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The Welcome Return Of A Talented Native Son

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With K Bay, Matthew E. White delivers his first solo album in six years. A joyous, fully realized musical statement, it reveals itself to be fully worth the wait, and quite possibly the RVA album of the summer (yes, even if it did come out in September).

Matthew E. White hasn’t totally disappeared from the world of popular music since his last solo album, Fresh Blood, came out six years ago in 2015. He has, after all, released two collaborative albums: one, Gentlewoman, Ruby Man, with Flo Morrissey in 2017; the other, Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, with Lonnie Holley earlier this year. But for the most part, his activities have moved out of the spotlight. Rather than taking center stage, he’s produced albums for Natalie Prass, arranged orchestrations for Foxygen, and made records with Bedouine and Hiss Golden Messenger, among others, as part of his extensive work with the label/studio/house band he co-founded, the almighty Spacebomb.

So yeah, Matthew E. White hasn’t exactly been lazy in the six years since he last released a solo album. Nonetheless, for the many fans he made with his first two albums, the arrival of third album K Bay is surely the musical event of the summer. For White, it’s also a chance to correct some mistakes he felt that he’d made earlier in his career. Despite it arriving three full years after debut album Big Inner, White felt he’d rushed his follow-up, Fresh Blood, and has spent the last few years away from the spotlight figuring out how to recalibrate and get back in touch with the inner creative voice that guided earlier efforts like his work with legendary Richmond music collective Fight The Big Bull, and his extensive collaborative work with the local luminaries who make up the 21st-century Wrecking Crew that is the Spacebomb House Band.

During the past six years, White made an effort to separate his own work from that of the Spacebomb organization. While it was a rich collaborative environment, it sometimes became an obligation that crowded out his ability to work on things he wanted to do for himself. In order to give himself some space for his own work, White built a home studio in his new house on Kensington Avenue, calling it “K Bay” in simultaneous acknowledgement of the Museum District avenue he lived on and the coastal environments from Virginia Beach to the Philippines where he lived as a youth.

When you listen to the first half of K Bay, the album — which was recorded at K Bay, the studio — you can’t help but hear the tropical vibes White hoped to evoke in his home recording environment; they fairly ooze from the speakers. From the synthetic Caribbean percussion and lyrical uses of hippie-era slang for sex in the dancefloor banger “Let’s Ball” to the funky rhythms and disco/postpunk guitar stabs of “Electric” (featuring a murderer’s row of Richmond music all-stars including Devonne Harris, Cameron Ralston, Alan Parker, and Pinson Chanselle), there’s an undeniable energy to side one of this album that speaks of a happy, self-actualized bandleader rejoicing in the newfound joys of married life and long-sought success in the music world that’s always been his life.

Things get slinky and smooth in a lights-go-down fashion at times too. Moody centerpiece “Fell Like An Ax” drops the tempo and gets into a Barry White vibe, one that will surely lead to some fun intimate times for more than a few grown-and-sexy couples who kick off the weekend by drinking wine on the couch with K Bay as the soundtrack. Let’s just say that if you’re planning to put this one on as background music for an intimate dinner for two, you’re going to want to change the sheets beforehand.

This album isn’t entirely an escape from the real issues White’s native land has grappled with over the past half-dozen years, though; at the halfway point, with “Only In America/When The Curtains Of The Night Are Peeled Back,” White engages in a lengthy exploration of the culpability white Americans should feel for the continuing racist oppression that takes place across the USA. “We set aside all that’s right, and we left behind in the darkest night all the folks we didn’t want next to us, or even near to us, cruisin’ on our avenue,” he sings, over a thick bed of emotionally evocative strings and horns that’s laid down by 33 different musicians from around the Richmond music scene (a group that includes more than a few names you’ll know from projects like Bio Ritmo and No BS! Brass Band). Shouting out over a dozen victims of racist violence, including Emmett Till, Rodney King, Sandra Bland, and Michael Brown, White makes clear that he recognizes the full extent to which the white South, and white America as a whole, owes a debt to the many oppressed communities who have never been given a fair deal in this country.

The latter half of the album gets more personal, as White sings extensively of his marriage, referencing “Judy” (a nickname for his wife, Merry) not just on the track that bears her name but also on tunes like the joyous “Never Had It Better” and the dark electric triumph of “Hedged In Darkness.” White has shown us that he can still party, and that he’s paying attention to the many problems that still exist in the world, but by the end of the album, he can’t help but focus at least for a while on the joy he feels at having found the love of his life. While the earlier, more party-oriented jams were often collaborations with talented songwriters including Natalie Prass, Eddie Prendergast, and Trey Pollard, these late-album paeans to marital happiness are solo efforts, into which White pours his heart and soul. The spare, acoustic ballad “Shine A Light For Me,” on which White declares, “I kept you on your toes and you kept me in line. Now we’re just tryin’ to find a way and maybe get out alive,” is contrasted nicely by the explosive midsong catharsis of album closer “Hedged In Darkness.” Alan Parker’s overdriven guitar solos combine with Daniel Clarke’s Hammond organ and an energetic horn section to provide the loudest, most powerful moment K Bay has to offer, as if to put an emphatic period at the end of the profound, multilayered statement White is making with this album.

Look, you’re from Richmond — you know by now what you’re getting from Matthew E. White. A focus on live instrumentation and group performance over studio perfection; an ongoing delight with the possibilities of classic American musical movements, from soul and gospel to funk, jazz, and Southern rock; that honeyed, baritone voice layered thick as molasses over it all. If it’s not your thing, fine — there’s a lot of other music in the world. But at the end of the day, anyone unwilling to acknowledge the strength of the work White delivers here, the incredibly talented craftsmanship and ineffable artistic spark that went into making it happen, and the fact that the rapturous reception it’s almost guaranteed to get is fully deserved… well, I don’t know what to say to you. Except maybe this: if you don’t get it, keep listening until you do. Because it’s there.

Top Photo by Cameron Lewis

30 Century Spacebomb

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With coronavirus keeping the music scene on lockdown, Spacebomb House Band present a Scott Walker tribute that takes us straight to outer space.

The Spacebomb House Band is just what it says in the name: the house band for the Spacebomb Records stable of artists, and for the label’s recording studio. However, while their day job may be to act as a backing band for the label’s many talented signees, they do a lot more than that, and they proved that this month with their cover of Scott Walker‘s signature tune, “30 Century Man.”

Walker, who originally gained fame as a baritone pop singer and grew over the course of his 50-year career into a pioneer of avant-garde musical explorations, released “30 Century Man” on his 1969 album Scott 3. Originally a barebones tune consisting solely of acoustic guitar and vocals, the Spacebomb House Band’s version puts a spacey, psychedelic spin on the Walker original. Featuring a full rock n’ roll ensemble performing the music, it retains the spirit of the original through the Walker-esque baritone vocals of guest vocalist Andy Jenkins, a Spacebomb recording artist himself.

The idea for the cover came when the band’s guitarist, Trey Pollard (who also acts as the head of the studio’s publishing department), suggested the band produce more cover songs. The group developed a list of potential options, and bassist Cameron Ralston chose “30 Century Man.” From there, the group had to figure out how they wanted to reimagine the original. In the end, their basic approach became a straightforward rock n’ roll take with a sound deliberately reminiscent of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

“I didn’t have any interest in trying to do a very true version of [the song],” said Ralston. “Just because that already exists in the world, and it was already done so well. It felt very futile, and I always heard it as a rock n’ roll song.”

The Spacebomb House Band version was recorded in just a few takes, with the entire band playing at once. They used no metronome, instead keeping time with each other.

“We wanted it to be just as fast as we could make it,” said drummer Pinson Chanselle. “[With no metronome] we didn’t have to adjust to the click.”

Chanselle says abstaining from a metronome also allowed them to “float” slightly on and off tempo in a very natural way, adding to the song’s freeform vibe. 

The only part of the song not recorded simultaneously were Andy Jenkins vocals. Ralston says he had chosen Jenkins to contribute vocals from the beginning.

“For some reason I just always heard his voice [while imagining the song],” said Ralston. “There’s something about it that reminds me a little bit of Scott Walker, so I thought it would be a good way to connect the dots a little bit to the original version.”

Andy Jenkins. Photo via Facebook

Despite the song’s release date of April 10, it was actually recorded this past winter, well before the coronavirus epidemic hit America. While the musicians at Spacebomb say they can’t pull off that kind of session during the pandemic, each of them are finding ways to keep their creative juices flowing. 

“I think for all musicians…this has been a real wakeup call. Everything has come to a halt,” said Ralston. “[But] we’ve been communicating pretty regularly… and just trying to stay creatively active, mentally with each other.”

On top of staying in touch, both Ralston and Chanselle have taken the time to produce whatever music they can inside the house. Ralston has been recording what he can while working on ambient music with friends. Meanwhile, Chanselle has been honing his percussion skills by recording raw drum parts. 

“Anything you can do to keep that creativity and that energy stoked is positive right now,” said Ralston.

Top Photo: Cameron Ralston at Spacebomb Studios, via Spacebomb/Facebook

The 40 Most Essential RVA Albums Of 2018 (Part 2)

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Richmond’s always been a great city for music, and that didn’t change one iota in 2018. If anything, it became a bit overwhelming — indeed, even the most comprehensively-minded local music nerd was likely to overlook a few things. While putting this list together, I found a few that I overlooked myself — and I’m sure you will as well.

This list features our best shot at the most essential and noteworthy albums that our city birthed this year, from any and all genres. Since so many different genres and scenes are thriving in this town, we had to include 40 just to feel like we weren’t leaving anything crucial out. And let’s be real — we probably still didn’t catch everything. The best advice we could possibly give you about following this town’s vibrant musical community is this: always dig deeper. Your new favorite record might be right around the corner.

These 40 albums are a good place to start. Yesterday, we presented the first 20, and we follow up today with the remaining 20 — in alphabetical order by artist name, so it doesn’t seem like we’re playing favorites. Happy listening!

Elizabeth Owens – Coming Of Age (Grimalkin)
This young singer-songwriter has avoided the strict confines of genre on their first album, instead dancing along the invisible borders between a variety of sounds. Lushly-strummed acoustic guitars and haunting vocals center these compositions, even as a variety of both conventional and unconventional instruments form an intricate, multi-layered background. Psychedelic folk in the original, late 60s sense — think Incredible String Band or Pentangle — is a good touchstone, though a better, more recognizable one is hinted at by the song entitled “Ode to Joni.” Yeah, you know what’s up.

Piranha Rama – Piranha Rama (Trrrash)
Piranha Rama is a band full of Richmond underground rock all-stars that took the local scene by storm in 2018. Featuring members who’ve performed with a wide variety of local ensembles and played a wide variety of musical styles, Piranha Rama’s sound is apropos, capturing as it does both the rollicking rock n’ roll spirit that is this band’s bedrock and the wide variety of influences that takes this album in many different directions from song to song. The results are always catchy and fun, even if the album’s overall feel is more like that of a great mixtape made by a crate-digging friend than you’d expect from a singularly driven band. The more voices, the merrier.

Trey Pollard – Antiphone (Spacebomb)
I admit I never would have expected this in the year 2018, but it has in fact come to pass. Trey Pollard, best known as the in-house arranger for Spacebomb Records, has released an album of classical chamber music. The selections found within are the sorts of things typically referred to as “pieces” rather than songs, and are mostly performed by four to eight-piece string ensembles (sometimes accompanied by a piano). Pollard, who acts as composer and conductor here, has created a stunning collection of memorable moments that feel like a score for a film — one that’s playing in your mind as you listen. Close your eyes and let it overtake you.

Natalie Prass – The Future And The Past (ATO)
Natalie Prass had been the fledgling Spacebomb label’s obvious breakout star thus far — along, of course, with label founder Matthew E. White. For her second LP, Prass signed with ATO and moved beyond the traditional soul-R&B feel of the Spacebomb house band, getting into deeper electronic grooves that seem to arise directly out of the pre-New Jack Swing sound of 80s greats like Cameo or Kool & The Gang. When she croons overtop of these, she’s got a real retro-diva sound, like a young Janet Jackson. Who can resist that?

PT & Fan Ran – Airtight (Ear Tite) (Gritty City)
The Gritty City roster of champion rhyme-spitters is deep, and each passing year seems to make that clearer, as new albums bring us strong statements of purpose from previously unheard names. This year it’s PT, which stands for Perfect Timing, who jumped out in a big way. Airtight is a full-length collaboration with Gritty City production mainstay Fan Ran, and the hard-hitting beats he brings match up perfectly with PT’s strong flow and aggressive approach to the mic. If you miss the days when RZA was producing a different Wu-Tang solo album every couple months and they all ruled, this one’s for you.

Recluse Raccoon – Recluse Raccoon (recluseraccoon.bandcamp.com)
This band features a rotating selection of local musicians, but Timmy Peele is the true raccoon hiding reclusively behind the name. For this debut full-length, it’s Mr. Peele who lays down vast majority of instruments for the dozen compositions he treats us to. There is at times a decided Animal Collective vibe in the thick vocal harmonies and ringing piano notes, though at other moments he comes closer to straddling that invisible line where the mellowest math-rock meets the most far out of the psychedelic jam sounds. Expect the unexpected — it’s more fun that way.

Roy Batty – Roy Batty (roybattyband.bandcamp.com)
This one just dropped a couple weeks ago, but it demands a place on our radar simply by virtue of the many awesome bands the members have been part of in the past. Specifically, this is frontwoman Lindsey Spurrier’s first return to full-time action after the demise of Hot Dolphin, and I think I’m far from the only one who felt that band ended before their time. Roy Batty has a heavier sound that Hot Dolphin, due to the fact that Spurrier is backed here by metal dudes rather than garage-punk types, but the frantic energy and aggressive spirit remain undiminished. And thank god for that.

Serqet – Oleander (Vinyl Conflict)
This two-song EP constitutes the first release from a local band who’ve been getting some attention on the whole DIY punk scene. I hear kids who are nerdy about that style of music call it “peace-punk” but if you ask me, it’s more along the lines of old-school goth. Maybe a bit Siouxsie and The Banshees, plus a bit of Submission Hold, and even some strong melodies on the B-side that get more into pre-shoegaze UK indie sounds. If you’re looking for something that can simultaneously please fans of Flux of Pink Indians, Sisters Of Mercy, and House Of Love, you’ve hit paydirt with this one.

Shadow Age – Shadow Age (Play Alone)
This trio unfortunately took an indefinite hiatus not long after this album was released, but we can at least be thankful that they left behind such an excellent document of their creativity. Bandleader Aaron Tyree has obviously been influenced by the saddest goth boys of the early 80s UK, and he brings the spirits of Robert Smith, Ian McCulloch, and Adrian Borland into the 21st century with flair and panache. Hazy keyboards, glittering guitar leads, quiet melancholy crooning, all set to an essential driving rhythm section. Turn on the fog machine.

South Hill Banks – No Time For A Breakdown (southhillbanks.com)
This RVA bluegrass band has really cemented a place for themselves on the local music scene over the past year, and No Time For A Breakdown is just part of that — you may also have caught onto their year-long residency at The Camel, or the bluegrass festival they threw over at The Broadberry last month. But it’s this album that’ll give you the best taste of what South Hill Banks have to offer, spotlighting their 21st century take on bluegrass with some excellent melodic songcraft. Of course, they still know how to get down with a traditional speedy instrumental, and their choice to feature electric instruments in the band doesn’t get in the way at all.

Spooky Cool – Every Thing Ever (Citrus City)
Spooky Cool spent the first few years of their existence being the RVA scene’s best-kept secret, staying off social media and restricting access to their music to those who actually came to see them live. Their choice to live like a pre-internet band in the post-internet era paid off in a big way when they finally released their debut EP this year, and the whole world had a chance to hear the catchy indie-psych this quintet had spent the last few years cooking up. It was worth the wait — there are some seriously catchy tunes on this one, but those tunes also feature an unpredictable edge that only adds to their charm. Jam this one — we’ve waited long enough.

Sports Bar – Stranger In My Head (Mister Falcon)
Speaking of long-awaited releases, melodic garage-punk quartet Sports Bar have spent nearly a decade building up to this — a killer full-length full of shit-hot tunes that simultaneously bring the manic, distorted punk attack and highlight the flawless sense of melody that has made this group one of Richmond’s most enjoyable hidden discoveries since back in 2010. This one is a ton of fun, bringing us both angst-ridden singalongs like “Fried” and furious punk blasts like “Love Or Hate.” Get into it.

Suppression – Placebo Reality (Chaotic Noise Productions)
2018 was Suppression’s 26th year of existence, an existence that has seen them move from experimental power-violence to electronic noise to postpunk weirdness and now into the world of shit-fi grindcore madness — which really constitutes a return to the roots of bassist/vocalist Jason Hodges’ long-running project. On Placebo Reality, Hodges and drummer Ryan Parrish flail wildly through somewhere north of 70 songs in under half an hour, blowing your hair back with distorted vocals, hyperdrive tempos, and distorted bass rage. A palate-cleanser of the most confrontational sort, this one will erase all your momentary cares in the face of world-ending chaos. Exactly what we all need.

Marcus Tenney Quartet – Moment (American Paradox)
If you pay attention to music in Richmond and beyond, chances are you’ve heard of Marcus Tenney. A full-time member of the legendary No BS! Brass Band as well as soul-jazz quintet Butcher Brown and hip hop duo Tennison, he stays busy. For this album, he took the lead in a quartet featuring several other Richmond jazz luminaries, and created a collection that is grounded in the classic hard-bop sounds of half a century ago, but comes from a thoroughly modern worldview that helps bring jazz into the 21st century. But this album isn’t just an exhibition of instrumental talent — the mellow, melancholy mood evoked on Moment has a deep emotional resonance.

Toward Space – Gently With A Chainsaw (Cult 45)
This raw garage-rock trio has done quite a bit, considering their youth, and Gently With A Chainsaw fulfills the promise they were showing even when they were still playing house shows with foot-pedal drums. These days, their snotty punk rage has been tempered a bit by a power-pop approach to choruses, and the result makes for a number of pleasing singalong earworms on this album. Make no mistake, though, these juvenile delinquents are still ready with a switchblade if anyone messes with ’em — but have no fear. Underneath the snarling facade, they’ve got hearts of gold.

Madison Turner – A Comprehensive Guide To Burning Out (madisonturner.bandcamp.com)
Madison Turner grew up with the classic alternative rock of the 90s, and now that she’s made it out of her 20s she’s headed back to her roots with this, her fourth solo release. Backed by a talented group of musically-inclined friends, she’s created a powerful collection of songs that sound excellent and are catchy as hell. The lyrics, which delve deeply and sincerely into the album’s “burnout” theme, are witty and all-too-relatable, even as the songs keep you singing along all day long. “I don’t know why I’m so sca-aa-ared to reach out to my friends!” So real.

Unmaker – Firmament (Seeing Red)
This quintet shares a few members with local blackened-thrash combo Occultist, but don’t let that fool you — Unmaker have quite a bit to offer in their own right. They distinguish themselves from the metallic pack thanks to Aaron Mitchell’s arresting vocals, which carry an urgency that makes them impossible to ignore. But the rest of the band has a powerful sound of their own, simultaneously exploring the gothic end of the postpunk spectrum while retaining a powerful, heavy rhythm and sticking to an energetic tempo. Fans of Killing Joke will find a lot to like here, but really, everyone should.

Windhand – Eternal Return (Relapse)
Local doom combo Windhand has always been witchy, but they’ve taken it to a new level on their fourth album (and first with only one guitarist), Eternal Return. The psychedelic aspects of their sound are cranked up here, and even as you can hear those low-end rumbles that make these guys a total headcrush live, the album’s production opens up another layer of their sound — one in which vocalist Dorthia Cottrell’s haunting voice is the star of the show, bringing a heaviness of emotion that more than matches the rest of the band’s heaviness of groove. Kill the lights and light a candle.

Womajich Dialyseiz – Live In RVA (Grimalkin)
This improvisational collective brings together a shifting group of “women, femmes, and gender non-conforming people” from around the Richmond scene to create uncategorizable experimental music. The results, documented here on recordings from four different live performances, are ambient and multi-layered, featuring percussion, voices, and a variety of melodies, many of which tend toward the unsettling. Maybe not something you should put on late at night when you are alone, but certainly an important element of the Richmond scene in 2018. Lend an ear.

Young Scum – Young Scum (Citrus City)
I doubt any of the young people in this city’s indie music scene are particularly intending to hark back to the early 90s heyday of Sarah Records and the indie-pop movement that label inspired, but regardless of intent, Young Scum have landed right in that wheelhouse. If you loved Heavenly or The Field Mice, you’re going to find a lot to love here, from Chris Smith’s dulcet vocal tones, which wash over you like a cooling mist, or the glittering layers of undistorted guitar strums laid down by Smith and Ben Medcalf. There are brief moments of tense distortion hovering subtly in the mix, but for the most part this mini-LP is pure indie-pop bliss.

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Wow, we’re done! And of course, as soon as I got this list finished, I realized I’d left out the Candy LP and the Boygenius EP, so go check those out too. What can I say? There was no way I was gonna think of everything.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 7 – November 13

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 10, 8 PM
GWAR, Municipal Waste, Miss May I, Toxic Holocaust, HAUNT @ The National – $22 in advance/$25 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Folks, it’s time once again that we check in on Richmond’s reigning masters of bloodthirsty metal from outer space. Everyone’s favorite homicidal aliens, GWAR, will return to the National’s stage once again this Saturday night, and it’s sure to be an absolute gorefest, so you know what that means — wear your white t-shirts and get ready to be hit by the cannons of goo that are certain to be unleashed. You know the ones; the ones that throw so much blood and guts all over the place that the National has to drape their balconies in bedsheets just to protect the fancy woodwork. If you think you can be anywhere in the same room as GWAR and stay safe from the splatter, you’re sadly mistaken, but that’s OK — getting covered in slimy stuff of uncertain origin is part of what makes GWAR shows so much fun!

Last year, GWAR released their first new album since the death of founder Dave Brockie. The Blood Of Gods sees the crossover sound GWAR have cultivated over the past several albums giving way to a more over-the-top rock n’ roll sound that sees new vocalist (and originator of the Beefcake the Mighty character) Michael Bishop howling and yowling, Ted Nugent-style. There’s still plenty of thrashing going on with GWAR these days, don’t get me wrong; but the fact that the album ends with a cover of AC/DC’s “If You Want Blood (You Got It)” should tell you something about what you can expect, musically speaking, from GWAR these days.

That said, we all know that the gore-saturated show is the main attraction when seeing GWAR live. But there’s plenty of ass-kicking no-show all-go metal on this bill as well. The main attraction for all of you hoping to spend a few hours focusing on banging your head is the one and only Municipal Waste, who’d been largely dormant for most of this decade but returned to action last year with a beefed-up lineup featuring former Cannabis Corpse axe-slinger Nikropolis on rhythm guitars and their first LP in five years, Slime And Punishment. If you haven’t caught up with the Waste since all that went down, rest assured that they’re gonna fuck you up just like they always have. They’ll do it with the able assistance of their best thrashcore pals, Toxic Holocaust, as well as metalcore mainstays Miss May I and up-and-coming Maiden-esque power-metallers HAUNT. It’s a headbanging bonanza, and it’ll be topped off with a serious bloodbath. Should make for a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, November 7, 7 PM
Slothrust, Mannequin Pussy, Doll Baby @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$14 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Look out, all you rock n’ rollers — the 90s are still back, perhaps more back than ever, and one great aspect of that is the continued ascendance of powerful songwriters with rough, distorted guitars that hit you hard even as their lyrics and vocal melodies make you feel some strong emotions. Slothrust is one of those groups, and singer-guitarist Leah Wellman is showing the world exactly what she has to offer on their brand new LP, The Pact, released a couple months ago on Dangerbird Records. There’s a darkness to songs like “Planetarium” and “Fever Doggs” that if anything harks back to a pre-90s, pre-Nirvana sensibility. These songs should strike familiar chords for fans of the Meat Puppets, or Green River, and do a great job of demonstrating that Slothrust has more to offer than an unabashed reiteration of what bands like Babes In Toyland and L7 did before (though don’t get me wrong, there’s a good bit of that in there too).

Slothrust are joined on this bill by Mannequin Pussy, a Philadelphia punk band who’ve been making a strong impact in Richmond for years now, and have also been growing beyond their noisy punk roots, into a sound that encompasses a variety of genres and combines rage, passion, and melody in an inspiring manner. Their 2016 album, Romantic, moves from roaring blasts of punk fury into moments of breathtaking melody, complete with shoegaze-style guitar swells. One thing that’s present on all of their songs is a strong emotional foundation that singer-guitarist Marisa Dabice communicates with everything from a breathy croon to a frustrated scream. No matter where each moment lands on the spectrum of her vocal range, though, all of them are honest, real, and gripping in their intensity. This isn’t one you’re going to want to miss. Local support by Doll Baby, who have a great deal in common with both touring bands, completes a powerful trifecta. You know what to do.

Thursday, November 8, 9 PM
Roosevelt Collier, Bennett Wales & The Relief, The Bush League @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
If you love to hear people wail on the electric guitar, this is the show for you. Roosevelt Collier is a pedal steel guitarist with roots in the same “sacred steel” tradition that brought Robert Randolph and his family band into the world, but Collier combines that gospel-soul sound with a Hendrix-ian approach that finds him in high demand with heavyweights like the Tedeschi-Trucks Band and the Allman Brothers. He’s a core member of Snarky Puppy bassist Michael League’s “World Music All-Star Band,” Bokanté, and he’s finally stepped out on his own this year as the frontman for his own group, which he’ll be bringing to the Camel.

Collier and his backing band are on tour in support of his debut solo album, Exit 16, on which he worked again with Snarky Puppy bassist Michael League. The album displays a hell of a range, moving from uptempo workouts to slow, seductive grooves, all with a very heavy bottom end. Collier’s playing is always the star of the show, and the man gets some outstanding noise out of his pedal-steel axe. While instrumental music can sometimes feel a bit bare-bones, you’ll never miss the vocals when Roosevelt Collier is laying waste to his slide guitar. He joins with VA Beach funk-rockers Bennett Wales and the Relief and RVA’s own blues-wailing machine, The Bush League, to tear the roof off the Camel this Thursday, and you should really be there to see — and hear — it all go down.

Friday, November 9, 7 PM
Pale Waves, Miya Folick, The Candescents @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
These days when you hear the sort of reverbed guitars and ambient synth sounds that have been a marker of the goth-postpunk sound in vogue at the moment for several years now, you expect to know what you’re getting. Dark moods, downcast eyes, sad lyrics full of desolate imagery that connect strongly with your personal alienation as you sit alone in your room in the dark. But haven’t we all had our fill of that sort of approach to the mid-80s postpunk sound? After a few years, all those 80s goth kids turned into bouncy New Wavers that would rather dance to New Order than cry to the Cure anyway — isn’t it time we found an antidote for our own post-millennial kohl-eyeliner blues?

That’s what Pale Waves is here to offer. The Manchester band may trace their aesthetic back to Siouxsie and the Banshees, but their sound is building on the uplifting synth melodies of recent UK postpunk successes CHVRCHES and adding some of the same glittering guitars and melodic bass lines that the original goth bands excelled at. Recently released LP My Mind Makes Noises hits all the right notes for the kids who still want to wear all black but are discovering the thrill of new love and the promise of sunny days. God knows everything is depressing enough these days… don’t we need our music to lift the veil at least a little bit? If you’re ready to dance with a smile on your face rather than tears in your eyes, come to The Broadberry this Friday night and bounce to the music of Pale Waves. It can’t rain all the time.

Saturday, November 10, 7 PM
Eat Your HRT Out: A Trans Health Clinic Benefit, feat. Toxic Moxie, Madison Turner, Wargo, Dad, Jafar Flowers @ Strange Matter – $15-20 suggested donation
I know, I know, I just wrote about Toxic Moxie like two weeks ago. But what was the rule we established the last time I wrote about them? I do believe it was “you will go see Toxic Moxie whenever they play a show.” We just had an election, but this one wasn’t on the ballot, so it is still very much in force. You want punk rage and disco euphoria? You want serious political views leavened with some good-time party energy? Toxic Moxie have got it all.

And what’s more, they’re bringing it to you this time in support of a very good cause. Planned Parenthood’s Trans Health Clinic is one of the only steady providers of transgender-specific health services in Richmond, and considering that trans people are much more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than the general population, their patients are more likely to face economic strain in finding ways to pay for their medical care. What your donation at the door of this show — which, in addition to the disco party punk of Toxic Moxie, will also feature an always-rockin’ full band set from Madison Turner, some electronic dance sounds from Jafar Flowers, and a good bit more — will go toward is helping ensure that prices for Planned Parenthood’s much-needed medical support for the trans community remain as affordable as possible. Plus you’ll have a great time in the bargain, and who doesn’t need more of those?

Sunday, November 11, 8 PM
Video Shoppe, BUTT, Fat Spirit @ Flora – $?
It’s always fascinating to see how people find ways to do a band despite lacking some seemingly crucial core members. Providence duo Video Shoppe easily found a way around this particular dilemma. No drummer? No problem — just bring in a primitive electronic beat machine, trigger it with foot pedals, and stack TVs and VCRs around you to when you play to make up for the fact that there’s nobody flailing away behind a kit and giving the audience some sudden moves to latch onto.

But that sort of creative problem-solving only goes so far if you don’t have some really cool songs to bring to the world when you play, and Video Shoppe’s latest EP, Nostalgia Trap(s), finds them filling that need in excellent fashion as well. Their pounding drum machine makes for an interesting contrast with their delicate postpunk guitar sound, just as their singer’s moody baritone offers an emotional feel completely different from that presented by their chiming melodies. The result has both power and ethereality, and will glow brightly in the dark room at the back of Flora this Sunday night. Their pairing with local ramshackle garage-rockers BUTT and the glorious grunge fury of Fat Spirit will round out the evening into a blast of rock n’ roll fun you’ll be willing to pay whatever the heck they’re actually charging at the door to get into.

Monday, November 12, 8 PM
Super Unison, NØ Man, Sensual World, Ugly Muscle @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
This is one I’ve been looking forward to. Super Unison recently released their second LP, Stella, and it took their already powerful post-hardcore sound to a whole new level. You may know this group from the fact that singer-bassist Meghan O’Neil previously fronted ripping fastcore band Punch, but from their inception, Super Unison have had a great deal more to offer than O’Neil’s previous group, as they both retain the hardcore velocity of Punch and integrate the sort of driving, noisy energy of bands like Drive Like Jehu (who inspired the group’s name) and Rodan.

Stella finds Super Unison expanding beyond the sound of their 2016 debut LP by incorporating more dynamic shifts within single songs; they’ve also increased the melodic quotient of their guitar riffs, even as O’Neil’s vocals have become harsher and more emotionally-driven. Some might say these guys have been listening to some of the screamo stuff coming out of their home state of California — Vril, say, or Loma Prieta — and I think there’s definitely evidence to support that conclusion. Whether you’re a fan of passionate screamo, hardcore fury, or noisy rock chaos, though, you’re sure to get a lot out of Super Unison’s unrelenting attack. Put yourself in the way of it — you’ll never regret it.

Tuesday, November 13, 6:30 PM
Classical Revolution RVA presents Trey Pollard, Matthew E. White @ The HofGarden – $7 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
This is about as far as you can get from post-hardcore rage, but like they say, variety is the spice of life. It’s also how we keep things interesting here in Richmond, which a lot of people (including me) will tell you is one of the best music cities in the entire country. This Tuesday night sees some tremendously interesting things happening at The HofGarden, as Spacebomb Records head honchos Trey Pollard and Matthew E. White join together with local chamber music collective Classical Revolution RVA in order to present the live premiere of compositions from Pollard’s new album, Antiphone, coming later this month from Spacebomb.

Trey Pollard isn’t the sort of musician we’re used to interacting with here in the indie rock world. He’s a true composer, one who has done orchestral compositions and arrangements for everyone from Spacebomb compatriots Matthew E. White and Natalie Prass to Scottish indie-folk group The Waterboys and This American Life-affiliated podcast S-Town. Now he’s releasing the first album of his own compositions, which was recorded by a 16 piece ensemble earlier this year with Pollard conducting. For the performance at The Hof, a string quintet featuring members of Classical Revolution RVA will play compositions from Antiphone live for the first time. They’ll also accompany Matthew E. White for portions of a solo piano-and-vocal set that he’ll treat us all to, before we dive fully into the bold new works Pollard is bringing into the world. This is an evening for people who love all forms of music, and are most excited to see something unlike anything else out there. If you’re a true music fan, you’re not going to want to miss it.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Thursday, November 8, 7 PM
Fishbone, Jackmove @ Shaka’s – $27 in advance/$32 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember how we were talking earlier about the 90s being back? It doesn’t just show through in the return of sounds and styles that were popular back then; it also shows up in all the bands that are getting back together and returning to the road after decades away. Strictly speaking, this doesn’t describe Fishbone — they’ve been together the whole time, with founding vocalist Angelo Moore and bassist John Norwood Fisher sticking around through thick and thin. However, this year has seen the group return to their classic lineup for the first time since the late 90s. Or, well, that’s not entirely true — no one familiar with the whole saga will be surprised to hear that Kendall Jones isn’t back. But other than Jones, the lineup responsible for classic late-80s/early-90s LPs Truth And Soul, The Reality Of My Surroundings, and the unforgettably titled Give A Monkey A Brain and He’ll Swear He’s The Center Of The Universe is back once again and hitting the road to remind us why we loved Fishbone back in the day.

Of course, some of you are going to wonder what the heck I’m talking about. I hear you muttering: “Who is Fishbone, and why does it even matter?” Here’s the deal: back when “funk-punk” was a real, up-and-coming hybrid genre with underground energy and vitality, Fishbone were at the center of it. Never mind Red Hot Chili Peppers (who knew enough to shout Fishbone out constantly on their early albums); tracks like “Party At Ground Zero,” “Bonin’ In The Boneyard,” “Swim,” and “Everyday Sunshine” showed a talented group absorbing everything from ska and soul to hardcore and metal, then spitting it all back out in a wave of talented originality like nothing else out there, then or now. The members of Fishbone are quite a bit older now, but the songs they created in their heyday are still great, and their talent (and singer Angelo Moore’s boundless energy) are undiminished. This show will be both the perfect introduction for the young ‘uns among you and an outstanding opportunity for those of us who know exactly what Fishbone is all about to see the classic lineup in full nutt-megalomaniac form. Hell yeah.

Saturday, November 10, 7 PM
Good Riddance, Bigwig, Ann Beretta, Counterpunch @ Peabody’s – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets HERE)
And speaking of excellent bands from prior eras returning to demonstrate that they’ve still got it going on… here’s an excellent example of not one but THREE melodic punk bands of the 90s doing exactly that. California’s Good Riddance are at the top of this bill, nicknamed the “Fall Brawl 2018,” and they’ve got the kind of gritty hardcore feel underlying their more melodic moments to back that name up. Of the 90s Fat Wreck bands that cemented the skatepunk genre as the go-to sound for a generation of rebellious high school freshmen, Good Riddance were always the toughest, the dirtiest, the most hardcore. Returning to action a few years ago after almost a decade away, 2015’s Peace In Our Time showed that Good Riddance still had the goods.

New Jersey’s Bigwig haven’t made a new album in over a decade, but they’ve stayed on the road, cranking out their brand of metallically-melodic skatepunk for years now, and they’re still bringing the fire as well. More momentous news for longtime fans of RVA punk has been the return over the past couple of years of Ann Beretta, who were mainstays here in Richmond back in the late 90s but have been out of action since shortly after the dawning of the new millennium. They came back to us this year with Old Scars, New Blood, a new album of old hits rerecorded for the modern era, and the word is that they’re working on another entirely new collection that’ll hit town in the near future. This weekend, though, old-school RVA heads and melodic punk skate rats alike are gonna want to gas up the coupe and head down to Peabody’s, because this show is going to be full of excellent sounds from the past three decades of punk rock awesomeness.

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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.]

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