(Photo via AdHoc)
Yeah, yeah we’re well aware there’s a holiday weekend– for some of us, anyway– coming up soon, but all the better to pack in some legit shows this week before you pack your bags. Besides, just face it, you’re probably doing something not that far from grilling/hanging/sun-roasting/eating/boozing/eating/boozing and acting generally like a beached whale on a bender this weekend anyway, so might as well sweat out the last of your bikini blob at these bangers.
Grooms, Parlor Walls, Faten Kanaan
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 8pm at Shea Stadium: $8
Grooms added one last show to their home base before they skip town to tour round with A Place to Bury Strangers. Word on the street is they have a new t-shirt. Are you dazzled or what? K. Don’t get too excited in the interest of saving some room for their new album (out via Western Vinyl)Â Comb The Feelings Through Your Hair, a downer meditation on addiction and grown-up decisions. But the band’s dedication to math-iness and ebullient synth worship keep them bubbling up above the murky waters.
Joining them are Parlor Walls, Alyse Lamb’s (of EULA) new band whose name may or may not be derived from a Jeopardy-worthy question (“What are parlor walls?”) related to one oft-cited Ray Bradbury book. Names aside, they’re already swinging their weight around town (they just finished live scoring screenings at Nitehawk’s weekend of Dada Brunches) and for good reason. PW’s scratchy, straightforward rock finds Lamb coloring outside the bliss rock lines into muddier territory.
And get there early or risk missing out on some ghostly vibes from the openers, Faten Kanaan, a synth captain who wrangles a sound that balances between Kate Bush at her most forlorn and the closing credits to a film about some murderous British-schoolgirl love triangle. Perhaps she’s a descendent of the Brontes.
Leather Daddy, Exit Order, Utah Jazz, Nandas
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 8pm at Silent Barn: $8
“Dur, dur, dur,” your friends might mumble. “It’s too damn hot to go to a punk show.” It’s moments like these when you’re strongly advised to punch naysayers in the guts. Besides, this is exactly what beer was invented for. Pay the stank sweat no mind and get thee to what’s sure to be a righteous hump-day show.
Plus, how often do you see not one, but two decent bands from freaking Boston? We’re betting never. Leather Daddy and crew might be your only chance ever. Raucous screech punk that’s sure to get you jostled at the very least, but chances are you’ll score at least a few interesting bruises you’ll have to explain to your boss as due to “falling over at the dog park” or “dropping a stack of bibles” on your leg.
Their pals Exit Order are equally as energetic, though falling off the pure-punk wagon a little bit with what are nearly Slayer-influenced guitar riffs. If we were lesser beings, we might be tempted to call this sort of metal-like, but we know better than that. Extra points for their breakneck pace that makes any metal head look like a 3,000-pound sloth.
Ttotals, White Kyle, MPHO, Heavy Birds
Thursday, Sept. 3, 8pm at the Silent Barn: $8
Apparently it’s all about the touring bands this week. There’s no better time for Nashville-born sludge psych/stoner rock than the final dog days of summer. One listen to Ttotals and you’ll realize you can leave your weed at home for this one, these guys are a 100-percent natural fatty blunt for your ears. Remember kids, music is a natural high.
White Kyle will bring things back to ’60s THC levels (i.e. not going to put you in a freaking coma). He’s a straightforward Austin-garage baby, born of a long embedded but still respectable scene.
The hometown kids include ‘lectronix lovers MPHOÂ and the psych-heavy drone dogs (bird dogs, technically) of Heavy Birds.
Dope Body, PC Worship, Pill, Big Neck Police, Pretengineer
Thursday, Sept. 3, 8pm at Aviv: $10Â
And did we mention bangers earlier on? Because this is it, guys, your last chance to get it in before you helicopter out of here to the bigger of your four mansions in the Hamptons.
This also qualifies as a great time to swoop in and capture Baltimore’s Dope Body one more time before they leave us for European soil. These noisy space punk freaks just dropped a new album titled Kunk. Sure, they’re giving off some vibes that could easily be confused for cock rock with this one, but we’ve heard from reputable sources their live show is still a killer one.
Rah, rah, rah everyone already knows we worship PC Worship, and if you haven’t checked them out live yet, what on earth are you waiting for? The same goes for the sax-wielding fellows of Pill, whose live show is simply superb.
And because electronic-something-or-other seems to be almost a requirement at any show these days, Pretengineer will open. Let us know if their laptop sounds any different from anyone else’s, k?