Ian F. Svenonious’s sardonic pop outfit Chain & The Gang ready the release their 5th full length album Experimental Music on September 29th through Ian’s own label Radical Elite, in partnership with DC’s flagship Dischord Records. The album’s second pre-release single “If I Was An Animal” is the first with a music video, and you can get it now by daring pre-ordering the album now, as of course we did. Svenonious’s extreme wit and uncompromising style are on full display as he sings about what the animal world must think of the planet’s dominant species. We enthusiastically recommend Ian’s next show at Comet Ping Pong on Saturday September 23rd under his solo moniker Escape-ism celebrating a split 7″ with Justin Moyer’s new band Light Beams.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
Category Archives: shows
allthebestkids – Confetti
Genre-defying ensemble allthebestkids debuted their new single “Confetti” with a bang last week, dropping this music video shot during this year’s Funk Parade festival on U Street. The video’s backdrop hearkens back to one of our faves ever, Asheru and The Funk Ark’s “Funky DC” from 2014, and we hope more bands will follow suit. The song is a certified earworm, with singer Anya Ross’s killer hook accentuating Cody Valentine’s rap verses, and the crisp drums and big brass sound make us want to dance through the streets. Catch allthebestkids and Drive TFC on a sunset cruise on the Boomerang Pirate Ship on Sunday September 17th, because what’s better than partying on a pirate ship?
Blankus Larry – Hotdog Rainbow
WORLD PREMIERE!
Blankus Larry is a unanimously anonymous post-normal proto-punk rock and roll band based in DC and VA Beach, and they are very excited about the upcoming Labor Day holiday in the United States. To celebrate, they whipped up this song and video gem called “Hotdog Rainbow”, which we’re honored to premiere to all hot dog lovers everywhere.
Band members Durdy and Bloody Larry shared this motivation for the song’s creation:
First, we need to settle a bitter dispute that has been roiling America recently: whether or not ketchup belongs on hotdogs. (Huffpost is definitely wrong with this article). How can you have a hotdog rainbow without ketchup red? Answer: You can’t. Ketchup is also in the first line of the song, so it must certainly belong on hotdogs. And any relish haters out there can buzz right off.
Second, we seem extremely divided as Americans lately, and while hotdog rainbows aren’t going to solve these problems, we hope that all Americans will take a moment to smile, sing along, and enjoy something that we all have in common: a love for hotdogs. And there’s even vegan hotdogs, so no American is left behind.
Their third album Hotdog Rainbows is set to be released in 2017 (YMMV due to Larry Standard Time). Catch up on their first two garage-rock party albums at their Bandcamp before seeing them rock your face off at the Black Cat on Monday September 18th.
The Electric Grandmother – Police Department Theme Song
Pete Faust, a.k.a. John Mellor, and his wife Mary Alice Hamnett, a.k.a. Donna Jo Tanner, perform what they describe as “Sitcom-core” under the name The Electric Grandmother. Their new concept album Cancelled tells the chilling tale of a man driven insane after his favorite cop-drama TV show is cancelled due to the popularity of the evil rival show “Cop Force.” The show’s theme song is the album’s first single, “Police Department Theme Song”, featuring a pair of blissful, friendly cops working the outdoor parks beat. If only DC was more like this, and less like what we imagine happens on “Cop Force”. Stronger Sex’s Johnny Fantastic turns in a quick gender-nonbinary cameo, but you’ll see their full band show open The Electric Grandmother’s album release gig on Wednesday September 6th at the Black Cat.
The Cowards Choir – I Took A Drive
Andy Zipf’s folk band The Cowards Choir should be high on your bucket list of DC bands to see live. This weekend you can check that box when they return to Iota in Clarendon on Saturday night to headline an excellent night of music with DC bluegrass band Run Come See and out of towners The Pinkerton Raid. They’ve taken an approach to recording new material that mirrors the songs themselves: deliberate, unhurried, authentic and beautiful. Longtime videographers Clubhill Media film the band performing a new song all together in one take, and the video and song go up online together as part of The Singing Tree series. The latest is “I Took A Drive” and the allusions to a “toupeed tycoon” and “neon signs on the boardwalk” should leave no doubt as to the subject of the song.
Teen Mortgage – Is It
Kids, once upon a time, video was analog and VHS tracking really was our worst nightmare. Trash punks Teen Mortgage take us back to the camcorder glory days with “Is It”, the catchy single from their debut pay-what-you-want EP Strange Times on Burger Records. Jay and Ed met on Craigslist and probably also picked up the gear to make this video there too. Catch them next at the Rock & Roll Hotel’s 6th annual Brodown Throwdown Festival in the afternoon of Saturday September 16th.
Be Steadwell – New Girl
Singer Be Steadwell‘s queer pop music is, above all else, honest. The songs are so well developed both lyrically and sonically that her unmistakeable identity as a lesbian woman of color is never isolating or limiting. She writes confessional, emotional songs about dating and loving women, and when things don’t go well, then she writes an entire album called Breakup Songs. The newest single from that 2017 album is the rebound tale “New Girl”, with this Steadwell-directed video featuring Katrina Wheeler, drummer Asha Santee and even a cheer squad. We always appreciate the behind-the-scenes extras Be puts at the end of her videos, so stick around after the song’s done. Steadwell’s nationwide tour lands back here on September 9th at the Honey Groove Festival at Dock 5 celebrating QTPOC performing artists, visual artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs.
Incredible Change – Soothing S.W.I.M.
Veteran synthpop band Incredible Change hit the 9:30 Club stage tonight with Honest Haloway and two great bands from Baltimore, Joseph & the Beats and Sweepstakes. IC slowly trickles out new songs featuring singer AIVA via their SoundCloud feed, and the newest “Soothing S.W.I.M.” dropped earlier this week. The New Order-influenced song also got this meditative music video accompaniment of timelapse footage shot in South Beach, Miami and the Outer Banks. Here’s what the band says about the new song:
Soothing
Someone
Who
Isn’t
Me
shall wash your body and soul over and under. Let the waves caress you, and the sand touch your feet. Let your weight float in the sea, and breath in the salty air. Rinse and repeat. Is it being unable to be soothed, or maybe it’s about seeking out a Soothing SWIM. Or perhaps its a desire to feel what you’ve felt before or have never felt before.
Honest Haloway – Escaper
Tim Kratzer’s reborn synthrock band Honest Haloway are taking their impressive live act to the big stage at the 9:30 Club this Friday night July 28th, along with fellow DC group Incredible Change and two bands from Baltimore, Joseph and the Beats and Sweepstakes. They saved the third in their Sperryville Live Sessions videos for this big event, and now they’ve unveiled the cinematic and sweeping “Escaper”, filmed at 3 AM just before a deluge of rain.
Humble Fire – Builder
Dreamy pop band Humble Fire have simply been killing it with the music videos leading up to their album release on July 28th. The newest is the album’s emotional title track “Builder”, with visuals from directors Maggie Famiglietti of Wilderness Bureau and GoKateShoot‘s Kate Warren. Strings symbolically connect everything in the video, somewhat reminiscent of DC’s 2016 Instagram hit exhibit Wonder at the Renwick. Celebrate the new video and experience their gorgeous live show Thursday night at the OTHERFEELS house along with enigmatic DC groovers Cifer.
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