3 minute read
This Little Underground: New local releases + concert picks
Happy New Year, freaks. Let’s
get loud.
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LOCAL RELEASES
On their new release, Orlando post-metal band Royal Graves emerge sans singer with a new look as an instrumental trio. As the straightforwardly titled Raw Demos suggests, they’re still in the demo phase of their career even several years in. But this latest batch of recordings — their first in two years — marks a clear and concrete advancement in their sound.
Atmospheric and hulking, these eight massive tracks of sludgy, doomed metalgaze amount to a pummeling odyssey. So forget the deceptively modest title. Even rough without mixing or mastering, this album is a solid capture of one of the most modern heavy bands coming out of Orlando right now. Raw Demos is available now on Royal Graves’ Bandcamp.
Brand-new project Fabulous Weapon could be the showcase for the next power couple to emerge from the Orlando underground. It’s the joint venture of Alien Witch’s Dee Crittenden and Juno White, whom I last saw live performing solo as Jün back in the socially carefree days of December 2019, opening for Miami punk provocateurs Period Bomb.
Besides beginning to perform around town recently, Fabulous Weapon just made their recorded debut with a self-titled, eightsong album of wiry rock rawness. From Crittenden’s throbbing music to White’s hypnotic singing, it’s a darkly seductive introduction that dances between temptation and provocation. Fabulous Weapon is available on Bandcamp as a name-your-price download.
While they’re a pretty steady presence on the live circuit, Orlando indie-pop quartet Gary Lazer Eyes haven’t released a collection of songs since 2016. With new EP Love & Local Honey, Vol. 1, that drought ends in pretty resolute fashion.
Although two of the songs were previously released as singles, this five-song work illustrates how much the band have evolved in one fell swoop. With a flow that’s easy without being lightweight, the record snaps with sparkling, infectious pop hooks and taut grooves. Easily their most memorable songs yet, Love & Local Honey, Vol. 1 is now streaming everywhere.
Orlando post-metal band Royal Graves have emerged sans singer as an instrumental trio, with a bold new direction. Their Raw Demos album represents a clear and concrete advancement in their sound
CONCERT PICKS THIS WEEK
You know who else is out looking to party? Omicron. And it’s now raging hard enough to shake up some calendars, like this week’s postponement of the Tonstartssbandht show at Will’s Pub. So if you head out, double up on that mask, friends.
Rod Hamdallah: As a player, this Atlanta guitarist wields a CV that includes stints in great bands like the Legendary Shack Shakers and J.D. Wilkes & the Dirt Daubers. As an artist, his own sound is steeped in the holy garage trinity of early rock & roll, punk and blues. And his swings through town are becoming a rousing Orlando winter tradition. (9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, Uncle Lou’s, $7)
The Adventures of Mugs and
Pockets: Lately, venerable Orlando MC Swamburger has been looking to transcend his traditional hip-hop roots, and Mugs and Pockets — his brand-new musical collab with Chicago artist Scarlet Monk — is the latest vehicle. This multimedia event will be an intimate listening party for the duo’s debut album, as well as an art show for their latest paintings and illustrations. (6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, Casselberry Art House, free)
Cory Branan, Danny Attack: Across many years of regular stops here, Tennessee alt-country hero Cory Branan has a long and loving relationship with Orlando. While his candid, literate style would deliver live anywhere, here it lands with a resonance usually reserved for a hometown crowd. Opening will be local folk punker Danny Attack. (9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, Will’s Pub, $15-$18)
Baroness: If you’ve already clocked this concert’s ticket price and you’re still reading this then, hallelujah, you’ve survived your heart attack. But maybe it would soften the sticker shock if I told you this was designed to be an extra special engagement with the Southern progressive-metal lords on a tour of up-close performances in rooms much smaller than they usually play where online ticket buyers choose their setlist. Just trying to look out for you. (7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, Will’s Pub, $60)
BY BAO LE-HUU
ROYAL GRAVES | PHOTO BY DAVID JOHNS
baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com
