Welcome to Seven in Seven, where each week we typically take a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. And while venue doors are slowly opening again, due to the current pandemic they aren’t quite there yet. That doesn’t mean the music stops, and new releases are coming out weekly from artists you know and love and some waiting to be discovered. Each week we’ll be looking at some of the best hitting shelves and streaming services and a can’t miss show in the region.
Whether your musical tastes are rock and roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there’ll always be something to check out. Here’s what’s on the docket for the week of Oct. 8:
Show of the week
IDLES – The Fillmore – Oct. 13
Last week, IDLES announced their fourth album, “Crawler,” would be released in mid-November. The UK indie rockers will be giving a taste or two of that LP next Wednesday at The Fillmore, in addition to other cuts from their short but storied career, full of brash anthems and undeniable catchiness. Expect songs like “Mother,” “I’m Scum” and “War” from last year’s Ultra Mono studio album, which went to No. 1 in their homeland and nearly cracked the Top 50 here in the States. The shows have been selling out all across the country and, truth be told, this might be the last time to catch them in a venue small as The Fillmore.
New releases
Local H – “Local H’s Awesome Quarantine Mix Tape #3”
Rock and roll stalwarts Local H remain as prolific and hungry as ever three decades into their perennially loud career. Shortly after the release of their critically acclaimed, Steve Albini-produced album “Lifers” in 2020, the world changed forever with the onset of the global pandemic. After facing tour cancellations around the world, they became one of the first bands to embrace the drive-in concert experience, in addition to live-streaming numerous shows from their practice space. While locked under quarantine, the band recorded their third covers album to date, aptly titled “Local H’s Awesome Quarantine Mix Tape #3.” Featuring an eclectic mix of their influences, contemporaries and favorite artists, they pay tribute to everyone from Prince and Blondie to Fountains of Wayne and Mark Lanegan.
Violent Femmes – “Why Do Birds Sing?”
While in the midst of celebrating four decades as a band, Violent Femmes are now marking the 30th anniversary of the landmark “Why Do Birds Sing?” with a deluxe 2-CD set and digital editions that feature newly remastered audio, a trove of previously unreleased material – including alternative takes and outtakes – and a complete concert from 1991 captured at The Boathouse in Norfolk, Va. The compact disc edition also offers new liner notes from acclaimed songwriter and journalist, Jeff Slate, who spoke in-depth with founding members Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie about the making of the album.
Creeping Death – “The Edge of Existence”
Texas outfit Creeping Death is the ultimate fan service for death metal disciples; they’re like an Easter egg-packed superhero sequel or “The Lord of the Rings” director’s cuts, a bludgeoning assemblage that serves up the best elements of the brutal subgenre’s past, present and future. It’s an unrelenting sonic celebration of the style, played with blissful mayhem by people who truly love it. With its new EP “The Edge of Existence,” the band offers a nod to crossover masters Iron Age, a bit of the tech-death of Cryptopsy and a foundation of forebearers Death, summoning a vibrant sound somehow both familiar and fresh.
Howlin Rain – “The Dharma Wheel”
Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain have become the quintessential independent American rock and roll band by offering up a steam-spitting menagerie of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscope travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins a cracked and aching country. Now, in 2021, capping this strangest and sorest of times, the band returns with its sixth studio album, “The Dharma Wheel,” a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.
Natalie Hemby – Pins and Needles
Known for the versatile sonics and storytelling that earned her eight No. 1 singles, Natalie Hemby explores a full range of her musical gifts, spanning influences from Tom Petty to Sheryl Crow and the early ’90s rock and roots she was raised on with incomparable individuality. Across the 11-track collection “Pins and Needles,” she delivers unconventional lyrics along with her ingenious turn of phrase, ear-worm anthems to heart-rending ballads, acid-tongued and sharp-witted swagger to deep-grooved rockers, delivering songs that feel like precious moments to remember.
The Velveteers – “Nightmare Daydream”
The Velveteers, a primal rock trio from the mountains of Boulder, Colo., made up of singer/guitarist Demi Demitro and drummers Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig, unveil their debut album “Nightmare Daydream.” The LP finds the band stripping down rock and roll to its most primal elements: the riff, the rhythm, the snarl and rebuilding it in their own image. Produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, it’s a record for the genre’s purists without question.
Soundcheck
IDLES – “The Beachland Ballroom”Local H – “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”Violent Femmes – “Color Me Once (Early Version)”Creeping Death – “The Edge of Existence”Howlin Rain – “The Dharma Wheel”Natalie Hemby – “Pinwheel”The Velveteers – “Charmer and the Snake”
