Blue Dogs The S.C. band is back once again – this time around, they’ll warm up the Alive After Five crowd. As horrendous as the band schedule has been this summer with cover band, after cover band, after cover band, the AAF folks should be given credit for scheduling a damn-fine band this week. Stand-up bass, acoustic guitar, drums and a good bit of Southern twang give the Blue Dogs a broad appeal. Sure, the crowd may not be singing along to every word, but they can get feet moving, asses shaking and the majority of attendees to pay attention to quality original music for a change. Epicentre (Jeff Hahne)
Sean Walsh & the National Reserve Move on over, Bon Iver and Band of Horses. We have to make room for more heartbroken, tenderhearted boys with guitars and pains they need to work out. At least let Sean Walsh & the National Reserve on the bandwagon. They’ll tear you up and break you down, but leave you swaying to the music, smile on your face, oblivious to what’s around you that could possibly ruin that moment. This may be a trend, but hopefully it’ll be like leggings and just never go away. With Erika Blatnik. Tremont (Sam Webster)
Ben Henry These days, Ben Henry is all over the place on the Charlotte music scene. When he’s not playing drums with The Lesser Pauls, he’s rocking an electric guitar in front of a Marshall stack with the duo The Have and the Have Nots. He hasn’t forgotten his acoustic roots though and can still be seen at solo gigs like this one. His manic guitar playing is the background for quirky vocal rhythms. He’s one of three talented guitarist/singer/songwriters on the bill – with Erika Blatnik and Andy the Doorbum – all of whom are worth checking out. Common Market (Jeff Hahne)
Lost In The Trees This is not quite the type of haunting experience you probably imagined encountering at the Milestone. This 12-piece orchestral ensemble from Chapel Hill, lead by mastermind and tortured soul Ari Picker, creates beautiful, soul-bearing music combining folk with unconventional classical that will make your toes curl. Picker could sing about a rock, but with stunning composition and sweeter-than-buttercream vocals, your head would still be spinning in amazement. With Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players, LA Tool & Die and Lady Blanche. Milestone (Sam Webster)
Jim Weider’s Project Percolator Actually, he spells it “ProJECT PERCoLAToR,” which I’m sure has some meaning, but I’ve neither the time nor the energy to parse it. No, Jim Weider’s not the weightlifting supplement guy, but rather a seasoned tickler of the Telecaster guitar. His new project (excuse me, ProJECT) features fellow roadhawgs Rodney Holmes (drums), Mitch Stein (guitar) and Steve Lucas, along with a sampler and loop machine or two. Weider’s real claim to fame is having played with The Band, albeit a “The Band” which was a little past its expiration date and perhaps more correctly described as “A Band.” Regardless, Weider’s more than just another guitar player. Double Door Inn (Timothy C. Davis)
Sequoyah Prep School These boys aren’t the new kids on the block, but they are beginning to stand out with their Southern charm. It’s good time music, for good old boys and girls, with an edge that just barely leaves a scratch but is still so good it makes you want a band-aid anyway. Something is in the water in the Carolinas, and everybody just needs to keep drinking up. With Flagship. Visulite Theatre (Sam Webster)
Castanets Raymond Raposa is Castanets, and through four previous full-lengths, Castanets has been good; often more than good. But with his upcoming September release, Texas Rose, The Thaw & the Beasts, Raposa has taken the Great Leap Forward. Here, the San Diegan channels his inner Willie Nelson into his tightest songs yet, adding the gothic accents (processed beats, synths, howling guitars, etc.) that embellish his best previous work and here take him in even more compelling directions. The result is luminous and organic, songs that glow through the dark like phosphorescent jellyfish viewed in sparkling high-def. (Speaking of which, fans of Matthew Houck’s Phosphorescent, especially, should take note – this, too, is beautifully fucked-up folk-twang.) With Ma Turner (of Warmer Milks) and Bo White. Milestone (John Schacht)
Bill Noonan and His Fallen GentlemenThe Man That I Can’t Be, Bill Noonan’s latest, still has that whiff of the Rank Outsiders, his former band, but he (in collaboration with producer Mark Lynch) has now hit upon a sound that suits him, featuring a soupcon of ’60s soul, two-car garage rock and classic country. Always one of the more underrated local rockers, Noonan has brought along many of his friends for the party, including David Childers, drummer David Kim, keyboardist Jason Atkins, the horn section of Ray Mitchell and Tom Kuhn, and silky chantreuse Beth Chorneau. The result is some seriously satisfying country soul, a genre that’s been relegated to the sidelines in recent years. Noonan’s impassioned take sounds like the msusical equivalent of a late-round pick who’s finally getting the chance to shine, calling audibles at the line (a cover of Gene Clark’s “Tried So Hard”), and taking over the huddle and making it his own. To further a bad analogy, The Man That I Can’t Be is a touchdown all the way around. Snug Harbor (Davis)
Grids Not for the faint-of-heart or delicate-eared, this CLT quartet just released its explosive 7″ PGCOBUIBQTAUWTCS through Lunchbox Records (yes, that Lunchbox Records). The three Flipper-meets-Big Black tracks are loud and sludgy, but don’t sacrifice song-craft for screamo tropes or the all-too-common metal faux-angst posturing that make the genre so flat-out laughable at times. To paraphrase a colleague, Grids is a fully extended middle finger to Charlotte’s button-down banker’s world, but one that sounds good doing it. With Cult Ritual and Just Die! Lunchbox Records (Schacht)
Dylan Gilbert Charlotte’s true gem in the indie scene, Dylan Gilbert is on his way to making his name familiar to the world’s lips. Having already captured the heart of the East Coast, Gilbert has accomplished more in his lifetime than some musicians can even fathom. His young tenacity and fearlessness in his music shine through brighter than the stage lights that Gilbert is destined to sweat under. With Arielle Bryant and Jim Seem. The Evening Muse (Sam Webster)
Venice Is Sinking The recently released sophomore disc – AZAR, recorded with local producer Scott Solter – from this Athens quintet is a dynamic, ambitious work, sliding in somewhere between chill-out Yo La Tengo, Norfolk & Western’s orchestral twang and the Album Leaf’s cathedral interludes. The songs are meticulous, vertical creations, tackling tiny, specific moments and exploding them outward in what you could probably get away with calling ambient chamber rock (which I just got away with). With Little Buddha and Red All Over. Snug Harbor (John Schacht)
Mike Strauss Nice guy Mike Strauss doesn’t get the ink he deserves for the tight, rootsy rock songs he regularly delivers, but to his credit just keeps trucking along as though he couldn’t possibly do anything else. That, of course, is testament to soul, and his recent collaborations with ex-Les Dirt Clods leader Randolph Lewis, Jon Schigoda and other local luminaries testifies to the quality of his band and the company he keeps. With Austin Hill and The Lesser Pauls. The Evening Muse (Schacht)
Loser Life If people aren’t sufficiently sick of seeing the whole Bastard Baby musical analogy yet, allow me to say that Loser Life could be the John Doe spawn of the Riverdales and Minor Threat, if, say, the Riverdales had also slept around with Black Flag circa My War, and maybe some random, mustached college kid with an armload of Suicidal Tendencies sides and the original vinyl of Zen Arcade. Fun shit, regardless. With Lowbrow, Meth Mountain. Lunchbox Records (Timothy C. Davis)
Benji Hughes Kid Crooner does a two-night stand at a venue that affords him serious home-court advantage. What that means live, as any who’ve seen him in Snug’s snug confines know, is a loosey-goosey Hughes free to wander off the script (and stage) because his crack East coast band – ex-Muscadine mate Stacy Leazar on bass, time-keeper extraordinaire David Kim, keyboards whiz kid Jon Phillips and guitar hero Peter Gray – is good enough to reel him back in. If you haven’t heard Hughes’ summer-iffic A Love Extreme yet – what the hell are you waiting for? With the Poontanglers on the 3rd, and the Troublewalkers on the 4th. Snug Harbor (John Schacht)
311 The rap rockers are returning on the band’s annual summer Unity Tour. This time around, they’re bringing along Ziggy Marley. While one hopes that an onstage collaboration would be done with some of the tour partners, I haven’t witnessed it the last two years. The band plays a variety of hits from their albums over a long set, but they’re sure to break out tunes from their new album, Uplifter, too. I can guarantee the new single, “Hey You,” will be in there somewhere. Now, if I could only guarantee that they would still end their show with “Fuck the Bullshit”… It’s just not the same without it. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Jeff Hahne)
Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder is proof that UNCC can produce more than architects and business majors. Following in the footsteps of other UNCC alum, The Sammies, Sugar Glyder seem poised to become one of the next big things in music. Surely it won’t be long before we hear them in the background while one of our favorite TV characters has a revelation, dances around in their underwear, or well, something. You’ll hear some tunes off the band’s new CD, too, since this is the release party. With Terminal Reynaldo and Atriumantra. Tremont Music Hall (Sam Webster)
The Lemonheads Evan Dando and The Lemonheads are back on the oft-toured circuit with the twangy new collection of tunes called Varshons (produced by Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes). The record features Kate Moss (the new wavish “Dirty Robot”) and Liv Tyler (the acoustic “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”) along with a confounding G.G. Allin cover, but other than that it’s Dando all the way with his slacker vocals and guitars that reliably deliver. Visulite Theatre (Samir Shukla)
Left On Cates At first glance, Left On Cates may seem like just another teenage rock band, letting out their sexual and social frustrations through throaty vocals and sing-along melodies … well, maybe at second and third glance, too. This Raleigh quartet may not be tackling anything new, but they are working their way out of the ordinary with recognition from mtvU as one of the best campus bands, and by opening for major acts such as Senses Fail and Deerhunter. Hey, sometimes a little of the familiar makes for the best time. With Hotspur, We Are Masked, The Fire Tonight and Sundrone. Tremont Music Hall (Sam Webster)
