by Frank Ricci
MUELAS + OSHINER + TRASH CANDICE
SAT JUL 18 | 8 PM | COASTAL EMPIRE BEER CO.
The word muela translates from Spanish to molar, but muelas can also mean you grind. It’s an accurate and clever name because this Atlanta five-piece post-hardcore band definitely grinds. Vocalist Susy Reyes mainly uses harsh vocals, but shows off her range on occasion. It’s good enough to wish there was a bit more of it. What no one will see coming is her electric violin that adds, intentionally or not, Middle Eastern tones to the raging, down-tuned, post-hardcore riffing. Someone in the band must be a fan of Advaitic Songs by Om. It’s a nonintuitive combination, but it works.
Oshiner have established themselves over the last few years as a solid metalcore act known to beat your eardrums senseless, steal their milk money, and drop a bucket of pig blood on them years later at the prom. With elements of progressive and melodic metal, the live shows feature massive breakdowns surrounded by relentless pounding.
The post-hardcore of Columbia, SC’s Trash Candice has an unexpected rock and roll foundation to it. It’ll drone in a shoegaze haze here and rage with abandon there, but often transitions back to an almost classic rock vibe. The vocals are screamed and shrieked, so no olde tyme rock music similarity there. The pretty, moody parts in songs like Unborn Widow and Spade are a pleasant diversion. But don’t get comfortable. The shrieking returns with a vengeance.
CICADAKULT + BONGFOOT + ONCE BELOW JOY + THE BLACK STRAIN
FRI JUL 17 | 8 PM | THE WORMHOLE
The connection between Ireland and Savannah is well-known. The crusty connection with a style of extreme music from England is not. The first crust punk bands that took the Discharge template and d-beat drumming to create the genre included Doom, Amebix, and Hellbastard, all from the UK. In the early ’90s, Savannah’s Damad carried the crust torch, adding metallic guitars and helping define the city’s emerging sludge sound. All that said, if there is one Savannah band keeping crust alive, it’s Cicadakult. Heavy, noisy guitars, harsh vocals, and anarchy-adjacent lyrical topics delivered with raw rage.
If stoner rock legends Fu Manchu had someone other than the distinctive Scott Hill on vocals, it might sound a lot like Bongfoot. As long as the singer wasn’t Hill, and just got hit in the face with a Chinese star. Big riffs, bigger fuzz, and bombastic, wah-wah-riddled leads are interspersed with droning, Sabbath-worshipping dirges. The band calls it “Appalachian trash,” but it might be too good for self-deprecating humor. They kill.
Adding a massive slab of variety to a bill that leans heavy, Charlotte’s Once Below Joy do not have the distortion pedal set to eviscerate, the amp head set to 11, or the anger-o-meter pinned to the white-hot misanthropy end of the gauge. The prog rockers add a slice of psychedelia, a range of sonic textures, and actual singing. It’s not hardcore, but it’s not yacht rock, either. Expect the set to hold its own next to the metalheads.
The metal begins with Savannah’s favorite sludge-doom duo, The Black Strain, who kick it off with massive riffs that land on you like a crumbling skyscraper.
HEARTS GONE SOUTH
THUR JUL 16 | ALL DAY | OVER YONDER
Consider a female country vocal spectrum with Dolly’s sweet, bright soprano on one end, Patsy’s warmth and polish in the middle, and Tanya Tucker’s husky texture at the other end. Tricia Tripp, the Hearts Gone South singer, sits somewhere between Patsy and Tanya. What she shares with Dolly is an enthusiasm for the art form. It comes across with a single listen. The Asheville, NC, band plays classic country and honky-tonk with heart and soul. They’ve released three albums, rocked festival stages, and are playing all day at the best country and western bar in Savannah.
BROKENCYDE + WHOKILLEDXIX + ONI INC + SCOOB
THUR JUL 16 | 7 PM | COASTAL EMPIRE BEER CO.
Survivors of the seemingly sudden late-‘00s MySpace music scene collapse, Brokencyde have maintained their status as crunkcore leaders for two decades. Reviled by snobs, it’s a bit like pro wrestling if you’re aware of the gag. With so much lecturing and hectoring, it’s a good thing there is room for mindless escapism that takes nothing seriously. They scream the vocals over synthetic beats inspired by crunk originator Lil Jon. Although they’re from Albuquerque, there’s an inescapable Southern vibe. Like the sample of NYC weatherman Lloyd Lindsay Young on Beastie Boys’ B-Boy Bouillabaisse says, “It’s a trip. It’s got a funky beat, and I can bug out to it.”
A trio of nontraditional hip-hop acts from across the country share the bill. LA duo WHOKILLEDXIX, originally from Connecticut, self-describe as “punk, rap, rock and dizzy electronic music.” That tracks. There’s talking, screaming, and some rapping over squiggly EDM sounds with odd time signatures and occasional explosions of skate punk rage. The kind of music that scares and confuses the elderly.
Imagine Dragons may be the last Las Vegas band to break out 15 years ago, but ONI INC have been doing their level best to get paid for a decade. Their trap-metal shares space with frantic, erratic hyperpop and glitchcore. Jacksonville’s scøøb is more beat-oriented with autotune vocals, emo feelz, and danceable hyperpop.
KING IN YELLOW + GUNWALES + SPEED70
SUN JUL 19 | 8 PM | THE PORTAL ARCADE
The decline of Kingston in Upstate New York has slowed some, but maybe not enough to cheer up the members of King in Yellow. They call their music “heavy jangle for a world with nothing to celebrate.” They could celebrate being in a pretty cool band. Their brand of psychedelic-tinged post-punk is compelling and well-played, like the neo-Byrds of early R.E.M. mixed with the distorted racket of The Jesus and Mary Chain. They’re also touring, with a stop in the best little city in the South. And if that’s not enough, they’re also sharing the bill with two other cool bands. There must be something worth celebrating, guys.
Perhaps the cheerfulness of Gunwales will rub off on the Empire Staters. The standard rock quartet keep it straightforward for the most part, but kick it up with Thin Lizzy-style dual leads. Joining them is the Savannah all-star group Speed70, featuring the nonstop Dustin Price along with members of Basically Nancy. The Southern Gothic folk project played their first show in a backyard and are already rocking a paid gig.