Welcome back to the Show Sonar! Sorry for it coming a little late, I’ve bene battling a mystery illness which I believe is a bioweapon designed to prevent me from sharing DIY music with you all. As you can see, I have overcome these forces of evil.
Before we get into the show recommendations for the next two weeks, some important information for you up front.
DIYNot is on break on February 17th, as I’ll be in Tucson visiting family and working on a very cool project. I’ll be running a rerun about 5th wave emo.
On yesterday’s episode I shared a new track from Dry Socket, check it out here, and remembered an amazing interview I did with them a few months back. I figured at some point I should start getting some of these interviews from the DIYNot archives out into the world, so take a listen! It is a wonderful conversation that touches on femininity and queerness in hardcore and what it takes to create space in a male dominated genre.
Loved this quote in particular: “ Embracing anger has been a huge part of my own survival. Numbness and desperation and the feeling like we’re beat is not going to serve us. This was the album where I wanted to make people be able to embrace their anger and feel community in that.”
Anyways, let’s get on with the shows. (Clever little twist of a classic phrase there right? That’s the Caroline touch. That’s what keeps you coming back to the Show Sonar.)
Friday February 6.
Brooklyn based dance punks Crush Fund take center stage at Comet Ping Pong with support from New York kind of every genre but maybe mostly like indie rock but will get heavy on you band AVATAREDEN and Herndon anti-folk artist Rosslyn Station. Doors are at 10, tix are $18.87 here or $15 at the door.
Oh no did you miss DIY Not and my super awesome interview I did with Crush Fund? No worries, you can listen to the entire thing right here. Aren’t I so sweet to you?
A few highlights
On what they love about playing DC: “At a baseline, y’all just beat the hell out of each other… It was queer people being able to take up space in a venue and beat the shit out of each other”
On caring about what you do and why their music is moving: “The coolest thing to me is giving a fuck, and the lamest thing is being apathetic and acting like you’re too cool to be somewhere. And for me, these girls have always acted like they give a fuck whenever it comes to art and whenever it comes to people and community. And that’s what drew me to caring about their music.”
On why they love DIY: “You can do it and be broke, and it makes you better at being broke” and “ We’re all, with varying degrees of skill, taking care of ourselves and slowing down at times. It models a world of actually caring and building and not just building something and growing and going and going, but maintaining and caring. Like the David Graeber line, you make a cup once, you wash it a thousand times. You can make a band, you have to keep going on tour. You have to keep doing the shows. You have to keep loving each other.
The whole interview is worth listening to in my humble opinion, but you get the gist. This is a band that cares deeply about queerness, about honesty, about giving a fuck, and about DIY. Kind of a can’t miss show if you ask me.
Saturday February 7.
This is a dastardly evening. So many wonderful shows simply had to fall on this day. I’ve got three of them listed here.
DC based goth metal band Cemetery Sex headlines a Ward 2 Mutual Aid fundraiser with support from NOVA skramz band Bodied, Baltimore cybergrind band Jade Weapon, and Doll City (thats DC) cowpunks thisdogllhunt at Transmission. Doors are at 5, music is at 6, so get there early. Tix are $15 at the door.
What do you mean you haven’t seen the cutest most transgender radio host and newsletter author play bass in a country punk band yet? Well dear reader/listener, now is your chance. While I am super excited to play, and I’d love to see you there, for this show I’m going to turn the spotlight to Bodied. If you saw my last DIYNot recap (check it out here if you missed it) you’ll know that I’m a fan of the rise of skramz and screamo in recent years. Seeing the archetypical thin as a rail and white as paper man with swoopy hair make a comeback delights me to no end. But screamo and skramz is so much better when made by queer people instead, and that’s where Bodied comes in. Their newest release, Unicorn Bones, experiments with cybergrindy elements while still delivering skullcrushing hardcore and screamo. They’re gonna be on first, so get there early and go apeshit.
The forces of the great state of Pennsylvania descend on Rhizome for a ripping hardcore show. Featuring Philly hardcore band Suicide Eyes, Philly hardcore band False Salvation, Lehigh Valley straight edge band Flip the Switch, and local hardcore punks, Sluggo. Doors at 7, show at 7:30, tickets are $11.91 here or $10 at the door.
What is it about Pennsylvania and their penchant for creating excellent hardcore and emo bands? Rhizome is lucky enough to showcase a handful of some of the excellent rising hardcore acts from the Keystone State. My eyes are on Flip the Switch here. Signed to the excellent Rebirth Records label (home for DC hardcore band Posicion Unida), their Valley Crew! EP is classic youth crew at its finest. There’s a song about sticking by your friends, a bunch of songs about staying true, hell even a song with the line “Smoking sucks, so do you”. What more could you want from youth crew edge music?
A birthday show for local indie folk and more artist Miri Tyler with indie folk artist Art Sorority, and folk punk artist Thee Trashcan at Dinosaur World 1994. Doors at 7, music at 7:30, tix are $10 at the door.
Happy Birthday Miri! This is the choice for Saturday night if you aren’t of the heavy music disposition. Miri’s most recent release, This is the Last I’ll Speak on It I Swear is delicate, haunting, and teeming with raw, unfiltered emotion. It is an absolute triumph, and makes me wish ever so dearly it was possible to be in three places at once on Saturday night.
Thursday, February 12th.
Indie rock artist Black Belt Eagle Scout and pop/hip hop artist Mato Wayuhi take the stage at Songbyrd playing both collaborative and solo sets with support from indie rocker Ailani. Doors are at 7, show is at 8 and tickets are here for $25.75.
Maybe one of the chillest things ever featured on the show sonar. To be clear this is not a diss. Black Belt Eagle Scout makes gorgeous winding tunes that are a refreshing change of pace for a girl who loves heavy music. I was absolutely captivated by the track Indians Never Die. See, even the hardcore girlies have a soft side.
Sunday, February 15th.
A fundraiser for Girls Rock! DC, catch your favorite local acts covering some of their favorite artists. Featuring Rosslyn Station as Against Me!, Aminori as David Bowie, Kattlandia as Janelle Monae, Bachelorette Riot as Paramore/Hayley Williams, D3VILISHBRI as Britney Spears and Mr. Boy as No Doubt at the Pearl Street Warehouse. Doors are at 7, show is at 8, you can get tickets here for $22 in advance of the show, or at the door for $20. All proceeds go to Girls Rock! DC
Shout out for Girls Rock! DC. This organization is dedicated to empowering queer and femme youth through music. Encouraging them to become thoughtful artists, community members, collaborators, and importantly to rock out. I wish I had a program like this when I was younger. (I also wish I was a girl when I was younger but that’s beside the point, making up for lost time right now). For a DIY scene to continue to thrive we always need new and diverse voices to be joining the scene. Girls Rock! DC helps make sure that there will always be exciting young musicians coming up in DC.
sorry we cussed so much