the week (april 22 - april 28)
no blog last week because i took a nose dive on my bike. took me until a day or two to regain full use of my left arm. updated the site last week typing one-handed. if that’s not dedication, i don’t know what is. there’s a lot of great stuff happening this week, let’s dive in:
happening this week:
it’s not an uncommon statement to say ‘this saturday, there is a fest in philadelphia’. what’s different about the couple ghouls fest is that it feels like more like a culmination of a body of work. couple ghouls has carved out a strong lane in the independent music scene of philadelphia’s lesser-known venues and lesser known acts and platformed the hell out of both. this saturday you have a chance to see a strong assemblage of what makes the weirdo underground of philadelphia great. poison ruïn, vacation, destructos, waste man and menu are just a few of the bands you can check out at ukie club on saturday, april 27.
the music of roberto carlos lange as helado negro is something unique — wholly accessible while extremely thought-provoking. it’s deeply personal music lyrically and instrumentally, as he infuses indie rock with both spanish language and latin musical influence. he’s reached the point where his extreme consistency is approaching underratedness, with his under-the-radar record ‘phasor’ representing one of his best yet. he takes the stage of underground arts on sunday, april 28th. new york-via-spain singer songwriter marem ladson opens.
announced this week:
if you missed them on back to back nights last year, chicago trio bitchin bajas return to philly this summer. layering loops of dense synthesizer with saxophone, flute and various woodwind instrument. the result is a wholly unique, engrossing and dare I say ‘vibey’ experience. 2022’s ‘bajascillators’ is only four tracks over the course of over fourty-six minutes, allowing the band to develop dense and affecting soundscapes over time. they are returning to solar myth on monday, june 10th. they sold out both nights they played last year, so if you want in, i’d recommend grabbing tickets soon.
strewn across over 20 albums over the course of three decades, japanese trio boris has pushed the limits of all the genres that critics and fans have tried to put them into. the average person would call boris a ‘metal’ band, but in reality they’ve explored the full spectrum of what a remarkably creative band can do with really, really loud amps. boris plays so loud that the experience of watching them is a different physical experience than seeing other bands — and that’s not even accounting for incredible stage presence and engagement with the audience. for this tour they will be playing their 1998 album ‘amplifier worship’ in full. it’s going down at union transfer on saturday, october 19th, with an opening set by los angeles band starcrawler
More about this week’s photo:
Credit: @phillyshowsdotorg
philadelphia / new york psych rock band feaster on the outdoor garden stage of fishtown’s wonderland