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CONCERT: Chewy / Saajtak / Bl_ank / Microkingdom / Magnus Andretti

Saturday July 23 * 6pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Spending the pandemic honing their craft, the broadly-influenced power trio Chewy is coming out swinging. Known for their unpredictable live sets often featuring yet-unreleased songs, their feral yet meticulously constructed rock leaves them with a reputation of being an act where you never get the same thing twice.

Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Connor LaRocca, bassist/vocalist Asher "Glom" Wolf, and drummer Max Barry, the Philadelphia trio formed in 2020 following the amicable breakup of Connor's previous band. In contrast to the more singer-songwriter and dream-pop influenced acts in Philadelphia, Chewy makes angular, chaotic progressive rock that paradoxically has more hooks than a tacklebox. The band sports a vocabulary influenced by the saccharine art-pop of Deerhoof juxtaposed against adrenaline-soaked prog and fusion acts like Mahavishnu Orchestra.

http://chewyphl.com

The band Saajtak, based in Detroit (Jonathan Barahal Taylor, Ben Willis, Simon Alexander-Adams) and Brooklyn (Alex Koi), makes futuristic music that synthesizes a wide range of genres—often in ways that seem to clash against each other, always in service to the song. The band has quietly made music in Detroit for the better part of a decade, collaborating with members of clipping. and sharing bills with Xiu Xiu, Ava Mendoza and Greg Fox. Koi sings and writes lyrics; Taylor plays drums, Willis bass; Alexander-Adams contributes keyboard and electronics. But to individuate their contributions does the music a disservice. Saajtak sounds, feels, like a living, breathing organism, for which recordings don’t present definitive documents as much as they reflect songs at given points in their lives. The members of saajtak have performed or collaborated with esteemed artists such as Shara Nova [My Brightest Diamond], Meshell Ndegeocello, Jonathan Snipes [clipping.], Wadada Leo Smith, Morley Kamen, Theo Bleckmann, Joan Wasser [Joan As Police Woman], Marcus Elliot, Pope.L, Ragnar Kjartansson, Sterling Toles, MC Kadence and more. After four independently-released EPs, saajtak released their highly anticipated debut album, For the Makers, on American Dreams on June 3, 2022.

Track and Music Vid Premiere on New Sounds NYC: Concertmate 680

Track Premiere on Foxy Digitalis: There's a Leak in the Shielding

Track and Music Vid Premiere on Cvlt Nation: Big Exit

Chicago Reader Feature

on Instagram

Bandcamp

B|_ank (pronounced “blank”) is the solo project of electro-acoustic percussionist/experimental artist Will Hicks. He creates intense and abstract listening experiences by blending his furious drumming style with analog synthesizers, coupled with elements of electronic percussion and live-manipulated digital visuals. His performances can be very harsh and pulsating, as well as ambient and beautiful. Before the pandemic he performed at the notorious Big Ears Music Festival where RollingStone chose his performance out of over 100 as one of the best shows of the entire festival and dubbed him as the “best solo drummer”. In addition to his solo work, Hicks plays drums for Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Alex Silva and has collaborated in the studio and on stage with The Flaming Lips, Deerhoof and R Stevie Moore.

Kruatte Music Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pHu84l5JE0

Computer Music Video:
https://youtu.be/9rHbP63HrRA

Here are some live video links: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px2TBfgfDnM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlhu8FXmpsU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4bSv8aGPLY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-QOAdgWr3Y

Bandcamp:
https://blankasfuck.bandcamp.com

“…a spectacle of musical mastery and visual art rarely seen.” -Brightest Young Things

Microkingdom
Baltimore’s greatest no-jazz band of all time in the world!
http://microkingdom.com/

Magnus Andretti
https://linktr.ee/magnus_andretti