Arden Jones
21-year-old Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Arden Jones captures unforgettable, serotonin-filled California summers into a perfect blend of pop, hip-hop, and alt that, while familiar, is undeniably his own. His clever rhymes and witty lyricism paint heartfelt, relatable sentiments that beautifully juxtapose his infectious hooks and euphoric, nostalgia-inspired beats. From a young age, Arden’s love of skating and surfing came second only to his love of music, successfully teaching himself to play an array of instruments including upright bass, mandolin, guitar, piano, and ukelele. His musical household introduced him to legends like The Avett Brothers, Bright Eyes, and 50 Cent, but it wasn’t long before he began forging his own musical identity inspired by J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Mac Miller. A prolific user of Garageband and SoundCloud, Arden posted his internet-beat smash “Parallel Parking” on TikTok at the end of 2020 where it caught the attention of newly minted label, vnclm_, and eventually into the hearts of 14 million Spotify listeners. Since the song’s release, Arden continues to pave his own way into the music world. Following a series of hit singles (including rollercoaster, SMILE, either way) and performances to screaming fans across the country, Arden was determined to reward his die-hard fanbase in 2022, dropping a new three-song EP at the beginning of every month to immense critical acclaim. With millions of streams independently and an unrelenting work ethic, Arden Jones proves that he really is “just trying to make you smile.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud | TikTokRelay RelayRelay Relay is the husband-and-wife musical team of Jamie and Hannah Rowen. The pair perform all over the country and have a super fun set of unique indie pop originals and genre-spanning upbeat covers they make their own. The pair packs a full band punch into a tiny duo package. While Jamie handles everything guitar, Hannah bounces between a tiny keyboard, glockenspiel, electronic drum pads and various percussion (like her foot tambourine!) all while holding down a powerful lead vocal. The tight vocal harmonies are the cherry on top. Relay Relay has a unique sound all their own, and not only sounds great, they are fun to watch!Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Pedro The Lion
Early into Santa Cruz, the poignant third album in David Bazan’s ongoing musical memoir of his sometimes-uncanny life, he discovers the Beatles. He is the new kid from Arizona in a new school in the famous California coastal town where his dad has accepted another post at a Bible college. He and his first friend there, Matt, are sitting on the carpet in Matt’s little bedroom, flipping through the records bequeathed by his father, when Bazan spots a familiar cover—The White Album, known only from a church documentary that warned children of the Satanic secrets of “Revolution 9.” Play it backwards, the propaganda said, and it would offer a command: “Turn me on, dead man.”So, of course, the kids played it forward and were fascinated by the sound, by the imagination, by the act of consecrated creativity far outside of Christian rock. Bazan was 13. “Treading water on the open ocean/Then you threw me out a life ring,” he sings, the smile obvious just through the sound as the beat picks up like a racing pulse, more than three decades later. “All I needed was a little help from a friend.” That is the moment where, in many ways, the remarkable songs of Pedro the Lion begin to take shape.In 2019, after a 15-year break filled with solo records and side-projects, Bazan returned to the moniker under which he had become one of indie rock’s most identifiable voices and incisive songwriters, Pedro the Lion. He sort of stumbled into 2019’s Phoenix, a charged chronicle of his childhood there, while spending the night with his grandparents during a tour stop. But he soon understood that unpacking his peripatetic youth, where his music minister father shifted around the country like a Marine moving bases, was helpful, healing, and maybe even interesting. The gripping Havasu followed in 2022. Bazan was onto something, untangling all the ways his past had both shaped and misshaped his present inside some of his best songs ever.That past truly begins to become the present on Santa Cruz, the most fraught and frank album yet in a planned five-album arc; this one covers a little less than a decade, from just after he turned 13 until he turns toward adulthood around 21. These songs ripple with the anxiety and energy of teenage awakening—of hearing rock ’n’ roll, of understanding that independent music exists, of making out with an older schoolmate in deepest secret, of falling in love, of finally starting to understand that in order to be yourself you’re going to need to be something other than your parents’ vision of you. It is the rawest, most affecting and affirming album Pedro the Lion has ever made.Santa Cruz begins with a prayer that feels like a dirge, a synth-led funeral march to another town where Bazan knows no one. “If I lay it down/And I keep my eyes on you,” he moans, steeling himself through self-sacrifice. “It’ll all work out.” But when he arrives in Santa Cruz to begin eighth grade, the self-flagellation comes quickly, Bazan lecturing himself for the lameness of the neon-green backpack he picked out in Phoenix and the Christian rock that is his lifeblood. For decades now, Bazan has been known for his music’s deliberate pace, often linked to slowcore. Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
Lloyd Cole
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this show is canceled at this time. We look forward to a rescheduled show some time in the future.This is a seated show. “I certainly didn’t set about making something that was going to be quite this intense,” says Lloyd Cole about his stunning new album On Pain. “But I wanted it to be more extreme in all directions: I wanted the minimalist stuff to be more minimal, I wanted the poppy stuff to be more poppy, and I wanted the abstract stuff to be more abstract.” And so, to paraphrase one of the songs from On Pain, Cole’s music has become more of what it is: there’s an elegant economy here that only comes with experience, magnified by an evocative way with technology that can only come with insatiable curiosity. Sixteen albums and nearly 40 years into his illustrious career, Lloyd Cole is exploring what the 21st-century version of what a singer-songwriter is. This is certainly sophisticated music, both harmonically and sonically, but the spaces within it, and the straightforward language Cole croons over it, allow in ineffable feelings: often, they’re powerful currents of melancholy, even dread. What with the current state of things, the songs assume an almost oracular feeling, like maybe On Pain is a musical canary in a cultural coal mine. Although best known for guitar-oriented music with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and a long line of acclaimed solo records, Cole has made plenty of exquisite synth-based music: 2001’s Plastic Wood, 2013’s Selected Studies, Vol. I (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius of legendary Krautrock band Cluster), and 2015’s sublimely minimalist 1D. 2019’s Guesswork achieved a compelling singularity between digital electronics and the literate pop that made Cole’s name. But On Pain takes it a step further into the future. After Cole used a random digital noise generator as the basis for the four long, abstract compositions of 2020’s Dunst, “I decided I’d apply that musique concrète approach to songs,” he says. “And that’s how a lot of On Pain was created. The challenge was to make music that I’d want to listen to, a record that might be able to stand next to records that I love.” Besides Cole’s four songs, former Commotions keyboardist Blair Cowan contributed the music for three songs and Commotions guitarist Neil Clark wrote the music for one, then Cole edited the tracks, reshaped some of the sounds, and added additional instruments, lyrics and vocals at The Establishment, the studio in the attic of his home in western Massachusetts. The only other musicians on the album are backing singers Joan Wasser (Joan as Police Woman), Renée LoBue (Elk City) and Dave Derby (Gramercy Arms). While he was recording, Cole FaceTimed with producer Chris Hughes (Tears for Fears, Adam and the Ants, Robert Plant), then traveled to Hughes’ studio in Wiltshire, England, where they did some instrumental overdubs and mixed the record. — Michael AzerradNew York City, March 2023 Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
WXYC Decades Dance – Rhythm of the Night: 90s House Dance Party
UNC Students $5 with One Card$10 for non students Website
Cosmic Charlie – High Energy Grateful Dead from Athens, GA
“Cosmic Charlie really is a great band – these guys do this music the way it should be done: having the conversation in their own voices.” -David Gans, Grateful Dead archivist Cosmic Charlie was born in the musical Mecca of Athens, Georgia. From its summer 1999 inception, the band swiftly cemented its reputation as a band that puts a unique and personal twist on the Grateful Dead catalogue. Cosmic Charlie is a Dead cover band for folks that are ambivalent about Dead cover bands. Rather than mimicking the Dead exactly, Cosmic Charlie chooses to tap into the Dead’s energy and style as a foundation on which to build. The result is healthy balance of creativity and tradition, where both the band and its audience are taken to that familiar edge with the sense that, music is actually being MADE here tonight. Moving and shaking even the most skeptical of Deadheads, Cosmic Charlie storms into a town and plays with an energy that eludes other bands, an energy that sometimes eluded the Dead themselves. Those precious moments during Dead jams when the synchronicity is there and all is right with the world – these are the moments that Cosmic Charlie relishes and feverishly welcomes with open arms. Clearly, Cosmic Charlie’s audiences are also eager to partake in these moments, and together with the band, they have indulged in many memorable evenings.Most nights, Cosmic Charlie walks onstage without a setlist, not even knowing what the first song will be. Any Dead tune can rear its head at any moment, and fan requests are always welcome. “INSPIRATON, MOVE ME BRIGHTLY” is Cosmic Charlie’s mantra, allowing the music to truly play the band.Website | Facebook | YouTube
Abbey Road LIVE!
“One of the world’s premier Beatles cover bands” -US News and World Report “unquestionably expert at what they do” -Indyweek Come and experience some Beatles magic as Abbey Road LIVE! delivers its signature performance: the entire Abbey Road album, start-to-finish. Featuring classics such as Come Together, Here Comes The Sun and the epic Side 2 medley, “Abbey Road” has been often dubbed the Fab Four’s finest musical work. And that’s just half of the evening: fans will be treated to a second set of Beatles tunes spanning the band’s 8-year, 200 song career. Abbey Road LIVE! is not your typical look-alike Beatles tribute act. Don’t expect mop-top wigs and phony British accents. Rather, this band is about bringing some of the more complex Beatles music to life in a raw & spirited fashion, while remaining true to the original recordings. And the band’s creative exuberance is infectious. At a typical Abbey Road LIVE! show, audiences young and old can found gleefully singing along with every word, many relishing the chance to hear this monumental music performed live — something the Beatles themselves never did, as they stopped touring in 1966, before many of their best albums were released. Website | Facebook | YouTube
The Yardarm Album Release Show
The Yardarm got its start in 2017 when, in the only documented incident of this going well for anyone, JJ Westfield and Jason Bales were prompted to play together by their wives. After finding their tastes and skills in music meshed, Jason promptly ignored any conventional wisdom about not $#!{{ing where he eats and enlisted two of his co-workers, John Cowan and Palmer Smith, to play drums and bass. Since then, the Yardarm has played their twangy rock and roll across the Triangle and as far out as Brevard, NC on stages of all sizes, be they small, intimate, cozy, or cramped.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Winnetka Bowling League
The origins of Winnetka Bowling League started with an existential crisis. While singer and guitarist Matthew Koma’s childhood was spent listening to Elvis Costello and Squeeze and growing up in the East Coast hardcore and punk scenes, most of his adult life found him writing songs for electronic musicians and pop stars. Drawn to the rock music of his youth, in 2018 he started Winnetka Bowling League with his brother Kris Mazzarisi on drums, Sam Beresford on keys, giving him the freedom to explore what he truly loved about music. The band’s 2018 self-titled debut EP kickstarted a prolific streak of singles and EPs through 2023 that included the viral songs “On the 5,” “CVS,” and “Slow Dances.” On each release Winnetka Bowling League display a penchant for masterful melody-making, sardonic lyrical specificity, and a profound sense of rock’n’roll timelessness. Their most recent offering, “Sha La La” is no exception.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud | TikTok
Elliott Fullam
Elliott Fullam is a New Jersey artist who conjures the magic of when loneliness meets hope with his ghostly vocal melodies and gentle guitar tracks that bring a tranquil feeling to the listener. Elliott’s songs are recorded in his bedroom at home and mastered by the world-renowned Alan Douches of West West Side Music. His teenage goal was to release his first album by the time he turned 18 and he achieved that goal with the release of his debut album “What’s Wrong” on his 18th birthday of September 2, 2022. Fullam followed up this effort in September of 2023 with his second full-length album “End of Ways.”Elliott is also an actor, playing the co-starring role as Jonathan in the films Terrifier 3 and Terrifier 2 which made a big smash at the box office as an uncut and unrated horror film. And as a dedicated music fan, Elliott has interviewed many musicians since the age of 9 including James Hetfield of Metallica, J Mascis, Ice-T, Jay Weinberg of Slipknot and many more. He always held his passion for music in high regard while finding inspiration in his favorites Elliott Smith, Duster, Mazzy Star, Broadcast, Radiohead and Nick Drake. With nothing else in his life plans aside from the pursuit of creating the best music he possibly could while sustaining his promising acting career, Elliott will continue to release music and play shows for as long as he exists on this planet in hopes that he may be a small part of the force for good in this trying world.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | TikTok
Bad Nerves
The bastard child of a Ramones/Strokes one night stand, Bad Nerves play ferociously fast distorted pop songs and drew acclaim with their previous releases ‘Dreaming’, ‘Baby Drummer’, & ‘Can’t Be Mine’. It would appear to be in the DNA of rock music, particularly punk music, that the music itself happens by some kind of happy accident. Nothing truer could be said of the Essex five piece speed punk band. For frontman Bobby, the formation of the band itself was an unintentional happenstance that just wound up taking off in unexpected but very exciting directions. Did band life choose Bad Nerves or did Bad Nerves choose band life? It’s hard to say. On the eve of releasing their second album, the brilliantly titled Still Nervous, the boys are still reeling from their surprise success. Their self-made, self-funded debut put them in the hearts and minds of the cream of the alternative crop in 2020; from tastemakers such as Dan P Carter to Alyx Holcombe, and from peers like Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard, Bad Nerves were instantaneously heralded with the poisoned chalice of saviours of a type of punk that promises to never die. They’ve toured with Royal Blood and The Darkness, and have drawn comparisons to Supergrass, the Ramones and Jay Reatard. And despite all that, their pop rock is a unique – and very fast – whack over the head that reminds us all of the future life left in hell-raising loud and fast music. Speaking from his dad’s garage-come-studio in Colchester, frontman Bobby recounts how he and bandmate Will had always played in bands. By chance of a random text at the end of 2015 (“let’s do a band!”), Bobby relented once more unto the breach. “Seems like a terrible idea,” he recalls. “Really?! Another band?!” However with “nothing else to do”, it became the only choice. Bad Nerves began to write songs, and promised to never play live, but the songs were so much fun they were forced to reconsider. The only challenge was the pace of said songs. “Finding a drummer was a nightmare,” he laughs. But what started off as a laugh has now become a fated mission. Gone is the blasé motivation, now Bad Nerves are laser-focused on this being the best thing they’ve ever done. “It feels like this is the main thing that any of us will do in our lives,” says Bobby. “If we’re remembered for anything…” Given that rock doesn’t have as much of a look-in on the air and in the press, Bad Nerves feel a calling to try and revive rock from the rust. Their second LP, Still Nervous, is due for release Spring 2024. Did they feel pressure approaching the sophomore slump, so to speak? Not at all. The process was more or less the same; Bobby demoing the tracks in his dad’s garage, and then the band re-recording everything “properly” with their friend Mike Curtis. The only difference was in trying to ensure that they were still writing for themselves, and not just to satiate their new audience. “When I write songs thinking about what people expect I end up mimicking the first record, but not well,” says Bobby. That internal battle was new, but Bobby quickly realised you can’t write like that, and in the process of being “pissed off trying to write a Bad Nerves song”, he found some of the best tracks on the album, doing whatever he wanted.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
