In unofficial polling when we chat with friends at shows about what resonated in DC music in 2018, Tired All The Time comes up often as the most exciting new find. The anthemic, danceable synth-rock paired with true dedication to a bleak corporate aesthetic is a winning combo. Earlier this year we featured their debut music video “Bone Dry” from their 2018 EP Be Well on Flag Day Recordings, so as the year’s end looms, let’s catch up on two more recent vids. “Little Pieces” is the dark flipside to “Bone Dry”‘s cheery optimism, questioning life as an unappreciated and failing business worker. “Only Exception”, our fave track from the EP, perks things back up with an Indian duo doing a joyous dance routine that doesn’t even attempt to sync up with the song. We love it! Complete their customer satisfaction survey to maintain close corporate ties to the band.
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Monthly Archives: December 2018
Don’t Stay Home This Week 12/11
This is Don’t Stay Home, our twice weekly round up of the finest #DCmusic to check out every night of the week. Let’s get to it!
Tuesday 12/11:
Hey hey, we get to host a show tonight! DC’s gargantuan experimental guitar band Boat Burning takes the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage this evening at 6 PM. Expect towering live versions of songs from their recent self-titled EP and some unexpected holiday cheer. Grab a good seat up front starting at 5:30, and remember you can stream the show live online if you can’t make it in person.
Wednesday 12/12:
Intersectional punk takes over the Black Cat backstage Wednesday evening. The ferocious lineup includes Dundalk’s Bust Down and two well known DC bands, Jail Solidarity and Homosuperior.
Thursday 12/13:
The most unexpected announcement of 2018 in DC music was the resurrection of Washington Social Club. The powerful indie pop band fronted by Martin Royle and Olivia Mancini rocked DC stages all through the naughts and went quiet after the sold out hometown shows and national tour supporting their sophomore album Bigger Than Your Boyfriend in 2007-2008. Come hear the classics like “Diamond Hipster Boy” and “Charlie the Russian” along with brand new material Thursday night at the Black Cat. Show up on time for the opening set from Bryan Gerhart’s new band Slow Love.
Don’t Stay Home This Weekend 12/07
Don’t stay home! If you do you’ll miss these recommended #DCmusic shows and they’ll never happen again.
Friday 12/07:
Oof, there’s a lot of strong choices to recommend tonight. But we have to give our nod to the sometimes hard rockin’ frontman, sometimes introspective blues scholar Jonny Grave. The State Theatre in Falls Church hosts Grave tonight with an opening set from DC’s Cathy Ponton King.
Saturday 12/08:
Come on Black Cat Backstage, are you trying to make us miss you more when you’re gone with these rad December shows? Saturday night things get dreamy and dancey with three awesome DC rock bands you should be friends with: Lavender, The Colonies and Mystery Friends.
Sunday 12/09:
This Sunday night Pearl Street Warehouse and nonprofit boosters Project HERA host an all star night of DC Women Who Rock paying tribute to the 90s. The list of performers is ridiculously huge, including Lauren Calve, Flo Anito, Hayley Fahey, Emily Henry and on and on and on. On this crowd-pleasing night both the future and the past are female!
Sneaks – 3 Videos
There’s not many days left in 2018, so let’s catch up on music videos Eva Moolchan’s musical alias Sneaks with a 3-fer. Earlier this year Merge Records released “PBNJ”, a delightful romp with Moolchan’s quirky minimalist style shot by Emmett Kerr-Perkinson. That one was the last promotional gasp for the 2017 Sneaks album It’s A Myth. As anticipation builds for the forthcoming Highway Hypnosis in January, director Emmett Kerr-Perkinson returns with two more visual portraits, the languid “Money Don’t Grow on Trees” and global dance banger “Hong Kong To Amsterdam”. After you’re done pre-ordering the album on “Peak Vinyl”, grab tix for the DC release show on Sunday February 3rd at Songbyrd.
Broke Royals – Bad Chemicals
Perpetually well-dressed pop band Broke Royals have shown they know how to make a gorgeous music video. Now they turn their talents to deeper issues, exploring the fraught subject of PTSD in their new single “Bad Chemicals”. Inspired by the book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, singer Philip Basnight and video director Scott Hansen present this emotional story of a military veteran’s AI-induced flashbacks of the death of his sister, also a fellow soldier. The ambition of this band in everything from production to presentation is admirable. Before the 2019 release of their sophomore album, catch the gents holding down a two night holiday extravaganza at Jammin’ Java in Vienna on Friday December 28th and Saturday December 29th.
Jax Deluca – YSGA
In addition to her prestigious role as Director of Media Arts for the National Endowment for the Arts, Jax Deluca is an accomplished visual and auditory artist herself. Her new EP Organs in the Wind is out on cassette and digital via UK label ACR, and it’s a beautiful and ambient journey through quiet stillness. The accompanying text instructs “These recordings are supposed to be listened at a low volume in a dark space. Headphones are also suitable, but still at a low volume in a dark space. A quiet cavern.” If you’re like us and prefer some visuals with your music, watch this organic, massaging music video for the song “YSGA”, created by Deluca, Hillary Hess and Colleen Marie Foley & Erin Ethridge of The Thorn Collaborative.
Don’t Stay Home This Week 12/03
It’s time for the Hometown Sounds #DCmusic picks for the coming week. There’s quality live music every night of the week, and no reasons whatsoever to stay home.
Monday 12/03:
Tonight Galaxy Hut hosts two DC indie rock bands, Oppo and SleepMarks, plus a solo set from Oppo’s Finely Martin. We bet you don’t know them yet. What better way to get acquainted than with some new songs over delicious beers.
Tuesday 12/04:
Vocal jazz group Véronneau have enjoyed widespread acclaim for their 2018 album Love and Surrender, but we think the holidays are the best time to enjoy Lynn Veronneau’s gorgoeus voice and Ken Avis’s worldwide musical influences. Georgetown’s Blues Alley hosts their trio playing music from Snowtime Tuesday night for two shows, 8 and 11 PM.
Wednesday 12/05:
Assuming Takoma Park house venue Rhizome is still standing after tonight’s insane Priests gig, head there Wednesday night for lo-fi punk poets Nice Breeze supporting Toronto’s Clara Engel and Azalia Snail of the duo LoveyDove.
Thursday 12/06:
Chinatown’s Lucky Strike hosts DC’s legendary go-go heroes Rare Essence, along with Jas Funk and DJ Jealousy, on Thursday evening. Bring a toy donation for Cozy Christmas at Gateway DC and party through the overnight scenario.
Hometown Sounds 