This could be the scene of any low-key, pre-show hangout for the Carrboro rock band Last Year’s Men. On the back patio of the Orange County Social Club, the three members lean deep in chairs that surround a metal table. Within arm’s reach of each, there’s a bottled PBR, a pack of cigarettes and a […]
Bryan C. Reed
Bio: Bryan Reed lives in Raleigh, where he nerds out about punk rock and comic books. He's written about music for INDY Week since 2008.Twitter: http://twitter.com/BryanCReed
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Corrosion of Conformity’s IX
Corrosion of Conformity’s reunion train keeps rolling. Settling into its fourth decade, the band recently announced two more reissues of past albums1991’s Blind and 1994’s Deliveranceand an upcoming return of firebrand singer and guitarist Pepper Keenan. Plenty of COC fans had clamored for a return to the band’s Keenan-led groove-metal sound, anyway; others had dreaded […]
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No Love’s Tape #2
The hardcore scene is full of belligerent dude crews making fast, heavy, metallic hardcore. But from Double Negative to Whatever Brains and, now, No Love, Raleigh has also offered plenty of counterpoints to the orthodoxy. No Love’s 2013 debut delivered a shock of irreverent, peppy pop-punk crafted by veteran members of Devour, Logic Problem and […]
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Five words with Dweezil Zappa
Zappa Plays Zappa Friday, Sept. 12, $29–$49, 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, 126 E. Cabarrus St., Raleigh lincolntheatre.com Dweezil Zappa has held many jobsMTV VJ, a sitcom and voice-over actor, sideman to the likes of Winger and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Spinal Tap and Pat Boone. Between 1982 and 2006, he and his guitar led a band […]
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Corrosion of Conformity to reunite with singer and guitarist Pepper Keenan
It was bound to happen, huh? In the eyes of some fans, Corrosion of Conformity’s ongoing reunion skipped a crucial piece: singer and guitarist Pepper Keenan. For years, COC principals have dutifully been answering for Keenan’s whereabouts. Until recently, the band mostly demurred, citing Keenan’s busy schedule and his commitment to Southern metal supergroup Down. […]
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At age 5, Hopscotch still looks to find a stable place
Hopscotch Music Festival & Hopscotch Design Festival Wednesday, Sept. 3–Saturday, Sept. 6, $150 (Design), $30–$150 (Music) Downtown Raleigh hopscotchmusicfest.com hopscotchdesignfest.com When the Hopscotch Music Festival made money for the first time, organizers went on a strategic spending spree. In 2011, a mix of The Flaming Lips, sunshine and afterglow of press raves from the festival’s […]
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Tonight in Raleigh: A cross-country hardcore sampler
After opening for the hardcore supergroup OFF! last night at Kings, Phoenix noise-rockers Gay Kiss will offer an encore at an appropriately unconventional venue, Raleigh’s Nice Price Books. The used book-and-record shop on Hillsborough Street has become a reliable hub for van-bound punk bands looking for an all-ages space, and tonight’s triple-header is as fine […]
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Spider Bags’ Frozen Letter and Flesh Wounds’ self-titled
SPIDER BAGS The Pinhook, Friday, Aug. 8, 9 p.m., $10 FLESH WOUNDS Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Friday, Aug. 8, 9:30 p.m., $8. On Friday, Spider Bags and Flesh Woundsthe two most exciting garage-rock bands in the Trianglewill both celebrate the release of their new albums in a small local club. For Spider Bags, it’s Frozen […]
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Old Quarter’s Gone, Not Forgotten
On their second EP, Raleigh’s Old Quarter aren’t shy about their influencesin fact, frontman John Massengill professes them from the start. Opening track “Gone” begins with the line “Wake up at 3 a.m. to old Johnny’s ‘Ring of Fire’.” It’s a backward glance not only to the Cash hit but also to Old Quarter’s first […]
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The irreverent experimentation of Eugene Chadbourne stretches its local legacy
Eugene Chadbourne’s New Directions in Appalachian Music Every Monday in July, 8 p.m. $5 donation Neptune’s Eugene Chadbourne is a special kind of celebrity. You may know him as the frontman of the rock-revisionist trio Shockabilly, which gained some acclaim in the early ’80s, or you may know him for playing free-jazz, country or some […]
