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VA Shows You Must See This Week: January 23 – January 29

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FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, January 27, 6:30 PM
Street Muse Kenya Screening, feat. Gull (Photo by Joey Wharton), Lobo Marino, Mighty Joshua @ Gallery 5 – Free!
Being the only person in your band means never having to worry about breaking up. This is probably a big part of why Nathaniel Rappole, who started Gull over a decade ago, has kept on going strong over a career full of metamorphoses and setbacks that could have destroyed a band that had the ability to go their separate ways. But Gull has persevered. The group has grown from its origins as a one-man noise unit playing chaotic, speedy punk rock by playing guitar with one hand, drums with the other (and both feet), and screaming into a miked-up mask, into its current incarnation, in which Rappole is liable to depart from his guitar, or his drum kit, or his mask, or all three at any given time, in order to generate a sound that has matured into borderline-uncategorizability.

Over the years in which this evolution occurred, Rappole — who’d done his fair share of busking on the street in Richmond neighborhoods like Carytown — got bit by the travel bug in a major way. This culminated in his 2012 trip to Kenya with a camera crew. The result of this crowdfunded trip was a documentary film, Street Muse Kenya, which was completed two years ago and will be shown in full at Gallery 5 on Sunday night.

In 2017, Gull used time in which Rappole was laid up with a broken leg to create an album, Lurcher, that was constructed mainly on analog synthesizers and sequencers — a far cry from his hardcore-punk origins. Now that he’s up and around once again, he’s itching to get back onto the road, so at this event, Rappole and his crew will elaborate on the next step in the Street Muse project: a trip to Southeast Asia, for which they are raising funds right now. Then, once they’ve given you all the pitch, Gull will perform a full set, to let you know where his head’s at these days. The musical portion of the evening will also feature a set from equally peripatetic and uncategorizable duo Lobo Marino, and will be MC’d by local reggae musician Mighty Joshua. There’s a lot going on at this one, and some of it is sure to catch you by surprise. But one thing we do know for sure — you won’t see a show like this anywhere else in town this week. You know what to do.

Wednesday, January 23, 7:30 PM
Gamelan Raga Kusuma, Richmond Symphony Orchestra @ Modlin Center for the Arts – $36 (order tickets HERE)
It wouldn’t surprise me if you weren’t familiar with gamelan. This Indonesian music, which originates on the islands of Bali and Java in Southeast Asia, is traditionally played by orchestras consisting mainly of percussive instruments, which sometimes perform accompanied by dancers, or shadow puppet performances. These orchestras work together in complicated arrangements with rapidly changing tempos, and create ringing melodies with an entrancing beauty that is unique in the many musical forms of the world. Here in Richmond, Gamelan Raga Kusuma is a local ensemble that works under the auspices of the University of Richmond, dedicated to bringing the sound of Balinese gamelan to the central Virginia community in a variety of unique ways.

At the Modlin Center tonight, they’ll be doing so in collaboration with the Richmond Symphony, bringing to life a reconstruction, assembled by Javanese gamelan musician and scholar Sumarsam, of the gamelan music heard by influential French composer Claude Debussy at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889. Gamelan had a profound influence on Debussy, who in turn influenced the vast majority of the 20th century’s best-known classical composers. For that reason, it’s of interest to both Gamelan Raga Kusuma and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra to follow that thread back to the very source. That’s what they’ll be doing at the Modlin Center tonight, and the trip promises to be fascinating for all you musical omnivores out there. The event will feature a variety of other performances, including a performance by a Balinese shadow puppet master of a new play, set to music by Debussy. It’ll all come full circle tonight, and if you love music, there’s nowhere else you should be.

Thursday, January 24, 7 PM
Grails, Helen Money, Serqet @ Gallery 5 – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s easy to say that Grails is a fascinating band, but describing exactly what sort of music they’re making is much more difficult. The term “post-rock” seems tailor-made for a band like this one, which is formed around the sort of core instrumental lineup (two guitars, bass, drums, keyboards) that often shows up in the world of rock music, but is here being used to decidedly different purposes. However, I wouldn’t want any use of that term to make you think Grails sound like Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai — what they do is more complex, less likely to rely on the quiet-loud transitions and gestures toward epic grandeur that bands like the ones most people think of when you say “post-rock.”

So if that term doesn’t work to describe Grails, what does? Well, let’s ditch any attempt at genre classification right here, and instead say that their instrumental music moves all over the place, doing all sorts of things in all kinds of unpredictable ways. It’s certainly heavy, at least at times, and it’s certainly mysterious — at times — and at moments it gets downright beautiful. But the main thing we can say about Grails is that their music, besides being intriguing and challenging, is always an enjoyable experience. You’re sure to get a lot out of their performance at Gallery 5 tomorrow night, and the fact that Chicago-based avant-metal cellist Helen Money and local goth-crust anarcho-punks Serqet are on the bill only makes this whole evening that much better. Don’t miss it.

Friday, January 25, 9 PM
Occultist, Enforced, Slump, Essex Muro @ Bandito’s – Free!
It has been extremely refreshing to see Occultist return to action in recent months after such a long period in which this incredible Richmond-based blackened-thrash quintet kept a very low profile. They’ve been promising a new record coming sometime in 2019, which will mark their first new release featuring original material in over five years, and if you’re not hyped, I suggest you check your pulse. This show is your first chance to see Occultist in 2019, and it sweetens the deal considerably, not only by being free and at Bandito’s (whose nachos are always an essential treat), but also by featuring several other great heavy-as-heck bands from around the region. What a deal!

This show is being held in solidarity with Black Flags Over Brooklyn, a two-day fest happening in New York on the same weekend, which exists to put out a strong anti-fascist, anti-racist message in the metal community — something any cool person should back, and sadly something we need now more than ever, in this age of Trump and the alt-right. To make this show as awesome as possible, Occultist have joined up with local ragers Enforced, who straddle the line between rough n’ tough hardcore and outright metallic thrash, and have landed on quite the musical sweet spot in the process. Whether you like to headbang or mosh it up, you’ll find yourself loving Enforced. The bill is rounded out by RVA’s fave psychedelic hardcore weirdos, Slump, and Raleigh noise-punk chaos ensemble Essex Muro. You can’t go wrong with this one.

Saturday, January 26, 9 PM
Vomit Stain, Murder Method, Murdersome @ Wonderland – $5
Unless you’ve been around this town for quite a while, even the diehard metalheads among you might not know the extent of Richmond’s history with brutal death metal. However, one of the leading lights of our current twisted brutal metal underground, Vomit Stain, seem to have a surprising amount of awareness, if their choice of record label is any indication. This raging quartet just released their latest album, Piles Of Human Debris, on Sevared Records, the long-running death metal label owned by onetime Richmond resident Barrett Amiss II.

Back at the turn of the millennium, you could find Barrett manning the drum kit for local death-crust outfit Rasp, and around that time, Sevared released the lone full-length by Richmond’s Disinterment, who gained little notice at the time but contained future members of Darkest Hour, Deathcrown, Iron Reagan, and many more. Amiss returned to his native New York some time ago, but clearly Sevared’s relationship with Richmond metal isn’t a thing of the past. At Wonderland this Saturday night, Vomit Stain will make clear exactly why they’re perfectly suited to carry on the underground tradition of Richmond death metal, dishing out the growling gore, thrash-tastic riffs, and headcrushing double-bass pummeling we all love so much. They’ll be joined by up-and-coming Richmond ragers Murdersome, who feature some talented local metal vets themselves, and will also be celebrating the release of their newest EP. Pennsylvania quintet Murder Method will round out the bill with some old-school Florida-style death for all you headbanging maniacs. Hit the pit.

Sunday, January 27, 7 PM
Daniel Romano, T. Hardy Morris, Deli Kings @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s easy for Americans to trick ourselves into believing that Canada is just like America. After all, our neighbors to the north speak English with mostly the same accent we do (er, well, if you’re west of Quebec they do), and their culture looks pretty similar to ours from the outside (except that they have Tim Horton’s and Pizza Pizza where we have Dunkin Donuts and Little Caesar’s). But if you start checking into Canadian music, that whole understanding falls apart. Daniel Romano’s a great example of what I’m talking about; like the Tragically Hip and Sloan, among many others, he’s a Canadian artist acclaimed enough to receive multiple nominations for Canadian music awards like the Polaris and the Juno. Meanwhile, here in America, he’s a relatively obscure folkish alt-country singer-songwriter who is probably best known for having been part of melodic punk group Attack In Black a decade or so ago.

Hopefully that will change at least within the borders of our fair city, though, as Romano has been proving for close to a decade now that his work deserves to be just as well-regarded in the good ol’ USA as it is in his home country up north. Last year (almost wrote “this year” — January always takes some adjustment), he simultaneously released two albums, Human Touch and Nerveless (the fact that he didn’t name the latter Lucky Town seems like a huge missed opportunity, but maybe he’s not as much of a Springsteen fan as I am). Between the two, they show off the full breadth of his enormous talent, ranging between skeletal folk tunes with the feel of old-time murder ballads, and incredibly catchy power-pop that simultaneously evokes modern indie and lush 70s AM radio pop tunes. All of it makes clear why Daniel Romano has won the hearts of so many of his countrymen. Catch on to the best parts of what our neighbors to the north have to offer at The Camel this weekend; it’s likely that before too long, that decision will give you major bragging rights.

Monday, January 28, 7 PM
Amen Dunes, Arthur @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
What’s going on with Amen Dunes? The answer depends upon the year. Band mastermind Damon McMahon doesn’t really focus on any particular sound or style in his music, instead following his creativity wherever it may take him — which, from album to album, can lead to very different results. He got his best results yet on Freedom, the project’s fifth album, released last year to widespread acclaim. The spiritually-driven mission of Amen Dunes is brought into the sharpest focus on Freedom, resulting in an album that takes a number of different sonic detours but always features a uniting vision grounded in urban-folk melodies and psychedelic haze.

Expect Amen Dunes to create a palpable mood when they take the stage at the Broadberry, one that will only be enhanced by the opening set from tourmate Arthur. Arthur, which is also a de-facto solo project, also dabbles in psychedelia — but it’s a very different sort than that trafficked by Amen Dunes. On Woof Woof, the latest full-length the project has released, Arthur explores bizarre corners of the psychedelic pop world, using heavy vocal effects and unexpected switches between acoustic and electronic sounds to brew up a melange of sounds that could remind you of everyone from The Beatles to Ariel Pink to the Flaming Lips and a whole lot more. This show will be a full-on headtrip from beginning to end, so be prepared to take a trip. One thing’s for sure — it’ll brighten up your Monday night.

Tuesday, January 29, 8 PM
George Clanton, Surfing, Satin Sheets + Esprit, Aaron Shadrow @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$14 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Strangely hypnotic electronic-based music has really come into vogue over the past few years, especially around Richmond. If you’ve been paying attention to its bizarre rise here in the river city for several years now, you’re bound to know the name George Clanton — or at least, to remember his early work under the name Mirror Kisses. His synth-based sounds were much darker at that time than they are today, as Clanton takes a trip down from his current home of Brooklyn to blast us all with waves of digital bliss.

His latest LP, Slide, is full of danceable pop gems that both retain a hefty dose of the strange atmospheres his music has always created and hooks right into the deepest impulses of your lizard brain to perfectly satisfy your craving for unforgettable melodies and singalong choruses. The result should appeal to fans of Duran Duran’s mid-80s prime just as well as it connects with fans of modern trailblazers like Elite Gymnastics. And what’s even greater for all you weirdo-electronica fans is the fact that Clanton will hit town with a coterie of fellow electronic travelers who record for his 100% electronica label, including a collaborative set between Clanton’s own alter ego, Esprit, and New Zealand’s Satin Sheets. Australians Surfing and frequent Clanton collaborator Aaron Shadrow will also be on the bill, so this show is sure to be a treat for all you fans of bizarre synth delectability. And I know in Richmond, there are a lot of you.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, January 25, 7 PM
Arcane Haven, The Earth Laid Bare, Wait For The Day, Vain/Void, Bo Scurvy And the Hounds, Detachment @ RiffHouse Pub – $10
I love metal in all its forms, and if you’re even close to being on that same page, you’ll definitely be interested in this stacked six-band bill coming to RiffHouse Pub in Norfolk on Friday. RiffHouse — the very name says “this is a metal club,” and as far as this show goes, they certainly aren’t belying that name by having Arcane Haven headlining. This Pennsylvania band released their self-titled debut full-length last summer, and it finds them dealing in everything from absolute brutal mosh madness to emotionally-powerful melodies with a heavy undercurrent. This quintet definitely has a sensitive side, and they’ll show it to you, but don’t get too comfortable, because before you know it, they’ll be charging full-tilt back into headbang territory.

They’re joined on this tour by Kentucky’s The Earth Laid Bare and Ohio’s Wait For The Day, who have a significant share of metal rage to offer in their own right. The Earth Laid Bare’s latest album, Flow, shows the group dabbling in the same sort of industrial-influenced low-end that has marked recent releases from Sworn In and Harm’s Way, even as their death-metal roots show through in the best possible way. Meanwhile, Wait For The Day traffics in more complex, almost proggy flourishes, but at heart focuses on the same sort of emo-metalcore hybrid sound fans of Underoath and Poison The Well have come to love. All three of these bands have a lot to offer, and the three excellent local openers only make this show an even better deal. Do you like to headbang as much as I do? You do? Good. Go to this show.

Saturday, January 26, 8 PM
Mirador, Spitty, Single-Use Plastic @ Pourhouse of Norfolk – Free!
I’ve been covering the music scene in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area for a while now, and I’m starting to learn that it has quite a bit more breadth than I initially thought. And in my quest to look beyond the hardcore, metal, and dance music, Mirador is one of the more impressive lesser-known examples I’ve located. This quartet dabbles in indie melody, math-rock guitar sounds, and alt-rock vibes on their Become The River EP. The result is incredibly catchy and fun, and it was released when all the members were still in high school, so that’s even more impressive.

Do we have the Norfolk version of Manatree on our hands here? Time will tell, but one thing that’s already certain as of right this minute — these guys are definitely worth heading over to the Pourhouse on Saturday night in order to see. The fact that this show is free makes it even more worthwhile, and best of all, two other local groups — alt-rockers Spitty (great name) and skate-punkers Single Use Plastic (pretty rad name as well) — will be tearing it up before Mirador’s set. So you get great tunes, you get to keep all your money, and you get to engage in a firsthand exploration of the musical variety Norfolk has to offer. Sounds like a win-win all around!

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 28 – December 4

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Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FEATURED SHOW
Tuesday, December 4, 6 PM
Negative Approach, Battlemaster, Shadow Age, True Body, Slump, Unmaker, Serqet, Gumming, Loud Night @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The holiday season is here, but for the Richmond music scene, it’s a sad time, as perhaps our most reliable mainstay for live music over the past decade is going away. However, while it’s hard to think of how we’ll get by without Strange Matter in 2019, the venue’s imminent closing seems to have created an absolute bonanza for people who love seeing awesome bands. Between now and their final closing on December 15, they’ve booked a whole passel of action-packed, star-studded farewell shows to close out their time on a high note.

Indeed, there are so many that I couldn’t possibly fit all of the worthy bills happening at Strange Matter this week into this show column without ignoring some really great shows happening around town elsewhere. But rest assured, if any of the following picks isn’t in your lane, there’s probably something amazing happening at Strange Matter that night — check out the full schedule from now til their last night over here.

All that being said, I couldn’t possibly avoid mentioning this show. It was already stacking up to feature an abundance of excellent local bands from a variety of genres… and then Negative Approach came calling. This legendary first-wave US hardcore band came roaring out of Detroit in the early 80s with an amazing treasure trove of hardcore bangers that made their debut EP and Tied Down LP classics of the era. These days, vocalist and human whirlwind of rage John Brannon keeps the band alive in the company of the band’s original drummer, plus former members of fellow hardcore legends The Necros and Easy Action on bass and guitar.

And believe me, when they hit the Strange Matter stage, they’re going to rip your fucking head off. And yes, I intend that as a very high compliment. If you haven’t seen the reunited Negative Approach on any of their previous trips through Richmond, this is the time to make it happen. After all, you’ll not only be getting to see John Brannon go wild up close and in person, you’ll be celebrating the past decade of greatness Strange Matter brought to us, and in the company of some of this town’s best local bands. Its brought Shadow Age back from their recent retirement to play their first-ever set as a quintet, the dynamic psychedelic-postpunk duo of True Body and Slump are both on the bill, Unmaker’s fresh off the release of their new album and ready to lay you flat with Killing Joke-style heaviness… and there’s a whole lot more. I’ve already taken up too much space saying even this much. Just go.

Wednesday, November 28, 6 PM
Broadside, With Confidence, Sleep On It, Small Talks @ The Canal Club – $15 in advance/$18 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Broadside have been at it for a long time here in Richmond, and they’ve been through a lot during their decade or so of existence as a band. In fact, no one we talked to for our first interview with Broadside back in 2011 is even still in the band — so that should give you an idea. However, since singer Ollie Baxxter joined the band in 2013, they’ve had a standout sound that sets them apart from the pop-punk pack and helped get them signed to Victory. Second LP Paradise showed them branching out in their sound, increasing the emphasis on melody as Ollie grew as a vocalist and showed off some teen-idol vocal chops.

But rest assured, this band still packs the sort of punch you’ll need to get you jumping and dancing even as you sing along to all those heartbreaking lyrics we’ve all memorized alone in our rooms late at night. And they’re coming to town with Australians With Confidence, who have a similarly sure-footed approach to melodic, emotional punk sounds, though these guys are more on the emo tip than Broadside’s whole post-easycore approach. New album Love And Loathing is an excellent listen, and the band will bring all those tunes to life in glorious Technicolor when they hit the Canal Club stage. Wear your basketball shoes for this one, because the club is gonna be jumping.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Manatree, Stray Fossa, Bottled Up, missangelbird @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 at the door (order tickets HERE)
If you’d like a one-night crash course in what’s going on in the indie scene around VA, you can’t do much better than this show at the Camel. Your star attraction, as it’s been so many times, is Manatree, a group that started out as bouncy teenagers but have grown up, matured, and been through some lineup shifts in order to evolve into their current form. They’ve developed a new approach that moves away from the alt-rock and emo tinges they had on earlier material in favor of delicate, mathematically complex precision, which they showed off on Engines, the full-length they released this past summer. If you haven’t caught them live since 2016 or so, rest assured, a lot has changed — and in good ways.

To our west up 64, Stray Fossa has been putting together some excellence of their own of late, releasing debut EP Sleeper Strip earlier this fall to give us all a taste of their pensive UK-style tuneage. It borders on shoegaze, but the way frontman Nick Evans’ voice sits above the multi-layered guitars is so strong and assured that the end result is closer to pre-shoegaze UK guitar slingers like House Of Love and The Chameleons. DC’s Bottled Up let loose with a bit more distortion than the two previous bands we’ve discussed, but there’s a great deal of space in their sound nonetheless, and delicate, bouncy pop is ultimately the best way to describe their music. Recent EP BU2 is a lot of fun, and their performance at this show seems certain to be as well. Finally, Harrisonburg’s missangelbird, which grew from a series of quiet solo demos into a softly powerful indie-folk trio over the past few months, opens up, easing you into a night of lovely sounds from around the state. Don’t miss a moment.

Friday, November 30, 7 PM
Drug Church, Gouge Away, Seattle’s New Gods, Twin Drugs @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Just to show you a little bit about how the sausage is made: this double-headline bill was a major candidate for Featured Show this week. I couldn’t deny the outstanding nature of the Negative Approach show, but it in no way reduces the greatness this truly stacked lineup has to offer. Drug Church and Gouge Away have both released new albums this year, and both of them show some major growth. Drug Church’s third LP, Cheer, just came out and finds this crunching (post?) hardcore band dishing out their usual top-quality distorted midtempo riffs, only now with a slight undertone of minor-key melody that increases the emotional quotient even as lead vocalist Patrick Kindlon (also of Self Defense Family and the Axe To Grind podcast — yeah, you know this dude) is still blasting you with his usual acerbic wit and cutting insights into the darker sides of human character.

Drug Church have always had a lot to offer, and seeing them on this tour is sure to make that clear. But don’t get too excited about them and miss out on their touring partner — Gouge Away’s new LP, Burnt Sugar, is clearly the best thing this already shit-hot band has done. It finds them cleaning up their sound but continuing to lean into their driving, furious punk rock sound, with the end result landing somewhere between the excellent emotional hardcore of Xerxes circa Collision Blonde and White Lung at their career peak (that being the “Blow It South” single). Both of these bands are guaranteed to offer powerful live performances that you won’t soon forget, and openers Seattle’s New Gods and Twin Drugs only make this show even cooler and more interesting. Get there.

Saturday, December 1, 6 PM
Inter Arma, Black Tusk, Earthling, Humungus, Hoboknife, Buzzard Dust, Prayer Group, The Astral Void @ Strange Matter – $15
OK I can’t talk about ALL of the Strange Matter farewell shows, but some of them definitely need specific mention, and this is one of them. This one is for all the kids who wear old faded metal t-shirts with the sleeves cut off all summer, and denim vests covered in patches all winter. It’s the perfect evening for people who like the idea of doom metal, but prefer bands to be too creative to fall squarely within that genre’s rather narrow borders. That description perfectly fits headliners and local metal legends Inter Arma, who have shown us over their decade-plus career that they are equally skilled at all genres of metal, and are willing to fit pieces from the majority of them, as well as some completely uncategorizable elements, into any given song of theirs. And it always rules.

But there are a ton of other bands on this bill, and all of them deserve your attention, especially Black Tusk. This Savannah, GA band has persevered despite tragedy, returning this year with TCBT, their first album since the death of founding bassist Jonathan Athon. The album’s unrelenting heavyosity makes clear that these guys still have an immense amount of metal power running through their veins, and their set at Strange Matter should make it even clearer. Of course we’ll get a ton of other great metal from around the state on this bill, from Earthling’s blackened crust rage to Humungus’s power-metal triumph and the psychedelic noise of The Prayer Group. Plus more! Get that vest out and let’s rage.

Sunday, December 2, 3 PM
Doll Baby, American Television, Alex Jonestown Massacre @ Hardywood – Free!
It’s always fun to visit Hardywood on a Sunday afternoon when Handmade Holiday is in full swing. Tons of crafters, artists, and other local vendors will be on hand to offer you an artisanal alternative to the Christmas gifts the big-box stores are all pushing this year. And what makes this Sunday afternoon’s Handmade Holiday presentation even cooler is the presence of three excellent bands to liven up your afternoon and give you sounds to tap your foot to as you browse through the tents and get some holiday shopping done.

American Television are the out-of-towners, but they’re from just up the road in DC, and they’ve got a great sound that will find a home in RVA’s heart for sure. The “Death Defier” single they released this summer, which was sold in conjunction with a signature dark roast coffee if you can believe that, has the kind of caffeinated rush you’d expect from a melodic punk band with an addiction to the dark nectar of the bean. The signature roast is sold out, but they’ve still got plenty of killer tunes to deliver to you this Sunday afternoon, as do local favorites Doll Baby and up-and-coming young band Alex Jonestown Massacre. It’s free, it starts at 3 PM, there are food trucks where you can score a late brunch, and you can get all your gift-shopping done in one place. What more could you ask for?

Monday, December 3, 7 PM
WHY?, Lala Lala @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember when people used to talk about “backpacker hip hop”? It doesn’t get brought up as much now, but all that stuff released during the 00s on Anticon, Definitive Jux, and similar labels had a real effect on the culture and stretched the sounds and ideas of hip hop into new realms. Why?, a group formed by former cLOUDDEAD rapper and Anticon all-star Yoni Wolf in the mid-2000s, was a big part of that expansion. The project started as a de facto solo thing for Wolf, but soon evolved into a four-piece band that incorporated guitars, keyboards, and drums into a sound that was almost closer to indie than anything anyone would expect from a project associated with the hip hop genre.

But Wolf was still rapping over it all, and it created an intriguing fusion, one that Why? were largely responsible for creating, most prominently on their landmark 2008 album, Alopecia. You might hear about the fusion of rap and rock and think cringingly of Limp Bizkit, but Why?’s sound was about as far as you could get from that, accentuating Wolf’s thoughtful lyrical pensiveness with a quiet, contemplative indie sound that fit in well with groups like the Silver Jews — who Why? actually toured with back then. And they made their mark on a whole generation of music lovers, from hip hop heads to indie kids and everything in between. On this 10th anniversary tour for Alopecia, they’ll be bringing all those fans into the same room once again, and it’s sure to blow your mind whether you were there for the first go-round or you’re just discovering Yoni Wolf and his excellent band today. It’s something you need to see.

Tuesday, December 4, 8 PM
Ghost @ Dominion Energy Center – $39.50 – $79.50 in advance (order tickets HERE)
Nearly a decade after their formation, Sweden’s Ghost remain a very interesting band. Their theatrical Satanism, always exemplified by elaborate characters and onstage costumery, took a bit of a hit after legal action by former members of the group revealed the identity of mastermind Tobias Forge. Forge has actually been the band’s frontman throughout the many transferrences of the vocal position between different characters over the years, and he’s portraying yet another new character on the current Ghost tour — Cardinal Copia, a break from the Papa Emeritus lineage.

However, neither official character changes nor demystification has slowed Ghost down one bit. While their image might lead you to expect King Diamond/Cradle Of Filth-style theatrical thrash, their music has always hewed to a more classic proto-metal sound in line with late 60s-early 70s pioneers like Covenant, Bloodrock, or Blue Oyster Cult. That remains true on Prequelle, their latest offering, which carries their spooky, organ-fueled sound forward into a haunting, multi-layered extravaganza. It’s a bit late in the holiday season for Ghost’s current tour to arrive in Richmond — Halloween would have been much more appropriate — but with two full sets of excellent music and an incredible stage show, we’d be total grinches to complain.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Wednesday, November 28, 7 PM
Kaonashi, Cryptodira, Vatican, Accident Prone, Nhibitions, Split Wrist @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s been nice to see a new generation of metallic hardcore kids who aren’t afraid to embrace the influence of nu-metal on their music. Because the fact is, the best of those bands had a lot to offer. When PA metalcore maniacs Kaonashi hit us with unabashed Slipknot and Mudvayne influences on their latest EP, Why Did You Do It?, it demonstrates clearly what sort of value can still be gained from those angst-ridden late-90s thrashers who loved tuning down and sporting eyeliner. Kaonashi songs like “My 5 Year Plan” and “You’ll Understand When You’re Older” mix the out-of-control moments of emotional meltdown that marked the best nu-metal into a recipe cobbled together from the best elements of deathcore’s downtuned thud and the gothic emo-prog of groups like Chiodos and Coheed And Cambria.

Kaonashi aren’t alone in following this thread to wherever it leads them — Sworn In has done quite a bit with it over the past few years, and Vein are certainly dipping a bit more than just a toe into the nu-metal pool on their new album. But Kaonashi’s new EP shows that they’re on the forefront of this musical territory, and they are sure to take it to another level entirely in the live arena — making attendance at this Charlie’s American Cafe show tonight all but mandatory (assuming you can make the drive). New Jersey’s Cryptodira are also on this bill, bringing an erudite take on progressive death-metalcore to the table, as showcased on 2017’s excellent The Devil’s Despair. Straight edge metalcore thrashers Vatican, who hail from Georgia, will also hit the stage with metalcore fury that harkens back to the genre’s 90s roots (so you know I’m stoked). All that plus three heavy-as-fuck local openers… gas up the Mustang, y’all. We’re going.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Raven, Songe, Doomsday Lullaby @ Riffhouse Pub – $10
In a world where it seems musicians spend just as much time reinventing the wheel as they do building on the traditions of those that came before, it’s no surprise that some younger metal fans today don’t even remember the legends of the early 80s “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” scene. But that doesn’t make it any less vital, essential, and important to everything that followed. You might not know the name Raven as well as you do other legendary NWOBHM acts like Iron Maiden and Motorhead, but they’re every bit as good, and if you value the history of the music you love, you need to be paying attention.

Raven’s probably best known today for their mid-80s albums — 1983’s All For One featured a song called “Athletic Rock,” in which Raven named their own musical genre years before the “active rock” format was even a twinkle in a Clear Channel exec’s eye, while 1985’s Stay Hard produced their biggest hit, “On And On.” Three decades later, though, Raven’s founding Gallagher brothers, bassist John and guitarist Mark, are still going strong, and 2015’s ExtermiNation showed that they’ve still got the furious metal power they wielded at the height of their fame. So get a history lesson at Riffhouse Pub tomorrow night, and let Raven show you that metal was heavy as hell even before you were born.

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 14 – November 20

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FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, November 15, 9 PM
Forward, Headsplitters, Loud Night, Cement Shoes @ Flora – $10
Burning Spirits. To most, perhaps, it’s a vaguely paranormal-sounding phrase with no real significance beyond that. But for the diehard punks and hardcore kids in the know, it is a password to some of the wildest, craziest, and greatest hardcore the genre has ever produced. Apparently the name Burning Spirits comes from a series of venues that graced Japan in the 80s, but these days it’s a signifier of the bands that came from those venues: Death Side, Bastard, Tetsu Arei, Judgment, etc. These bands had a huge influence on the punk, hardcore, and grind scenes around the world as the 80s turned into the 90s, and while many of them were done by the end of that decade, a new generation of bands formed in their wake.

Forward is one of those bands, and perhaps the most legendary. Formed in the mid-90s by members of Death Side and Insane Youth, they became the foremost torchbearers of burning spirits hardcore over the past two decades. Forward has the traditional Burning Spirits sound, which fused post-Discharge UK hardcore with the speed of Scandinavian crust and the ripping biker-style thrash of early speed metal bands. Motorhead was a key influence as well — in fact, on Forward’s latest EP, Another Dimension, they cover Motorhead’s “Death Or Glory” in tribute to Lemmy Kilmister (RIP) — but they inject surprising melodic touches at the oddest of times, which might be the biggest part of their charm.

Forward making it to Richmond from their native Japan isn’t something that happens every day — in fact, it’s been four years since the last time they came through. It might be at least that long before they make it again. So if you want to come sing along with classics like “Just Go Forward To Death” or “Over The Matter Of Course,” this is your chance. Don’t waste it. New Yorkers Headsplitters are also in on the fun with some raging biker-crust of their own, and Richmond up-and-comers Loud Night and Cement Shoes get this one moving. So spike up your hair, dig out your leather vest, and get ready for some serious circle-pit action.

Wednesday, November 14, 7 PM
Amigo The Devil, Harley Poe, The Wet Boys @ Strange Matter – $15 in advance/$17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s a really interesting stereotype about old-time folk music from the hills of Appalachia. All of it, they’ll tell you, is about degenerate behavior — drugs, gambling, murder, and assorted antisocial behavior. It’s enticing to hear, but other than occasional high-profile exceptions like “Knoxville Girl,” you’re not gonna run across too much from the prewar 78-RPM era that lives up to that billing. But here in 2018, Texas musician Amigo The Devil is doing his best to make that hyped-up legend of folk music’s dark, twisted murder balladry a 21st century reality.

Amigo The Devil plays a banjo, sings in a hypnotic baritone, and has written multiple songs about serial killers, from Ed Gein to Jeffrey Dahmer. He’s even been known to tag his sound as “Murderfolk.” That’s the sort of sound he’s explored on his early EPs; now on debut full-length Everything Is Fine, he’s moving towards a fuller sound with more backing instrumentation. Up front, though, he’s still the same banjo-playing songwriter with an angelic voice and a demonic imagination. He’s joined on this tour by a group with a similar sort of approach to demonic folk music, Harley Poe. These Indiana boys like to sing from the point of view of horrible people, giving them jaunty folk tunes over which to vent their spleens and say horrible things. It’s a forbidden thrill, but it makes for a heck of a fun listen. Give these two artists, as well as VA-based openers The Wet Boys, a night to worm inside your skull, and you might just find yourself walking to work tomorrow humming a song about murder with a big smile on your face. And what could be wrong with that?

Thursday, November 15, 8 PM
Birds And Arrows, Glass Twin, Blush Face @ The Camel – $7
Birds And Arrows have had quite the journey over the past dozen years or so. Starting as a folk duo in North Carolina, the group (which is also a married couple, Andrea and Pete Connolly) pulled up stakes last year and headed across the country to Tucson, AZ. Since resettling there, they’ve been rediscovering rock n’ roll volume, turning up louder and louder. You can hear their newfound embrace of raging noise on single “Stay Down,” which has obvious folk roots in its strummy guitars but nonetheless hits with heavy rockin’ power, like a classic psychedelic stoner tune from the mid-70s.

So what can you expect from Birds And Arrows when they hit The Camel stage tomorrow night? Well, as we’ve always heard, the truth is somewhere in-between, and this duo is sure to bring both the hard-rockin’ power of recent tunes and the more stripped-down feel of their folk roots to life when they play live. They’ll be celebrating the release of their new LP, Arbitrary Magic, which expands on the sound of “Stay Down” and features some overtly political commentary about just how frustrating the current state of our country is. If you’re feeling the frustration, and just need to let out some energy to a high-volume example of rock n’ roll chaos, Birds And Arrows are the band for you. Don’t miss ’em.

Friday, November 16, 7 PM
Druglord, Slump, Lair @ Sound Of Music Studios – $7
You can expect some serious sludge from this loud, noisy affair at Sound Of Music Studios Friday night. Druglord have been dealing out their loud, heavy doom around Richmond for many years now, but returned to the recording arena only recently; new LP New Day Dying is their first release since 2015 EP Deepest Regrets. This is their first release with new bassist Julian Cook, and it shows that despite the departure of local legend Greta Brinkman, these guys can still pound and shred with the best of them.

The new album was released on Sludgelord Records, and it’s an appropriate label for a band with some strong musical resemblances to bands like Grief and Eyehategod. If you’re a fan of slow-motion headbangs and pulverizing low-end distortion, you need to see what this trio has been up to lately. You won’t be disappointed. Heavy-psych weirdos Slump make an intriguing pairing with Druglord for this bill; they trade the sheer slow-motion trudge of Druglord’s sound for some extremely spaced-out ambience of the sort that’ll appeal to Hawkwind fans. Underneath all the trippy noise, though, these guys have some driving riffage that splits the difference between Motorhead and Blue Oyster Cult. Opening up will be Lair, an intriguing newcomer on the Richmond doom metal scene who told you most of what you needed to know about their sound when they released a two-song, 21-minute EP earlier this year. Serious doom, y’all. Get ready.

Saturday, November 17, 7 PM
Mock Orange, Fire In The Radio @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been interesting to watch the evolution of our cultural nostalgia over the past several decades of my life. One thing that’s become eminently clear is that nostalgia operates on a 20-year cycle — and the underground is not immune, from the early-00s infatuation with Joy Division-era postpunk to the “emo revival” that was all abuzz circa 2013. While it’s a good idea to be a bit wary of nostalgia, one great thing about the nostalgia cycle as it’s applied to underground music is that sometimes, it causes things that never got enough shine the first time around to receive a long-overdue embrace.

This year, it seems to be Mock Orange’s time to shine; they’re currently on tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of landmark debut LP Nines And Sixes. That album staked a strong claim on a sound that was somewhere between indie-rock melody and the noisier post-hardcore tendencies of bands like Quicksand and Jawbox. Since then, Mock Orange have evolved quite a bit — they never really stopped making records, and released their sixth album, Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse, in 2016. Though they still rock hard, their more recent releases show an increased presence of quirky postpunk synths and effects. It’ll be interesting to see how the group applies the results of these evolutions to the material with which they initially made their name. But regardless of the result, the mere fact that Mock Orange are finally getting their due is a positive thing. Whether you’re a curious potential convert or a longtime diehard fan, this show is sure to get your juices flowing.

Sunday, November 18, 7 PM
Tall Heights, Old Sea Brigade, Frances Cone @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one is going to be glorious. Tall Heights have been around for a while now, starting out with a joyfully ethereal indie-folk sound that highlighted the duo’s incredible vocal harmonies. They’ve come a long way since then, though, expanding the group’s instrumentation and lineup well beyond the airy, minimalist melodies on which they made their name. 2016 LP Neptune saw them augmenting their basic guitar-cello configuration with atmospheric percussion and multi-layered synth washes.

Now, with recently-released follow-up Pretty Colors For Your Actions, they’ve taken things to another level entirely, moving away from acoustic folk sounds toward the sort of layered indie-pop productions that have marked the work of Brian Wilson-influenced 21st century experimenters like Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear. Tall Heights have plenty of tunes just as indelible as those of their predecessors, too, and at Capital Ale House this weekend, they’ll dish ’em all out for you. Get ready to bliss out.

Monday, November 19, 8 PM
Bask, Mister Earthbound, Tel @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
I think we all know there got to be a glut of doom metal bands for a while there, right? Sure, there were a whole bunch who really ruled, and stood head and shoulders above the pack (many of them from right here in Richmond, of course). But new doom bands popping up on a seemingly weekly basis just wore us all down after a while. That’s why it’s been good, in recent years, to see the emergence of groups like Bask — groups that find a way to use the best parts about doom metal (spooky atmosphere, crawling heaviness) in ways we haven’t heard other groups use them a million times before.

Bask’s 2017 LP, Ramble Beyond, does this in brilliant fashion. On this album, Bask uses doom metal’s slowed down tempos and groovy riffs as a part of an expanded sonic palette that incorporates psychedelic astral explorations as well as the evocative melodies of old-time Americana. The result sounds like what you’d get if some talented stoners with a penchant for serious heaviness broke into some old-time Western ballads beneath huge desert skies at twilight. From folk-metal to desert-psych, this band touches on a variety of genres and moods, and as a result has a much broader appeal. Take heart, headbangers — as long as bands are getting this creative with the standard template, doom metal will never die.

Tuesday, November 20, 7 PM
The Story So Far, Turnover, Citizen, Movements @ The National – $23 in advance/$26 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Damn, this one hits close to home. The Story So Far were one of those bands like Knuckle Puck and State Champs and The Wonder Years, the melodic hardcore groups who had enough energy and distortion to appeal to my hardcore punk heart even as their downcast melodies struck me right at the core of my being. This happened a whole lot throughout my 20s and 30s, when I spent most of my time being emotionally vulnerable, alienated, and alone. Life’s gotten a whole lot better for me over the past few years, and I don’t feel that way much anymore (thank god), but I will admit that I’ll always have a soft spot for bands like The Story So Far.

But I’m not just reliving memories of great records they put out years ago — The Story So Far released their fourth album, Proper Dose, only weeks ago, and somehow managed to outdo themselves yet again, bettering their classic self-titled album from a few years ago as well as 2013’s milestone in depressed melodicore awesomeness, What You Don’t See. On Proper Dose, The Story So Far brandch out a bit sound-wise. But they still sound sad, like the post-teenage self-doubt, alienation, and ennui is weighing on them just as hard as ever, despite the fact that they play much bigger venues when they go on tour now. Honestly, I get it — bigger crowds never seemed to make Kurt Cobain feel any better either. But at least when they look out from the stage of the National Tuesday night, they’ll feel a little less alone. You will too if you make the trip down, and between continued amazingness from our consistently brilliant headliners and a slate of outstanding support acts topped by VA’s own Turnover, there’s a lot to enjoy… or at least connect with. And sometimes that’s what we really need.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, November 16, 8 PM
Part Time, Fenster, Blood Sound, Zabeth @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $12 in advance/$15 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Those of you who sit up late at night watching dumpstered VHS tapes of 80s movies on your crappy thrifted VCR are sure to get something out of what Part Time is doing. This group, the creation of California-based songwriter David Loca, taps into the warped sounds of decaying videotapes and obsolete synthesizers to create the Part Time sound. The group has been around for a decade, releasing cassettes through Burger Records and building a following with their indie-influenced take on 80s new wave electronica, but with new LP Spell #6, freshly released via Tough Love Records, they’re going mega. The album features a guest appearance by obvious influence Ariel Pink, and lush ballads like “So Far Away” and “Hide” capture the lovelorn feel of the best bedroom-pop creations.

Part Time are joined on this bill by Berlin, Germany’s Fenster, who play some strange indie pop sounds of their own. They’ve done some intriguing and memorable things, including a feature-length film entitled Emocean (2015), which documented the band’s attempt to complete their third album while trapped in an alternate dimension. Or so they tell us. New album The Room finds the group continuing to explore sonic possibilities, from space-age lounge music to alternate-universe postpunk. Fenster might throw you for a loop at points, but they keep your feet moving and your ears enchanted by melody. And isn’t that what’s important? Don’t let the static hypnotize you — this dual-headliner bill is more than worth switching off the TV and leaving the bedroom for.

Saturday, November 17, 7 PM
Airpark, Babe Club, Court Street Company @ Toast – $7 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Nashville’s Airpark is ready for their close-up. This duo of Ford brothers, Ben and Michael Jr., have a lush sound that, on recent single “Devotion,” harks back past modern folk-pop into the early 70s heyday of singer-songwriter soft rock. Chiming acoustic guitars and gorgeous vocal harmonies set the tone, grounded by a rock-solid rhythm section and some creative songwriting choices. The group has released two EPs so far, Early Works volumes 1 and 2, but their forthcoming follow-up promises to take us beyond the early stuff as Airpark comes into their own.

When they make their way to the stage of Norfolk’s Toast, they’ll be well prepared to show the audience what they’ve got to offer. And so will South Carolina’s Babe Club, a newly-formed duo whose members both split from SC indie band Susto earlier this year. For the group’s frontwoman, Jenna Desmond, this group offers her a chance to step out from her previous role in Susto as the female bass player in a band full of men, and express her feelings about being a woman in Trump’s America. She does this over intricate guitar melodies from bandmate Corey Campbell, as well as her own driving bassline, on debut single “Hate Myself,” which gives an intriguing preview of what this group will have in store for us when they hit the stage. If it’s all this stunning and memorable, Babe Club will give Airpark a run for their money. No matter how it turns out, though, you’re going to want to be there and hear it all go down.

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Top Image by Lindsay Eastham

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: October 3 – October 9

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, October 5, 6 PM
Bracewar, Cold World, Shark Attack, Day By Day, Victim, Division Of Mind, Mindforce, Downfall, Antagonize @ The Canal Club – $20 (order tickets HERE)
It might be a surprise for the uninitiated to hear this, but hardcore is basically dance music — and hardcore bands know it. So many of them have “Intro” songs they play when they first hit the stage, and big mosh breakdowns that they end their sets with, most of which are introduced by a singer screaming, “Last chance to dance!” I rest my case. Richmond’s Bracewar is one of those bands, and in fact, I’ve often heard other hardcore kids talk about how their “Intro” (from their 2007 Juggernaut LP) is their best or most popular song. It makes a weird sort of sense — for a typically fast-as-hell band, the intro offers a perfect chance to get the kids all fired up before launching into a million-miles-an-hour rager.

Bracewar were super active about a decade ago, but the members have gotten older, and they’ve focused less on the band in recent years, playing the occasional local show but mostly not doing much. However, it appears all that is changing — they’ve got a brand new EP, Colossal, coming out on Triple B Records this week. It’s only three songs, but it’s their first new material in a decade, so we can cut ’em some slack. What’s really interesting is that they’ve got a new intro song on this one, entitled “Introduction.” Will this far more metallic take on the set-starting dance call get the kids moving as much as the old intro did? On Friday at the Canal Club, you’ll probably have a chance to find out.

You’ll also get a chance to see a TON of other rad hardcore bands from the past two decades, giving you a great view on what’s been happening in the world of hardcore since the millennium turned. Well-respected veterans Cold World will be sharing headliner status with Bracewar and bringing their brutal riffs with a slight tinge of hip-hop flavor to keep the dancefloor moving. And of course we can’t forget about Shark Attack, the short-lived but legendary northeast hardcore band that blew everyone’s minds back in 2001 with two incredible EPs, then dipped out leaving everyone wanting more. Their discography LP finally came out this year, complete with some unreleased tracks, and now they’re coming to Richmond to knock everybody on their asses once again. There are quite a few other excellent bands on this bill, from current ragers like RVA’s own Division Of Mind and Florida’s Day By Day to reincarnated VA Beach warriors Victim and the brand-new project from legendary Bane frontman Aaron Bedard, Antagonize. Practice your moves, kids — you’ve got a lot of dancing to do.

Wednesday, October 3, 7 PM
Thrice, The Bronx @ The National – $24.50 in advance/$29.50 at the door (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard not to love Thrice. They’ve been around forever, and despite many sonic evolutions they’ve been through, they’ve consistently remained great. From the ridiculously metallic skate-punk of their earliest work to the progressive, emotionally-driven sound of their Alchemy Index tetralogy to the work they’ve released since their brief hiatus earlier in the decade, everything has been enjoyable in its own way, and on its own merits.

It’s still true, too — their recently-released tenth album, Palms, mixes a variety of different sounds from all eras of their work to create a moving and powerful example of a band carving their own path. I guess you could call it post-hardcore, but even that rather nebulous genre term falls woefully short of describing this band’s capabilities — capabilities they demonstrate every time they step onto a stage. Tonight at the National will be no exception, and the fact that they’ve got irreverent melodic punk rippers The Bronx (speaking of groups who’ve remained consistently great for multiple decades) on tour with them only sweetens the deal. Prepare yourself — this one’s gonna be an experience.

Thursday, October 4, 8 PM
Rotten Mangos, Benjamin Shepherd, Saw Black @ Strange Matter – $7
Psychedelic rock n’ roll is a style of music that’s been around for a long time, but when it’s done right, it still rules. And there’s nowhere they do it as right as they do in Austin, Texas. From the band that started it all, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, to current phenomena like Golden Dawn Arkestra, Austin is the place to go when you’re looking for wild, crazy psych to blow your mind.

Alternatively, you can let it come to you — and that’s what’s happening at Strange Matter Thursday night. Rotten Mangos, an all-star Austin psych crew featuring members of The Black Angels, former Richmonders The Diamond Center, and a whole lot more, will be rolling through with some pop-infused psych n’ roll that’ll open up your third eye and let the sun shine in. You’ll get a not entirely dissimilar experience from the local singer-songwriters opening up the show — Benjamin Shepherd brings a folky touch to his songs, but he’s not without some side trips into drug-fueled weirdness. Saw Black’s material is both more countrified and spacier; it’s not that predictable, especially on his excellent recent LP, Water Tower, but it’s always fun. This is a show to get your toes tapping even as your mind drifts through the astral plane. Who doesn’t love that?

Friday, October 5, 8 PM
Ragana, Haircut, Listless, Tavishi @ Strange Matter – $7
Things are getting spooky this Friday night at Strange Matter. Ragana is hitting town for the first time in several years, and this California group, only a two-piece, creates a powerful, all-encompassing ambience with their sound, one that’s sure to have a deep psychological effect on the denizens of Grace Street this weekend. The fact that Ragana’s most recent release is a split LP with New Orleans sludge-doom veterans Thou entitled Let Our Names Be Forgotten certainly gives you some idea of what to expect from their performance on Friday.

But it would be unfair to write Ragana off as just another doom metal band. They certainly have their share of loud, crushing moments that roll over you in slow motion like waves… or maybe a steamroller. But they also integrate quiet melodies and ominous atmosphere into their sound, significantly increasing the witchiness quotient of their music while also offering something more than the unremitting punishment dealt out by the typical doom band. For this reason, it makes sense that they’re sharing a bill with three Richmond bands who span a significant musical breadth. Listless’s crust/grind queercore, Tavishi’s harrowing electronic soundscapes, and Haircut’s angry punk noise all have elements in common with Ragana and each other, but every performer on this bill will offer their own unique take on the anguish that plagues us all as we walk through this difficult life.

Saturday, October 6, 7 PM
The Wedding Funeral @ Garden Grove Brewing & Winery – $?
This is a weird one, y’all. The Wedding Funeral is a project brought into the world by Darren Deicide and Ethel Lynn Oxide, a romantically-involved duo of musicians with widely divergent backgrounds. Deicide, an honest-to-god priest of the Church Of Satan, has been playing Robert Johnson-style acoustic blues for years now, while Oxide has a background in choral singing and the voice of an angel. The two of them have come together to create The Wedding Funeral, a sort of noir-folk project that uses rootsy blues-style instrumentation to jump all around the musical map, from pastoral British folk sounds to deep South blues to bizarre noise interludes.

At least, that’s how it seems from listening to the 30-second samples of their as-yet-unreleased debut album, You Are Cordially Disinvited, which they will be premiering for all comers at Garden Grove this Saturday night. Those samples are the entirety of the music they have available anywhere on the internet — their debut EP, Beneath The Floor Boards (Covered In Feces) (how’s that for a title), has been scrubbed from the World Wide Web in the interest of moving on to exciting new sounds, which is an understandable policy, if a frustrating one for a music journalist with a minimum of time on her hands. But I can tell you that you’ll learn a good bit more about what The Weddding Funeral have to offer if you make the trip down to Garden Grove, and in light of how unusual this band truly is, I definitely think it’s worth it.

Sunday, October 7, 8 PM
White Denim, Rotem @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one’s gonna be a lot of fun. White Denim, another excellent Austin, Texas band, have been around for about a decade, and in that time, they’ve been traversing a similar trajectory to that of another deep-South rock n’ roll group, The Black Keys. Starting out with a primitive garage-rock stomp that came out sort of like a janglier White Stripes and moving over the past decade into a thicker, funkier take on post-garage rockin’ that is downright impossible to deny.

Discovering their 2016 LP, Stiff, when I heard multiple songs from it at Sheetz (those of you who’ve known me for a while know how stoked I am about the music they play at Sheetz and really about Sheetz in general — don’t @ me, Wawa nerds), I fell in love with their ability to write incredible tunes that made you wanna get up and dance wherever you were when you heard them, but also rocked hard and had real staying power. And the fact that this excellent band is finally, after a decade of touring existence, bringing their live show to the river city has got to be the best news I’ve heard all week. So take my advice: go to this show, and bring your dancing shoes. Don’t worry if you know nothing about this band — just be yourself, and try to have a good time. You’re sure to succeed.

Monday, October 8, 7 PM
Culture Abuse, Gouge Away, Praise, Deviant, DJ Devolved @ Gallery 5 – $13 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
A double-shot of punk rock awesomeness from two of the best bands on the scene today, both of which just put out new LPs that took their already-outstanding sound to an even higher level? Yeah, this one definitely falls into the category of a no-brainer. Both of these bands have a ton of cachet in the hardcore punk world, and for that reason you might expect their music to be on the harsher end of things — but if you like catchy melodies and strong, memorable choruses, you’re in for a pleasant surprise, because both of these bands have a ton of songcraft skills and melodic dexterity to wow you with.

Californians Culture Abuse split the difference between driving punk-damaged power-pop groups like Neon Piss and straight-up goodtime rockers like The Strokes, and on their brand new Bay Dream LP, this approach yields a bumper crop of toe-tappers that are guaranteed to make you smile. Gouge Away are a bit more fired up; on their just-released Burnt Sugar LP, their harsh vocals and driving riffs land somewhere between melodic hardcore a la White Lung and post-hardcore noise-rock along the lines of Circus Lupus or early Rye Coalition (everyone who even got those references knows I’m over 40 now). As if this bill wasn’t stacked enough, Baltimore melodic, emotional hardcore group Praise are also here to get you fired up, and transgressive up-and-coming local hardcore crew Deviant get things started in fine fashion. Get stoked for this one.

Tuesday, October 9, 8 PM
Marbled Eye, Dark Web, Slump, True Body, Smut @ Strange Matter – $8 (order tickets HERE)
There’s no particular reason why the genre descriptor “postpunk” needs to mean anything in particular, beyond the fact that a band has taken formative influence from punk rock and brought it with them to a sound beyond that genre’s borders. But let’s be real — when I say that Marbled Eye is postpunk, you know what I mean. You expect the moody vibe, the wiry undistorted guitars, the melodic basslines and deadpan vocals. And you get all of that here. No doubt about it.

But it only takes one listen to Marbled Eye’s debut LP, Leisure, which just came out this week, to realize that this band has a fresh take on this style, one that takes them far beyond the Joy Division clones and Chameleons riff-stealers who’ve been part of the underground musical landscape for quite a while now. Remember how cool that postpunk style sounded over a decade ago, back when no one was really doing it? Marbled Eye still sound that cool. And if that isn’t proof of their standout talent, I don’t know what is. Fellow out-of-towners Dark Web and Smut, along with local mainstays Slump and True Body, provide excellent support to make this bill a top-quality musical evening from beginning to end.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, October 5, 8 PM
Carriage, Nemesis, Catalyst @ Shaka’s – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s tough to try to talk to people about 80s metal who weren’t there for that whole era, because they figure you’re talking about one of two things — either Slayer-style thrash (which, don’t get me wrong, rules) or teased-hair glam metal in the style of Poison and Motley Crue (which, don’t get me wrong, also rules — haters to the left). But there was a whole other wave of heavy, powerful underground metal from that time that people today don’t even think about, and it’s that sound that Carriage evokes today.

Their new LP, Visions, is full of the kinds of flourishes that the kids used to call “power metal,” from the kind of  high-pitched yowls that Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond made de rigeur for a while there to the epic progressive riffs that bands like Candlemass took from prog-rock giants like Rush and King Crimson. Carriage has all of this going on and more, and their sound is genetically engineered to get you banging your head. This release party for their Visions LP should be full of more denim jackets and flying hair than you can shake an air guitar at, and if you have any love at all for the days of high-flying, triumphant metal, you’re gonna want to get in the mix at Shaka’s Friday night.

Saturday, October 6, 9 PM
Uglyography, Human Services, Unk Al @ Taphouse Grill – $5
The fact that Richmond has long been a hub for the musically unique and downright bizarre should never blind us to the fact that crazy stuff comes out of the Tidewater area on a regular basis as well. This show is a great example of that exact fact, and it all starts with Hamptonites Uglyography, who have been wielding their goofy, uncategorizable sound for over a decade now. They themselves call it “quirkadelic rock,” and if you imagine an alternate universe where Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, Devo, They Might Be Giants, and 90s noise-rockers Alice Donut were all the same band, you’ve sorta got a general idea of what they’re up to.

But the reality is certainly going to be even crazier than you expect — Uglyography demonstrates just this fact on recent LP Evil Rays, which features ridiculously catchy tunes like “Neighborhood Watch” and “We Want You To Click Play,” then amidst all of the mania delivers a heartfelt ballad like “Imperfect For You.” They’re a group that must be seen to be believed, which is exactly why the Taphouse Grill is an eminently worthwhile destination for all you musical explorers of the new and unusual this Saturday night. They’ll be joined by the heavier but just-as-bizarre Human Services, who also hail from the Hampton area. Plus there will be an opening set from Unk Al, aka The Real Unk Al, aka Unk Al and the Amazingly Mediocre, a strange yet enjoyable bluegrass troupe that hails from Chesapeake. Open your mind and dive in.

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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

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Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, August 25, 11 AM
Vinyl Conflict X Rest In Pieces Customer Appreciation Day, feat. BIB, Nickelus F, Nosebleed, Slump, Deviant, Sinister Purpose, Benderheads @ Vinyl Conflict/RIP parking lot (324 S. Pine St) – Free!
It happens once a year, lasts all day, and is hot as hell. Sure enough, I am talking about the Vinyl Conflict Customer Appreciation Day, a once-a-year all-day outdoor party thrown by Oregon Hill’s best punk rock record store, Vinyl Conflict. This year sees them joining forces with neighboring oddity shop Rest In Pieces to come together in their joint parking lot and have the loudest block party you’ve been to all year. It also sees us in the midst of a relatively cool August by RVA standards, so with a forecast of partly cloudy skies and a high of 82 degrees, you may not have to worry as much about overheating as you usually do.

Not that high temperatures are ever an excuse to keep you away from this annual extravaganza. You’ll also do well to get an early start — things kick off with sidewalk sales at both shops starting at 10 AM, so show up early and hit the racks before all the good stuff gets cherry-picked. Then get ready for a nonstop thrill ride of killer music lasting until the evening hours. The bill will bring us a smorgasbord of killer punk, hardcore, and hip hop, enough to keep the mosh pit swirling all day. Plus, there’ll be food aplenty, provided by Cobra Burger and Go Go Vegan Go — so no matter your dietary requirements, you’ll be able to chow down! Stow your purchases in your car, grab some tasty treats, and get ready to mosh!

Headliners BIB will definitely get you moving — this Midwestern psychedelic sludge-core crew is apparently “egg punk” according to the internet, but don’t let memes stop you from jumping into the pit when they take the stage. They’ll rock your faces off, and so will local hip hop legend Nickelus F, who has been going higher and harder than ever in recent months, with his recent tour with Lil Ugly Mane and his incredible new album, Stuck — soon to be released on vinyl from Vinyl Conflict Records — lighting up hip hop heads from coast to coast. There’s a lot more hardcore and punk to enjoy on this bill, from the ripping rage of Nosebleed and the high-speed fury of Deviant to the rockin’ riffs of Sinister Purpose and the raw, noisy vibe of Benderheads. By 7 PM, you’re gonna be exhausted — but you’re sure to have a smile on your face.

Wednesday, August 22, 8 PM
Multicult, Heads, Hex Machine, Oozing Meat, R-Complex @ Strange Matter – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I don’t know what’s been going on with midweek shows lately, but it seems like we’re in the midst of a steady run of absolutely incredible Wednesday night bangers. Maybe it’s just that it’s the summertime, and all the bands are using their vacation time to hit the road. Whatever’s up, I certainly can’t complain, because it’s brought us a ton of incredible entertainment in the middle of the week lately. The run will continue tonight at Strange Matter with a double-headlining show by touring partners Multicult and Heads.

Multicult are from right up the road in Baltimore, and they’ll be bringing us some incredible 90s- throwback noisecore, sure to evoke positive memories of past DMV-area greats like Circus Lupus and Bluetip. Signed to Learning Curve and featuring former members of Triac and Fight Amp, this group is ready, willing, and able to prove their mettle/metal to all comers. Touring partners Heads come all the way from Berlin to deliver some similarly heavy sounds, though with a strong dose of postpunk darkness and gothic cool stirred into the mix — as displayed on their incredible new album, Collider, released earlier this year. These two excellent groups will be joined by a wealth of excellent Richmond-based acts, from the long-running noise-rock awesomeness of Hex Machine to the brilliantly fucked lo-fi grind mess of Oozing Meat and the harsh electronic fuzz of R-Complex. You’ll probably be going in late on Thursday morning, but it’ll be worth it.

Thursday, August 23, 8 PM
High Command, Left Cross, Enforced, Destruct @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s getting heavy in here. Thursday night brings us to Strange Matter once again, this time for a show presented by Terror Assault, a promotional group I’m not familiar with (though they are assuredly NOT involved with Dragon Ball Super CCG). The headliners this time around will be Massachusetts headbangers High Command, whose recent 7 inch from Haftvad Records, The Primordial Void, shows them to have some incredible thrash chops and a decidedly dark feel that goes incredibly well with their high-speed riffage. If you’re thinking Possessed, you’re on the right track.

High Command may sound like a thrash metal band straight out of the legendary Metal Massacre comps of the mid-80s, but I’m honestly not sure if they’re a metal or a hardcore band. I say this because they’re joined on this bill by three different ultra-heavy local bands, all of which are at least hardcore-adjacent. The most noteworthy of the three is, of course, Left Cross, who devastated us all late last year with the release of their excellent slab of ultra-heavy thrash, Chaos Ascension. Less established RVA groups Enforced and Destruct tread similar territory, though Enforced lands closer to a post-NYHC crossover sound that simultaneously reminds me of Judge’s Bringin’ It Down and Agnostic Front’s Cause For Alarm. Meanwhile, Destruct sound almost like the more metallic takes on D-beat issued in the early 90s by groups like Destroy and Disrupt. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether any of these bands lie on the hardcore or metal side of the fence — headbangers and circle-pit starters from all around the metropolitan area are equally likely to love every single band on this bill. Don’t sweat the genre, just throw on your denim vest and show up.

Friday, August 24, 7 PM
Boy Harsher, Void Vision, Sacramence, Child Of Night @ Gallery 5 – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s undoubtedly clear to all with a more than cursory knowledge of each shop that Vinyl Conflict has taken the lead on coordinating bands for the VCxRIP Customer Appreciation Day show discussed earlier. However, just because Rest In Pieces aren’t as directly involved in bringing music to RVA doesn’t mean that the folks at Richmond’s leading oddity shop aren’t ready, willing, and able to curate a powerful musical lineup on their own behalf. And this Customer Appreciation Day show at Gallery 5 on Friday night is Rest In Pieces’ time to shine.

I must say, though, “shine” seems like entirely the wrong word for a lineup like the one they’re bringing us. Headlining the affair is Boy Harsher, a coldwave duo with a solid grasp on the electronic sound that brings postpunk weirdos and goth rivetheads together to pogo grimly while wearing sunglasses inside at night. Their excellent Lesser Man EP can turn any bright suburban bedroom into a darkened Berlin dance floor — so imagine what they’ll be able to do with Gallery 5. Philly electro-goth group Void Vision has a similarly dark and hypnotic sound to offer, while Ohio’s Children Of Night adds a bit of a Teutonic industrial resonance to their take on the sound. Local openers Sacramence introduce a bit more of a electro-dance element to the evening, and show that the locals can bring it just as well as the out-of-town bands. This is a sound that deserves to be heard under cover of darkness — I can’t imagine any of these bands trying to perform under the Oregon Hill sun on Saturday afternoon — so be sure to start your weekend at Gallery 5 Friday night, and get the full Customer Appreciation Day experience.

Saturday, August 25, 9 PM
Trunk, Petrichor, Roy Batty @ Wonderland – $?
I love it when things work out so that I can advocate for a weekend doubleheader — a situation in which the featured show and the other show for that same day are happening at such different times that anyone could easily go to both. Such is the case with this Saturday’s festivities; the last band at Vinyl Conflict’s Customer Appreciation Day will finish hours before the first band starts up at Wonderland that night. You can totally go to both — and you should, if you have the energy. Especially since the Wonderland show will give you an opportunity to see Trunk.

Trunk are a Pennsylvania trio that calls themselves “hippie death metal” and sound more to me like the excellent early works of Eyehategod and Cavity crossed with the downcast Southern grooves of bands like Buzzoven and Sourvein. Their self-titled EP, released last fall, is a certified banger from beginning to end, and you can expect these songs to bowl you over when this band hits Wonderland’s stage. Local support comes from Petrichor and Roy Batty; the former has a sort of psychedelic doom feel, simultaneously melodic and crushing, while the latter hits you with some energetic rock n’ roll, featuring an undeniably heavy bottom end that’ll make this one a surprising hit with metalheads. Clear your schedule for this Saturday — you’ve got a lot of rocking to do.

Sunday, August 26, 7 PM
Tiny Stills, Get Married, WISH, Tyler Meacham @ The Camel – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Take heart, emo kids — Tiny Stills knows sometimes it can get difficult just to get through the day. And they’re here to help, as they demonstrate with the assured power-pop sound they deliver on latest LP Laughing Into The Void. This LA group has a definite 90s throwback feel, but that’s not to say that their sound is predictable; they’re just as likely to channel The Anniversary as they are to remind you about forgotten 90s acts like That Dog and Fuzzy. And the heartfelt delivery makes it all that much easier to connect with. As their bandcamp page says, “Even the worst days have a silver lining. You’re not alone.”

Tiny Stills are on a mission to make you smile, and on Sunday night they’ll succeed with flying colors — and so will tour partners Get Married. There’s a decidedly more punky feel to this California crew’s sound; just-released LP Songs For The Sleepless lands somewhere between early Jawbreaker and the best work by Reggie and the Full Effect. The result is a surefire dance-party starter and a blast of sunny energy that’ll keep your smile at full strength throughout their set. Local newcomers WISH will bring a dose of shoegaze to this musical evening, though their version of that rather nebulously-defined genre is closer to Hum than My Bloody Valentine (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Singer-songwriter Tyler Meacham will open up with a set of charming folk-pop songs with a strong emotional resonance that’s sure to connect with all the emo kids coming out for this one. So show up, and find a reason to smile — god knows we all need one.

Monday, August 27, 8 PM
T-Rextasy, Piranha Rama, Lawndry, Big No @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
If you’re happy after Sunday night at The Camel, rest assured Monday night at Strange Matter will NOT bring you down. Brooklyn’s T-Rextasy is coming to town, and while the title of their 2016 LP, Jurassic Punk, might make you think you’re in for some serious “chain punk” action, the truth is far less predictable — and more fun. T-Rextasy are a jangly power-pop group that embrace the link between girl groups and garage rock most strongly illustrated by the Shangri-La’s, but they add an undeniable dose of sunny melodies and tongue-in-cheek fun that’ll make their Monday night set at Strange Matter the perfect opportunity for bopping around with a big grin on your face.

And rest assured, the other bands on the bill will make you smile as well, if for no other reason than the sheer fact of their talent. Nashville’s Lawndry are the other out-of-town act playing this one, and their psychedelic folk-pop tunes show a wide scope of influences coming together in intriguing new ways; the fact that the group covered Lee Hazelwood, Scott Walker, and Animal Collective on their most recent EP certainly tells you something. Swiftly-rising local heroes Piranha Rama carry on the excellent momentum generated by last month’s self-titled debut LP, giving us another heaping helping of their twangy surf-psych-rock n’ roll melange. Meanwhile, hazy psych groove merchants Big No get things started with a big bang. This one’s gonna be a wall-to-wall delight.

Tuesday, August 28, 9 PM
Sissy Spacek, Suppression, Taciturnal @ Sediment Arts – $9
Just to get this out of the way up front: no, this show has nothing to do with actress and Virginia resident Sissy Spacek — this is another thing entirely. Sissy Spacek, the band, is made up of two members: bass player/electronic noise purveyor John Wiese (best known for his involvement in Bastard Noise) and drummer Charlie Mumma (of Sewer System, Bloody Phoenix, and at least a dozen other projects). The two have been working together for a couple of decades now, and have churned out an unbelievable 30 albums of blurry hyperspeed grind/noise violence. Their latest, Ways Of Confusion, was released last month on Nuclear War Now Records and blows through close to 40 songs in about half as many minutes. As musical extremes go, you don’t get much harsher than this.

And then there’s Suppression, another bass/drum grind project with a two-decade history. Bassist/vocalist Jason Hodges (Bermuda Triangles, Amoeba Men) and drummer Ryan Parrish (Iron Reagan, Darkest Hour) have been working together for about that long, but 2018 is nonetheless a milestone year for this duo: the year they release their first full-length LP in nearly a decade. Placebo Reality was released in May on their own label, Chaotic Noise Productions, and sees the group, which had gotten much closer to a bizarro form of noise-rock at one point, returning to their filthy, violent grindcore roots with something like 73 songs (assuming I didn’t lose count), again in about half as many minutes. These two groups are clearly made for each other. Local experimental project Taciturnal will get the harshness going with their opening set. Bring earplugs for this one.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Thursday, August 23, 6 PM
Belmont, Such Gold, Southpaw, Invaluable, Boxford @ 37th And Zen – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember what I said earlier about how great Wednesday nights have been for live music in RVA lately? Down in the Hampton Roads area, it seems like Thursday nights are the sure-fire winners — I’ve found myself sending y’all down 64 East on Thursday nights pretty much every week since we started doing these bonus HR picks. I’m curious to see whether the trend continues. But before I worry about all that, I’m very excited to point out that Belmont and Such Gold are hitting 37th And Zen tomorrow night, and you’d be well advised to gas up the vehicle in preparation.

This is especially true if you’re a fan of ultra-catchy, emotionally-infused pop-punk — and god, who isn’t? Belmont’s 2016 EP, Between You & Me, is a rock-solid collection of excellent tunes to get your blood flowing and your heart pumping, and their two post-EP singles, “Water Weight” and “Step Aside,” are even better. Fans of everything from Title Fight to Knuckle Puck are sure to enjoy the hell out of this band’s set. Such Gold should need very little introduction to fans of this style; after all, they’ve been plying their poppy, energetic take on that whole “easycore” microgenre of a decade or so ago since… well, a decade or so ago. Last year’s Deep In A Hole EP was their first new material in a few years, and showed that they’ve very much still got it — and believe it or not, a hint of introspective maturity creeps in there at a few points as well. Both of these bands are sure to thrill, and with Michigan’s Southpaw and locals Invaluable and Boxford opening up, this bill is sure to be a direct hit from top to bottom. Get stoked!

Saturday, August 25, 5 PM
BHRex Fest 3, feat. Ancient Torture Techniques, Bandit, Bruised Ego, Primitive Impulses, No/Mas, Constituents, Uncle Buck, Tomb Warden, War Bonds, Sex Dagger @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $10
Wow, some serious shreddage happening on Saturday night in Norfolk. Brain Hemorrhage Records, purveyors of fine grinding noise from Tidewater and beyond, are holding their third annual one-day fest at Charlie’s this Saturday night, and anyone who found the Sissy Spacek/Suppression double bill above intriguing should definitely have this show on their radar. At the top of the bill is an always-delightful battle set, in which bands set up at the same time and trade songs back and forth. In battle this evening will be Ancient Torture Techniques, who veteran followers of VA grind will remember for their split with RVA’s own Street Pizza, and current Philadelphia grind faves Bandit. This is sure to be a wall of power-violence insanity, and a treat for those who’ve missed ATT over their past few years of decreased activity.

There’s a lot more grind to find elsewhere on this bill; most noteworthy outside the battle set is sure to be a set from Primitive Impulses, a pre-Ancient Torture Techniques duo that returns for their first live performance in six years. Make sure you’re there for this one! There are a ton of other highlights that await you as well. Baltimore’s Bruised Ego will blaze through a couple dozen or so numbers in less time than you thought possible; DC’s No/Mas will deliver their dark, filthy take on crust/grind; Baltimore’s Uncle Buck have a definite Spazz resemblance that’s sure to delight the power-violence fan massive; VA Beach’s War Bonds go for some tough, old-school hardcore sounds with some surprisingly fast parts mixed in there. And there’s a whole bunch more in store for ya, all for the low low price of 10 bucks! You blastbeat freaks would really be blowing it if you missed this one.

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Top photo by Emma Penrose

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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

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Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

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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.]

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