Every Thursday, Bandwidth contributors tell you what local shows are worth your time over the next week.
Stranger in the Alps, Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents, and The Low Bends
Friday, April 4 at the Velvet Lounge, $8
Local indie-folk act Stranger in the Alps released its debut album in December and has been playing in DIY spaces since then—until now. I’m not clear on whether this will be a solo performance or if main man Steve Kolowich will have guests recreating the album’s rich harmonies, but either way, these downtempo tunes are just the right speed for a Friday night after a long week. This is an all-D.C. bill with singer-songwriter Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents and Americana band The Low Bends.
Cigarette, Margy Pepper, and Olivia Neutron-John
Friday, April 4 at Paper Sun, donations accepted
D.C. ambient shoegaze quintet Cigarette embraces the area’s DIY spaces, and this is another one: Catch the band’s ethereal tunes at this Columbia Heights house, along with Olympia noise-pop trio Margy Pepper and D.C. bedroom-pop act act Olivia Neutron-John (yes, it’s my favorite local band name, too).
Lazapalooza: The Bills and Brews Craft Beer and Band Fest
Saturday, April 5 at Union Arts, $35
Get a jump-start on the upcoming festival season with this all-day fest that joins local tunes and local beer as a benefit for reporter Matt Laslo’s “Bills and Brews” Web series. The ticket price includes all-you-can-drink local craft brews (while supplies last, of course) from your favorite locals: 3 Stars, Bluejacket, Chocolate City, DC Brau, Devils Backbone, Heavy Seas, and Flying Dog. If unlimited booze isn’t enough enticement, there’s also a solid music lineup of U.S. Royalty, Pree, Paperhaus (acoustic set), Marian McLaughlin, Beyond Modern, Margot MacDonald, Laughing Man, and The North Country, with DJ sets by Brett and Ra Ra Rasputin.
Cavale, JoyCut, Pleasure Curses, Furniteur
Saturday, April 5 at the Dunes, $10
Cavale calls itself post-punk, but the D.C. duo’s fusion of electronic beats and eerie vocals sounds more like uptempo trip-hop. Devise your own description at the pair’s debut-album release show, which also features Italy’s darkwave electronic duo JoyCut, D.C. synthpoppers Pleasure Curses, and the first show from Furniteur, the new pop collaboration between Brett and artist Brittany Sims.
David Klinger
Sunday, April 6 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, free
Luce Unplugged is a concert series that pairs musicians with art: They select some pieces from the museum’s collection and perform after a staff-led talk about those pieces. This week’s performer (note the 1:30 p.m. start time!) is David Klinger of the experimental indie band Frau Eva, which is currently on indefinite hiatus.
All That Remains, Darkest Hour, Wilson
Wednesday, April 9 at the 9:30 Club, $20
If you’re wondering which one of these shows is not like any of the others, you’ve found it. Massachusetts metal band All That Remains has its own followers, but I’d like to highlight opener Darkest Hour, a local metalcore outfit that formed in our Virginia suburbs in the mid-’90s. The quintet has definitely worked its way up over the years, and it’s great to see them on the big stage on a national tour. Catch them here, because their next area stop is at Jiffy Lube Live for Mayhem Fest in August, where they’ll be sharing the stage with Ice-T’s metal project Body Count (I’m not joking).
D.C. Music Salon: DC Jazz, Deeper than Duke
Wednesday, April 9 at Shaw Library, free
Hankering for a music event that won’t require earplugs? This is for you. For this edition of the D.C. Music Salon, WPFW DJ and jazz scholar Rusty Hassan will show an excerpt from the documentary “7th & T” and discuss D.C.’s rich jazz history beyond Duke Ellington, touching on national musicians (Charlie Byrd, Billy Taylor, Frank Wess) as well as lesser-known locals and the clubs they played in.
These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.