Jerry Paper / MamalarkyBig Room-Upstairs]
Jerry Paper is Lucas Nathan. Jerry Paper is instant coffee, bullshit jobs, weekly therapy sessions, crises of conscience, corporate mascots, 5meo-DMT trips, jokers down on their luck, surveillance, a jacked dad high on meth at a child’s party, apologies, trash cans, cacti, and the magic of words. From its initial days as a DIY solo synth project in the early 2010s to its current incarnation as a five-piece band, Jerry Paper has always been the earthly conduit for the wild and uncanny imagination of its creative mastermind.In 2019, back from traveling the world for the I Am Begging You To Come To These Shows tour, Jerry Paper hung up their flowing dress and sandals, glided into the studio, and began giving material form to their new musical manifestation: Abracadabra.Over thirteen songs, they serve up a blend of jazzy instrumentation with soft-rock stylings and some seriously catchy earworms, forging a style that hints at the avant-pop of Scott Walker, the sweet enchantment of Paul McCartney, and the cryptic, smooth grooves of Steely Dan.Like all good stories, Abracadabra boasts unforgettable characters: someone with a victim complex (“Cholla”); an alien captive surveilled by a mysterious presence (“Puppeteer”), and a buff man whose life is thrown into shambles when he is caught smoking methamphetamine at his child’s birthday party (“Body Builder on the Shore”). Nathan’s interest in talk therapy led to “Spit It Out”, a song about the health-inducing qualities of improvised speech; “Memorial Highway” is about existence after death in other people’s memories, and “Apologist” and “All I Need” affirm the value — and occasional futility — of recognizing one’s wrongs. Building new realities out of words and sounds is no easy task, and on “Trash Can”, Nathan mourns the frustrations of the creative process.Abracadabra is many things at once: arch and sincere, bizarre and all too real, funny and melancholic — the work of an artist living in a world when despair so often tips over into ridiculousness, sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh.Nathan worked with longtime visual collaborator Steve Smith and avant-comedian Alan Resnick to create the album art, which depicts an alien outsider spotting someone he recognizes. Who could it be? Don’t worry. Sit back, relax, and let Abracadabra cast its spell.
Cam Cole / The Whiskey Wells [Small Room-Downstairs]
Multiple viral internet videos, a rapidly increasing following from all over the world, a well-received debut album, international tours planned… Everything was set up for London busker Cam Cole to make the move from the street to the stage. And then the world came to a standstill.What could have killed any momentum he had, Cam turned into an opportunity to connect with the fans he had gathered. The advantage of being a one-man band is that rehearsals are rather easy to set up – especially in a socially distanced world. And even the drummer shows up on time if you are the drummer yourself. And so Cam stayed in touch and visible with his “Sounds From The Van” video series, streamed directly from his van rehearsal room. He released a live album recorded on the streets of Camden before the pandemic, which reminded everyone what we were missing. And after appearing as himself in the Golden Globe-nominated Apple TV series “Ted Lasso”, Cam found that during the pandemic his audience had more than doubled in size.With his second album Crooked Hill out to great reviews, he is ready to kick it up a notch. The heavier, ferocious sound of his sophomore fits well in a time where people are looking to finally release all that pent-up energy. And Cam is just the right man for the job.
SARDONIC WITCHERY / UTUK XUL / MUERT / THE OLD EVIL [Small Room-Downstairs]
Subtle Citizen & more [Small Room-Downstairs]
Excavate / Extinction A.D. / HANNYA CHA0$ / Yung Gloom / Geepmane [Small Room-Downstairs]
The Ophelias / Schaefer Llana [Small Room-Downstairs]
After the critically acclaimed Almost opened The Ophelias to a world beyond their Cincinnati home in 2018, the indie rock quartet craved a return to a sense of community. “It was surreal for this time capsule of events and feelings, songs written early in college, to be reviewed in outlets like the New York Times,” recalls vocalist/guitarist Spencer Peppet (she/her). The band members no longer lived in the same city—Peppet and new bassist/longtime music video collaborator Jo Shaffer (they/them) live in New York, while drummer Mic Adams (he/him) and violinist Andrea Gutmann Fuentes (she/her) remained in Ohio. In the time since Almost, a fair amount changed: the band members all graduated from college, Shaffer joined as the new bassist, and Adams came out as transgender and started HRT. So when it came time to record the candid, expansive Crocus (due September 24th via Joyful Noise Recordings), The Ophelias purposefully focused on the experimental, communal spirit that fueled their first record. Through songs equally infused with references to the Bible and The Twilight Zone, The Ophelias wring mystic emotion out of the spaces between their past, present, and future.Crocus retains the complexity of Almost, but revels in the newfound confidence bolstered by the growth and change the band has undergone. “Knowing that I was sharing this intimate side of myself with the world made me want to say exactly what I meant instead of relying on vague images,” Peppet muses. That candor shines on album highlight “Neil Young on High”, a track that finds Peppet’s firefly vocals backed by harmonies from Julien Baker. “I regret never celebrating/ Smaller victories that we saved/ I would do that part over,” Peppet sings, detailing the murky line between the things we mourn and the things we remember.
Blunt Bangs [Small Room-Downstairs]
Proper Smoker, the debut LP from indie-supergroup Blunt Bangs, is proof that power pop remains perennial. Boasting a lineup that includes Reggie Youngblood (Black Kids) on guitar and vocals, Christian “Smokey” DeRoeck (Woods, Deep State, Meneguar, Little Gold) on guitar and vocals, and Cash Carter (Tracy Shedd, The Cadets) on drums, Blunt Bangs’ debut melds the canon of 90s indie rock with a spark of optimism for these uncertain times.
Sunweight [Small Room-Downstairs]
Reflection of flesh / bound by years / Reframe / Slamhound [Small Room-Downstairs]
Harrison Fink / Thanks Light… / Alex da Ponte [Small Room-Downstairs]
Climb on board for a jaunt to the delightful flip side. Legend has it that the four renegades of Thanks Light were hatched beneath a moon tower, and they’ve been trippin’ minds ever since – including their own minds, perhaps. So the story goes (if you ask). And on that pathway, you’ll encounter all the mutant country, graveyard stomp and drunken gospel your parched soul can ingest, with generous layers of pop, psych, folk and rock overlapping in the shimmering vibe.
