The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
SEVEN IN SEVEN
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where we take a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. As always, whether your musical tastes are rock ’n’ roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there will always be something to check out.
Here are seven of the best on the docket for the week of Nov. 25:
L.S. Dunes — Saturday at First Unitarian Church
One of the most exciting bands to come out of the pandemic has been the supergroup L.S. Dunes, made up of guitarist Frank Iero
(My Chemical Romance), guitarist Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria), vocalist Anthony Green (Circa Survive), bassist Tim Payne and drummer Tucker Rule (both of Thursday). The unit super-charges their heavy anthems with punk energy forming a sound unlike anything that has come before it, evident on the gripping, theatrical opener “2022,” the crunchy, frenetic earworm “Like Forever,” and the pummeling, expansive “Permanent Rebellion.” As the current tour is the band’s first ever, that makes it even more special.
Exhumed — Saturday at Johnny Brenda’s
Gore metal maniacs Exhumed come to town in support of their new album “To the Dead,” released via Relapse Records last month. As the pioneers of bloodsoaked grindcore metal genre, the group’s storied career began in San Jose in the early ’90s and, other than a brief five-year break in the early aughts, continues to this day. “To The Dead” is the culmination of decades of nightmarish riffs, obliterating blast-beats and hellish screams from the very depths the band crawled out from.
Nektar — Saturday at Sellersville Theater 1894
UK prog-rockers Nektar have spent some 50 years taking fans on an audio and visual journey with their impressive live shows over the years. Continuing relevancy by incorporating jam band elements into some of their almost 20recorded works, the band’s artistic and personal charisma has earned them masses of devoted fans, who have flocked to festivals such as NearFest and ProgStock to indulge their passion for the Nektar experience. Luckily, the group is coming to us for an evening sure to be a feast for the eyes and ears.
Friko — Monday at Warehouse on Watts
Friko, a trio that’s cemented itself as a stalwart in the Chicago music scene, is
SOUNDCHECK
• L.S. Dunes:
Rebellion”
• Exhumed:
Color”
• Nektar: “Good Day”
• Friko:“In_Out”
• Archers of Loaf: Surface of Noise”
• Pond: “Rain”
• Julian Lage: “Tributary”
“Permanent
“Drained of
“In the
complex and dynamic, flickering between explosive rock, chamber pop and serene sonics. It becomes even more pronounced in their live performances, where a crowd that might be frenzied by wailing guitars finds itself minutes later collectively holding its breath, enamored by hypnotic strings and Niko Kapetan’s emotive vocals. This is the indie pop outfit’s inaugural tour, bringing their music to cities they’ve never played before.
Archers of Loaf — Wednesday at Underground Arts
Though Archers of Loaf have played a handful of reunion shows in the past decade after the Merge Records reissue of their first four LPs in 2011, they have now embarked on their first tour in some time in support of “Reason in Decline,” their first album in 24years. The record is no nostalgic, low-impact reboot either. When they emerged from North Carolina’s ’90s indie-punk incubator, the Archers’ hurtling, sly, gloriously dissonant roar was a mythologized touchstone of slacker-era refusal. But this new material is an entirely different noise from a now sonically advanced unit. Notably, Eric Johnson’s signature trebly lines peal clearly above the din instead of struggling to be heard. Today, singer-songwriter Bachmann’s lyrics balance righteous wrath with a complex tangle of adult perspective. He still spits bile, but it’s less likely to concern scene politics, music trends or shady record labels thwarting the dreams of a young rock band.
Pond — Thursday,
Dec. 1, at Underground Arts
Australian psych-rockers Pond recently covered the iconic classic “Rain” by Dragon for Triple J’s “Like A Version” radio segment and released a deluxe edition of their 2021 album “9.” The album featured four brand new tracks that added to the band’s musical explorations funneled into electrifying bursts of pure psychpop joy. Interestingly, given the genre, no tune even veers past the five-minute mark. Above all though, what you get from the album is a sense of creative abandon and just plain fun. On “9,” Pond recaptures an anarchic sense of uncertainty and flies closer than ever before to the creative supernova that has blazed across so much of the band’s music and live show.
Julian Lage — Thursday, Dec. 1, at World Café Live Downstairs