Indie rockers Sana Rouge have created something new while having as much fun as possible. Featuring Jerry Bowyer and Mike Derby from Centreline, they already laid down four tracks for an upcoming EP.
Acoustic folkies the Homemade Knives have taken a potentially permanent break.
Drummer Chris Mitchell and guitarist/vocalist Frank Scott got together soon after the members of The McGuffin went their separate ways to work on solo projects and other bands. As The Lost Satellites, they’ve played a few gigs in Richmond and Petersburg and are planning an October release for their first CD.
The first full-length from hardcore lifers Radio War was recorded at Red Planet Studios and will be titled “50-50.” According to guitarist Ronnie Russo, formerly of Ten 33: “It represents the dynamic of our band. For example, two of us started the band in San Diego, and the other two joined when we moved back to Richmond. Two of us are married and two of us are not. Two of us are straight-edge and two of us are not, etc. etc. etc. … You get the idea.”
Keeping the punk torch aflame, The Riot Before has played 100 shows all over the country this year and is gunning for 150. You can download the band’s new EP, “So Long, the Lighthouse,” from www.quoteunquoterecords.com. Fall of the West Records is releasing a four-song 7-inch version with an exclusive song, and the group recorded two more songs for a split 7-inch with Portland, Ore.-based Broadway Calls.
Experimental post-punks La Mere Vipere have been playing together in one form or another for 14 years. Vocalist Danny Trice, bassist Derek Tomlin, guitarist Mike Layne and drummer Alex Tomlin (Battlemaster) have played in bands such as Seven Hearts, Escapemen and Leper Colony. Their latest offering, “Gallows Cheats,” is out now.
You can expect the best material yet from alt-rockers Copper Sails, who are recording a new album with producer Ted Comerford (Army of Me, Virginia Coalition) at Low Watt Recording Studios in Raleigh, N.C. It returns to the stage in late October.
Prepare for Episode II of Special Ed & the Shortbus’ Halloween saga, “Trials of a Zombie Stringband,” Oct. 28 at Gallery5. Then on Oct. 31, they’ll join Dick Butt Kiss & the Tight Ends at Poe’s Pub for a Halloween performance of bizarre string-band and barbershop quartet music.
Richmond-based Rorschach Records are superstoked to announce the debut LP by Antlers. Antlers is a new indie-cum-folk band that consists of members of Mass Movement of the Moth, Gregor Samsa and Triple Twins. Rorschach has also released the Best Friends Day benefit comp, featuring Snack Truck, Ultra Dolphins, Tigershark and other bands we’d like to high-five.
Gainesville, Fla., is a second home to many Richmond bands and has its own best friends weekend called The Fest. It’s no wonder Richmond is represented so heavily in the Oct. 26-28 lineup, with Avail, Erin Tobey, Pink Razors, Mason Dixon Disaster, Municipal Waste, Landmines and Josh Small all making the trip south. Landmines will surely be playing songs from its first full-length, recorded with Brian McTernan at Salad Days studios in Baltimore, Md.
In the mold of Emerson, Lake & Palmer comes Mike Visaggio and his prog-rock keyboard trio Kinetic Element. For the second straight year, they’ve been selected to perform at the Pop Montreal festival in Canada. They have a self-released CD titled “Starship Universe.”
The Silent Music Revival is a group of artists interested in the juxtaposition of music/noise and film. At their None Such Art & Apparel events, live musicians and/or DJs provide an unrehearsed, free-form soundtrack to a classic silent film. Nate Rappole of the Ultra Dolphins, DJ Michael Murphy, the OK Bird and Mermaid Skeletons have already done their part and look for Snack Truck to perform Nov. 20.
