SEVEN IN SEVEN
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where 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 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’tmiss 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 March 4:
Show of the week 1 Gang of Four — Underground Arts — March 8
The untimely death in February 2020of founding member, guitarist and covocalist Andy Gill prompted many to re-examine Gang of Four’s catalog and their legacy, which began upon their formation in 1976. Not only did the band’s influential blend of punk, dance and funk speak to the generation of musicians, activists,
writers and visual artists that emerged in the group’s immediate wake, but the generation after that and up through the present day. The current touring lineup features founding members Jon King on lead vocals and Hugo Burnham on drums alongside returning bassist Sara Lee and new guitarist David Pajo. Last year saw Matador Records release the boxset “Gang of Four: 77-81” in limited-edition vinyl and compact disc configurations as well as new reissues of the group’s iconic debut and sophomore efforts, “Entertainment!” (1979) and “Solid Gold” (1981). Expect the Underground Arts gig to showcase those two albums and 1983’s “Songs of the Free.”
New releases 2 Stereophonics — “Oochya!”
One of the most underrated acts from the UK over the past few decades by far is Stereophonics — at least here in the States. Now with album number 12, “Oochya!,” frontman and lead guitarist Kelly Jones continues to cement his place among the great British songwriters on tracks like “Forever,” “Do Ya Feel My Love?” and “Hanging on Your Hinges.” Having now achieved seven UK No. 1 albums, 10 Top 10 albums, 23 platinum sales awards, 8.5 million albums sold in the UK alone, five BRIT nominations and one BRIT Award win, he’s led the band to stand as undeniable giants of British music. It’s about time the rest of the world caught up.
3 Crowbar — “Zero and Below”
New Orleans sludge metal pioneers Crowbar release their long-awaited new full-length, “Zero and Below,” full of songs that are unapologetic emotional outpourings, with a bareknuckle resolve alongside soul-searching vulnerability, reliably delivered with crushing heaviness. The LP is the band’s 12th and its most unforgivably doomy of the dozen thus far, or at least since the 1998 landmark effort, “Odd Fellows Rest,” which remains a touchstone in the genre.
4 El Ten Eleven — “New Year’s Eve”
Over the course of 20years and 11 albums, El Ten Eleven has continued to redefine the potential of bass guitar and drums. With an arsenal of pedals, intricate arrangements and deft use of looping, bassist Kristian Dunn and drummer Tim Fogarty create two-man symphonies. With “New Year’s Eve,” the duo melds electrifying disco grooves with their tried-and-true experimental rock atmospherics. The LP romps through infectious grooves, Rototom blasts, electrifying breakdowns and meditative reprieves. It also channels Dunn’s lifelong love of disco, channeling memories of a childhood spent spinning Niles Rogers and Chic while his peers blared heavy metal.
5 Cy Dune — “Against Face”
Cy Dune is the explosive, post genre positive punk project of artist-producer Seth Olinsky, the cofounder of underground noise folk experimentalists Akron/ Family. Sparked by a turn toward the primal, transcendent energy of rock music and informed by his lifelong love of early blues music, Olinsky has explored blues, ’50s rock and roll, and ’60s/’70s proto punk through this unique lens via the Cy Dune project. “Against Face” is a metapunk blast through 20th century art school punk forms mashed together into one hyper-real, hypermodern 18-minute tour de force.
6 Jackie Bristow — “Outsider”
Jackie Bristow has taken many musical journeys to
reach her fifth album, “Outsider.” The New Zealand native has gone from Sydney to Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, to Nashville, Tenn., to pursue her artistic vision. The record finds her standing at the crossroads of soul and country, rock and roll and singer-songwriter folk, and reveals her drive to embrace change, keep moving and to discover something new and exciting. While building upon the strengths of her previous albums, Bristow drew inspiration from the music of the American South, particularly the myriad sounds found in her adopted home, Nashville.
7 Peach Pit — “From 2 to 3”
Indie rockers Peach Pit release album number three, “From 2 to 3,” an 11-track effort that infuses more organic and acoustic elements into the band’s signature-smooth sound, with many of its members playing multiple instruments such as tambourine, cowbell, harmonica, lap steel and more. It follows on the heels of the 2017 debut, “Being So Normal,” which features their self-titled smash “Peach Pit,” as well as the 2020 sophomore LP “You and Your Friends.”