In comparison to last week, this one feels light but it's certainly anything but.
You've got to look into the LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT,
Maria T
This show is so beyond sold out that I have to wonder why I'm even writing about it in the first place, but if I didn't mention it, my indie cred would be on the line. (Heh, indie cred, as if that matters in *checks notes* 2025.)
Every generation of teenage boys get their straightedge hardcore manic pixie dream girls version of Minor Threat. For those growing up in the Philly suburbs circa 1993, that was Frail. Without them, there would be no Ink & Dagger, Mandela Strikeforce, AM/FM, Pizza Shackamaxon, Launderette Records or whatever. I'm skipping over a bunch of things. My point is that Frail's legacy in Philly punk/DIY is well-cemented and this reunion gig to celebrate the release of their Numero Group singles compilation is not to be missed. Someone's gotta have an extra ticket you can snap up.
Kicking things off are screamo New Kids on the Block Pyre and Windsor for the Derby, best known as being part of the first wave of post-rock bands with releases on Trance Syndicate and Secretly Canadian, and known to a wider audience with their appearance on the official soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette.
Across town it's a battle of the Boss BF-2’s in the form of eX-Tradition and Spiral Path, featuring members of local goth greats the Ire. Oakland's Parallel hit the 4AD sweet spot quite nicely.
In scholarly circles, singer and guitarist Grzegorz Kwiatkowski is known as a poet and activist uncovering and reckoning with the Poland's role in the Holocaust and its aftermath. As part of the Gdańsk-based post-punk group Trupa Trupa, Kwiatkowski explores those same topics but with a more psychedelic hand, creating a universe where Can, Syd Barrett, and Fugazi collide. It's not so much protest music as it is process music, vividly documenting the duress and exhaustion of struggle.
My notes for this show read, "Holy shit," and honestly what more can I say? Since the 1980’s BF mastermind Nick Saloman has been churning out one psych rock masterpiece after another. The Bevis Frond are your favorite psychedelic band's favorite band, and it's their first tour in 25 years. They'll joined by America's finest purveyors of krautrock, Oneida. I’ve long loved this band since my days of packing up orders in the Insound Annex but 2022’s Success was one of the things keeping my wits together as the world began to emerge from the quarantine haze. Their show at Jerry’s last year was a ripper. Expect more of the same. Every record store clerk within a 100-mile radius of Philly is gonna be there. I don't know if that's good or bad, I'm just letting youse know.
WFMU's Annual Marathon @ 90.1/91.1 FM and wfmu.org
Radio station WFMU may not be in our immediate listening area, but it’s close enough. Thanks to the magic of the internet, people around the world get to bask in their glory, and Philly bands of all kinds have benefitted from having their music featured on its airwaves (even me). Independent media has always mattered, but in this particular moment it's even needed now more than ever. WFMU's annual drive keeps the station lights on all year long, and features an incredible lineup of programming (including Yo La Tengo performing song requests in exchange for donations). Runs through March 16.