought fellow Frenchmen Birds In Row to my attention several years ago, and it was Throatruiner who really prepared me for what I was in for when Birds In Row finally released their second full-length, We Already Lost The World, on Deathwish earlier this year. The passionate screams, dynamic song structures, noisy guitars, and intense delivery of important messages on songs like “Love Is Political” and “Remember Us Better Than We Are” all embody the best qualities of what I’ve come to expect from Throatruiner. And on an American label? Perfect.

Best of all, Birds In Row are coming to Richmond this Sunday night to bring their dramatic, chaotic, and incredibly intense sound to Strange Matter. They’re sure to level the place and everyone in it — and what’s even cooler is that they’ll be bringing Texas killers Portrayal Of Guilt with them. This band’s still only got four songs (and a Christian Death cover) out, but they’ve made a big impact in a brief time with a small amount of music, purely through the forceful power of their live performances. Mixing aspects of chaotic, grinding hardcore with the metallic, emotionally-driven sound that has come to represent the 21st century underground “screamo” scene results in nothing but awesomeness when these guys hit the stage. And these heavy hitters will be joined on this bill by a variety of other excellent groups, including Salt Lake City’s Sonnets and local ragers .gif From God and Lunger. Seriously, y’all, don’t sleep on this one.

Monday, August 6, 7 PM
Lunar Vacation, Hill Walkers, Death Palette, Nic Perea @ Gallery 5 – $6
It may have been raining a whole lot here in Richmond over the past little while, but lest we forget, it is still summer, and therefore the perfect time for a Lunar Vacation. No, not a trip to the moon (though I suppose that would be pretty cool) — an excellent indie-pop band from down Atlanta way who have a ton of summery melodies with which to chase the rainy day blues away. Their brand new EP, Artificial Flavors, is loaded with the brand of shiny tunes this band have, only two EPs in, gained a reputation for, and they’re sure to bring a smile to your face with their expert mingling of electronic synth soundscapes, bouncing basslines, and Grace Repasky’s memorable vocal flourishes.

Lunar Vacation are exactly the tonic you need for yet another Monday back at stupid ol’ work (especially since this weekend is forecasted to be cloudy and rainy, just like this week). And they’ll be joined by some pretty great local talents as well. Hill Walkers are foremost among them, and while this local quartet may not focus as much on the synth-electronic end of things as Lunar Vacation, they coax some similarly shiny melodies out of their guitars and vocals, always to lovely effect. Death Palette is a new project from Rene Franco, better known as the more introverted half of Citrus City Records, and the solo demos I’ve heard certainly build anticipation for some smooth, tropical indie-pop. Nic Perea of Camp Howard opens things up with a solo set, and if that isn’t a guarantee of a great opening act, I don’t know what is. Show up on time and ready to get stoked.

Tuesday, August 7, 7 PM
Microwave, Can’t Swim, Drug Church, Flight Club @ The Canal Club – $15 (order tickets HERE)
We can’t get through a week without some emo, can we? I sure don’t want to! Thankfully, our last RVA slot of the week has been filled by a killer triple bill of emotion-fueled groups with various ratios of melody to volume on display in their styles — and all of them are awesome. Atlanta’s Microwave are at the top of the bill with some excellent songcraft and the sort of infectious choruses that’ll make you an instant fan (at least, if your tastes are anything like mine). 2016’s Much Love is full of excellent tunes with intriguing one-word song titles like “Roaches” and “Vomit.” Don’t worry, their sound is much more pleasant than those particular nouns would lead you to believe.

New Jersey’s Can’t Swim have a slightly heavier sound, with chunkier guitars and a more strained vocal approach, but their melodic sense is first-rate, and they display that fact on 2017’s Fail You Again with a collection of top-quality tuneage. The last release by Albany, NY’s Drug Church dates all the way back to 2015, but a one-song preview of their forthcoming full-length on Pure Noise Records shows that this band hasn’t lost its touch with catchy yet powerful post-hardcore, a sound they’ve used to standout effect on previous albums like 2013’s Paul Walker and 2015’s Hit Your Head. I for one am eagerly awaiting more — and we’ll probably all get a preview of their next offering at this show. Local pop-punk goofballs Flight Club open this one up; expect some serious fun.

NEW: Bonus Hampton Roads Picks!

Thursday, August 2, 6 PM
Self-Inflicted, Promise Breaker, The New Reign, Deathsinger, Betrayer, Beyond The Grave @ 37th and Zen – $5
That’s right, folks — in an effort to expand our reach and let you know about killer shows that might not make it to the Richmond area, we’ll be including a couple of shows per week from the Hampton Roads/Tidewater area of the state. We’ll start it off with a night of maximum heavyosity at Norfolk’s 37th and Zen, which is headlined by a touring double bill of New Hampshire’s Self Inflicted and PA’s Promise Breaker. Self Inflicted have that sort of heavy-hardcore mosh power that distinguishes prime offerings from modern bands like Harm’s Way while harking back to the prime days of Biohazard and Shattered Realm. Practice your floorpunching for this one.

Promise Breaker are also heavy as fuck, but this quartet likes to pick up the pace and throw some serious death-metallic bottom end into things. It isn’t quite deathcore; if anything, it’s closer to the sort of power-violence-damaged metallic hardcore that bands like Nails have messed around with in recent years. One thing’s for sure — it’ll level you. Maryland’s The New Reign round out this trio of touring shredders with some sludgy mosh-core tuned to drop Q. Guaranteed to rumble your guts. A trio of VA metal bands provide support, led off by Deathsinger, who straddle the line between Sworn In’s ridiculously-pulverizing death mosh and straight-up Dying Fetus-style death metal. Betrayer and Beyond The Grave round things off with some serious death, and all of it’s brought to you by Black Goat Booking — are these guys the Hampton Roads version of Between 2 Beers? Time will tell, but I’m definitely paying attention.

Friday, August 3, 7 PM
True Body, Nosebleed, Deviant, Slump, Shormey @ Cardinal Skate Shop – $8
The hardcore punk scene in Richmond is always hopping, but don’t let that blind you to what the Hampton Roads area has to offer — there are plenty of shows happening down that way as well, and sometimes they’re worth taking a trip for. This Friday night rager at Norfolk’s Cardinal Skate Shop is a prime example; headlined by goth-punk oddballs True Body, it’s a benefit for the bowl ramp Cardinal’s building out back to give locals a space to shred. It’s also True Body’s apparent farewell to Norfolk, so this will be a good time to catch their darkwave/batcave vibes before they head out of town. Are they moving to LA? Or just leaving for tour? I admit I have no idea… but regardless of the reason, they’re always worth seeing.

There’ll be several other much more straightforward HC/punk acts on this bill, including some Richmond rippers we all know and love. Nosebleed will get you moshing with some classic hardcore sounds that hit you hard and leave you gasping for breath, while RVA newcomers Deviant throw their weirdness/queerness in your face with some hard-driving old-school killers. Former True Body split partners Slump will be on hand to dish out their unique brand of psychedelic oddity, and the whole thing will be kicked off with a set of washed-out electropop from Norfolk’s own Shormey. Bring your board, this one’s gonna be a blast.

—-

Top photo by Joey Wharton

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.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Celeste (France), Infernal Coil, Ostraca, Lunger at Strange Matter

Joe Vanderhoff | June 7, 2018

Topics: Celeste, Infernal Coil, Lunger, must see shows, Ostraca, strange matter

CELESTE (France, Denovali)
https://www.facebook.com/celesteband/
INFERNAL COIL (Boise)
https://infernalcoil.bandcamp.com/
OSTRACA (RVA)
https://ostraca.bandcamp.com/
LUNGER (RVA)
http://lungermusic.bandcamp.com/

8PM Doors // 9PM Sounds
$10 in Advance // $12 Day of Show
18+
Tickets: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1653954

The spring is already gonna be a whirlwind of heavv assaults all over Richmond City and it seems it won’t be letting up even for a second! Strange Matter is proud to welcome French avant-garde black metal act CELESTE who garners comparisons to Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, but are indeed a psychedelic, genre-bending force of their own! They’ll be joined by Boise, Idaho’s INFERNAL COIL who just ripped Mac’s Irish Pub a new one this winter! For those uninitiated, they’re an up-and-coming death metal act who feature the homie Blake formerly of Dead In The Dirt (who played here with the mighty Sunn O) and although easily classifiable as death metal, the influences range all over the extreme music spectrum. They’ll be joined by the dark metallic hardcore assaults of locau support units OSTRACA and the first Strange Matter appearance of LUNGER (current/ex This Time It’s War/Charmer).
_____________________________
CELESTE: CELESTE, along with Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega, may be considered as one of the most important bands of the worldwide famous French avant-garde black metal scene. However CELESTE’s influences are so wide that this label does not do them justice. The spectrum of their sound is hard to define but at the same time easy to recognize by its uniqueness. As Metal.de puts it: “CELESTE are gargantuan and obscure, mysteriously black. No ray of light can penetrate the darkness surrounding them. Yet, if you need a picture you should imagine their album ‘ANIMALE(S)’ as a faceless, gloomy monstrosity which uses its countless arms to pick elements from various musical pigeon-holes without giving a shit whether it is black or doom metal, post-hardcore or sludge. The only thing which matters is that CELESTE successfully managed to follow their agenda with many more facets than on their first albums.”

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: June 6 – June 12

Marilyn Drew Necci | June 6, 2018

Topics: A Place Both Wonderful And Strange, Alfred, Big Baby, Captive, Celeste, Clayton England, Doll Baby, Eternal Summers, gallery 5, Glacial Tomb, Gladie, Gothic Lizard, Hoboknife, Hurry, Immortal Bird, Infernal Coil, Japanese Breakfast, Little Black Rain Clouds, Lunger, McKinley Dixon & Friends, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Occultist, Ostraca, Peach Kelli Pop, Pianos Become The Teeth, Piranha Rama, shows you must see, strange matter, Teenage Wrist, The Broadberry, The Lilly Pad Cafe, The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, True Body, Yung Pockets

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, June 7, 5:30 PM
Doll Baby, Gladie, Hurry, Clayton England @ The Lilly Pad Cafe – Free!
Let’s start from first principles: music is the literal best thing in the world, y’all. Nothing else can be relied upon the way music can be. And music is best when you’re seeing people make it right in front of you; that subjective statement is a fundamental building block of this entire column. But having said all that, it’s understandable if after a while the same clubs and sounds week after week leave a person wanting… something different. Something more.

Whenever I find something that fits that description, I immediately focus on it. Because let’s face it, I get restless too. If you, like me, are ready for a break in your normal routine, I’ve got a real treat for you this week. The Lilly Pad Cafe, which is located on the banks of the James River out by Osborne’s Landing, has been booking free shows on Thursday nights. And this week, they’re presenting a lineup that makes it the perfect night to take a short trip out of the city and watch the sun set while you watch bands play on a boat dock.

I’ve written a whole bunch and now we’ll have to rush through the actual bands, but the fact that the bill is topped by the jangle-punk pop angst of Doll Baby gives us all reason to be there right from the jump. They’re playing with a couple of Philly-based touring projects; Gladie is a duo featuring members of Cayetana and Three Man Cannon and making some excellent heartfelt melodic punk sounds on new EP Everyone Is Talking About You. Hurry is normally a band, but they’re touring as a solo act, and their pastoral indie-punk sounds should adapt well to the stripped-down format. These bands are both excellent pairings for local faves Doll Baby, and with Lilly Pad mainstay Clayton England kicking things off with some sad acoustic tunes, this will be an evening full of feels. Plus, for those of you who care about these kinds of things, you can apparently get buckets of Tecate for $10. Me, I’d rather just enjoy the view.

Wednesday, June 6, 7:30 PM
Japanese Breakfast, Eternal Summers @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The modern shoegaze revival continues on full-steam ahead and we all benefit from it once again, as a couple of the higher-quality bands to explore this sound in recent years now find themselves coming to the Broadberry on the same night, for the same show. Japanese Breakfast is the solo-ish project of Michelle Zauner, also of Little Big League and Post Post, and her 2017 sophomore LP, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, uses synth washes and programmed beats alongside retro-psych touches straight out of Swinging London — the harpsichord sounds on “Boyish” are a particularly charming surprise.

Now, how all this will translate live is always a question, but the songs themselves glow with such a warm spirit that the results are sure to be excellent regardless. And even more assuredly excellent is the set we’ll get from VA faves Eternal Summers, who have returned to action after a few years off with their brand-new fifth LP, Every Day It Feels Like I’m Dying. There’s been no diminishment in the melodic prowess or the sharp guitar attack this band brings to the table, and fans who’ve been wondering how the group could possibly follow up 2015’s excellent Gold And Stone (and may have started to worry that they wouldn’t) will be overjoyed at the payoff the new album represents. All that’s left is to see them bring it to life onstage — you won’t want to miss that. You know what to do.

Thursday, June 7, 8 PM
A Place Both Wonderful And Strange, True Body, Little Black Rain Clouds, Gothic Lizard @ Strange Matter – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Things are getting pretty wild in the world of electronic music these days. And by “wild,” I mean, people are actually starting to bring visible influence from 80s 4AD Records releases into the modern world. For those of you too young to remember the glory days of Dead Can Dance and Clan Of Xymox — OK, yes, I know, that’s most of you — let me assure you that this is a very positive development. Hearing Brooklyn’s A Place Both Wonderful And Strange pull off spooky ambient textures and moody vocals alongside dance beats that get your feet moving and making all of it work together in the most excellent, unified way is the kind of blast from the past that I’d love to get more of.

They’ll be conjuring up the Batcave right inside Strange Matter this Friday night, and they’ll have some formidable local help in doing so as well. True Body may have evolved out of the weirder corners of the hardcore world, but their most recent single, “Over It,” finds them going full-on moody goth, evoking the glittering moroseness of early-80s Cure and Sisters Of Mercy material with the sort of postpunk backbeat that’ll keep the Interpol fans happy. Long-running local spooksters Little Black Rain Clouds and ambient goth newcomers Gothic Lizard will round out this lineup with all the black light and black clothing you could possibly ask for.

Friday, June 8, 8 PM
Peach Kelli Pop, Piranha Rama, Big Baby @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard not to love stripped-down rock n’ roll with a killer melodic sense and plenty of delightful energy, so of course recommending that you all go see Peach Kelli Pop this Saturday night is a true no-brainer. Allie Hanlon’s been doing this project for damn near a decade now, and has retained a top-quality sound throughout, as can easily be heard on Peach Kelli Pop’s brand new LP (the first not to be named with a Roman numeral), Gentle Leader. On it, the band bounces back and forth from uptempo tunes that straddle the line between garage-pop and old-school melodic punk, and prettier acoustic tunes that focus on Hanlon’s gorgeous voice and plentiful hooky choruses.

Peach Kelli Pop have a ton to offer the discriminating fan of outstanding music, but they’ve been lucky to come together with a couple of equally powerful RVA locals who offer much the same brand of can’t-miss rock n’ roll talent. Piranha Rama sees a bunch of local vets coming together to crank out some organ-fueled psychedelic garage raunch stomp, and their new single lives up to every bit of potential the early hype offered up. Meanwhile, Big Baby — who charmed the entire city and beyond with last year’s gorgeously downcast Sour Patch EP — know how to combine forlorn melody and jangly bounce for the best possible results. If you haven’t discovered the excellence of their indie-pop tuneage yet, this is the perfect time to find out what you’ve been missing.

Saturday, June 9, 8 PM
Celeste, Infernal Coil, Ostraca, Lunger @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There are a lot of right-wing idiots out there who’ll tell you that France is a country full of wimps, and I gotta tell ya, I wish I could drag every single one of those fools down to Strange Matter this Saturday night so they can find out how wrong they are when Celeste hit the stage. This powerful French band may not be as well known as Deathspell Omega, but their brick-solid mixture of roaring metallic hardcore, blasting black metal, and passionate emotional rage is if anything more likely to knock you on your ass than their more popular countrymen. 2017’s Infidèle​(​s) is a jet-black slab of pure fury, and when Celeste dish those songs out onstage, you’re going to feel it.

Celeste are joined on this trip through our local environs by chaos merchants Infernal Coil, whose unique and challenging sound may have some roots in the band’s origins in Idaho. What the heck is in Idaho? If Infernal Coil’s 2017 EP Bodies Set In Ashen Death is to give us any indication, it’s apparently a bleak, apocalyptic wasteland of noise and smoke… but I was in Twin Falls last year, and it was nothing like that, so who knows. Either way, Infernal Coil’s incredibly dark mix of death metal low-end, noisecore fury, and grindcore insanity is going to mess all of us up. In a good way, of course. Local metallic hardcore veterans Ostraca and dark grinding newcomers Lunger round out this bill with some unmissable sounds from right here in the river city, so don’t dawdle.

Sunday, June 10, 7 PM
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, McKinley Dixon & Friends, Alfred & Yung Pockets @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’ve been enjoying the growth over the last few years of a more alternatively-minded hip hop scene here in RVA; it’s a gratifying thing to see the DIY principles that have fueled the punk rock underground for years being embodied by people from completely different scenes, especially hip hop (which, as much as I love it, can sometimes focus overmuch on mainstream goals of money and fame for my taste). Here in Richmond, the chief example we have of this newer approach to hip hop is of course McKinley Dixon, an MC with absolute top-quality lyrical skills who recruits top of the line musicians to back him up and goes on DIY tours in a van just like all the punk bands do. He and his Friends will be giving us a killer set on this bill, and of course everyone in RVA should already know to be there for it.

On this show, Dixon is playing with Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, a DIY musician from Chicago who integrates his wide-ranging musical background into an excellent hip hop sound on his breakout 2017 LP, Drool. Like McKinley Dixon, Ogbonnaya knows all about getting in the van and going on tour, and he’ll hit Gallery 5 in the company of his Nnamdi Ensemble Quartet, which will provide dynamic backing for his playful, complicated lyrical flow. And of course, Alfred. & Yung Pockets, an MC-producer duo who’ve drawn a lot of attention since last year’s excellent So Sensitive release, will open things up with a set of slightly off-kilter beats and rhymes that show a ton of soul. This one’s gonna be outstanding throughout.

Monday, June 11, 8 PM
Immortal Bird, Glacial Tomb, Occultist, Hoboknife @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
There can be little that is a better bet for the end of a long Monday back at stupid ol’ work than heading down to Strange Matter and getting your soul cleansed by some high-volume, high-quality metal. Immortal Bird is coming to us this Monday to deliver exactly what the doctor ordered where that’s concerned, and while the group’s been quiet on the recording front since 2015’s Empress/Abscess, that’s no reason to expect anything other than a thorough head-crushing in the live environment.

Since their last album, Immortal Bird’s core lineup has expanded to a four-piece, giving frontwoman Rae Amitay more room to rage instead of being trapped behind a drum kit, and that can only bode well for the ass-kicking we’ll all get from this brutal, chaotic Chicago quartet. Immortal Bird is joined on this tour by Denver low-end marauders Glacial Tomb, whose deft merging of thrashy crust, sludgy metal, and hardcore punk is tough as nails and ready to knock you out. Local support from thrash-metal vets Occultist and death n’ roll maniacs Hoboknife renders this an evening of absolutely unfuckwithable metal power. Start practicing your headbangs now.

Tuesday, June 12, 6 PM
The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Pianos Become The Teeth, Teenage Wrist, Captive @ The Broadberry – $17 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
About half a decade ago, when I was going through a pretty rough emotional spot, I discovered TWIABP and immediately fell in love with their complicated, heartfelt, and beautiful sound, which combined emo, post-rock, metal, and pop into a style entirely their own. The music they were making back then was incredibly important to me, but their rapid musical evolution and personal upheavals over the next couple of years almost left me behind. However, with the release of their third LP, Always Foreign, I discovered that despite all the lineup changes and instrumental reconfigurations, there was still a truly talented band lurking underneath it all. It’s going to be partiuclarly nice to welcome a reconstituted TWIABP to RVA once again, where they can remind us all just how great they continue to be.

Pianos Become The Teeth have been through a similar trajectory, although it was a musical change that caused my personal concerns about losing track of them. When singer Kyle Durfey switched to an entirely-melodic vocal approach for their 2014 third LP, Keep You, I was afraid that the urgency and emotional intensity of Pianos’ passionate post-hardcore sound would depart along with it. However, Keep You surprised me by being one of that year’s favorites, and with the release earlier this year of incredibly powerful follow-up Wait For Love, it can no longer be denied that Pianos Become The Teeth is every bit as strong and memorable a band even without the screams. And thank god for that. This show will give longtime fans a perfect opportunity to commune once again with these two excellent bands at the top of their respective games, and skipping out would be an awful idea. Alt-rockers Teenage Wrist and local up-and-comers Captive are on the bill too, but for this one at least, it’s really all about the headliners.

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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.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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