Alt-Nation: July Shows Keep Summer Cooking

Jodie Treloar – Voila (75orLess Records)
Jodie Treloar’s debut EP Voila features five tunes on the crossroads of indie folk and alt-country. Voila opens with “Marionette,” which reminds me of a stripped-down version of The Cranberries with the breezy guitar style and Treloar’s rich vocals. “Credit Score” is a driving indie folk nugget propelled by some heavy punk rock acoustic strumming. “I’m OK” is probably the natural single here, thanks to the sweeping chorus and fancy guitar work. The EP closes with the bare bones “Lovelorn Lullaby” that ties an intimate bow on the EP. This is a recommended pickup for fans of the Ryan Adams and Sharon Van Etten brand of thrash.

Boo City/Cannibal Ramblers
This show features two of my favorite things in this world — live music and barbecue. It really doesn’t take much more than that to get me to come to your function. Heck, the live music could be your drunken uncle shirtless on a ukulele that is missing three strings … as long as there are burgers, dogs, and sausage and peppers, I’ll go. The added bonus of this show is that the live music will be better than your drunken uncle’s. Unless your drunken uncle is Keith Richards or something. Boo City will provide the good time vibes with a repertoire that touches on everything from R&B to soul, reggae and even country. Cannibal Ramblers will blast the mother-load of psychedelic blues to get your ass shaking as well. Each band is doing two sets with chilling and grilling happening all night long. The show is free and will be outside with beachwear encouraged!
Boo City and Cannibal Ramblers will rock Nick-a-Nee’s in Providence on July 18.  

VulGarrity – Afterlife CD Release
The sinister siblings in VulGarrity are set to release their fourth album, Afterlife, at the end of the month. The first single, “Stygian Night,” is available for the listen on the band’s Facebook page and features VulGarrity’s signature ’80s post-punk disco with horror-themed lyrics about gathering in the darkness of the underworld. VulGarrity didn’t become the first band in town to win two radio station Rock Hunts by sucking, so this figures to be a special night. All the bands on the bill will be releasing something at this show. There’s no way of telling what they are releasing. Yes, it could be flatulence, but VulGarrity has never disappointed me with a show or a release to-date. That VulGarrity will be releasing Afterlife is reason enough to go, and you never know who your new favorite band will be ’til you see them!
Midday Records Release show featuring VulGarrity, Latin Metrics, Global Crash and From Below will take place at Firehouse 13th on July 25.

The Paraplegics – Back on Their Feet CD Release show (aka FU132)
The Paraplegics celebrate 13 years of tasteless humor, bad decisions and cranked-up punk rock. The Paraplegics are also releasing a new CD, Back on Their Feet, which industry sources have speculated could be the boys’ commercial break-thru on the pop-country charts. The boys have managed to assemble some prime-time players for this show, including a resurrected Bender X, pub-punk kings The McGunks, and those Death Hawk rocking mofos in The Vaporubs. Despite the predictions of a leap across the river Styx in commercial superstardom, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Back on Their Feet will be a collection of crass minute-and-a-half rockers that will offend about 47% of the population in some manner. You know, the same punk rock jewels that The Paraplegics always deliver.
The Paraplegics celebrate the release of their new CD, Back on Their Feet, with a show also featuring performances by Bender X, The Defectives, The McGunks and The Vaporubs at Firehouse 13 on July 31.  

RI Pop Punk Covers Night – Senior Discount turns 11!
For some reason we are doing a lot of band birthday shows this month and why not? July is good for birthdays. I celebrate my birthday in July and know who else does? America. Senior Discount understand this and have put together a show that pays homage to many of the pop-punks of the ’90s that inspired the band in the first place. The idea for the show started as a way to introduce new people into the local music scene. Senior Discount’s Chuck Staton explains, “I just think there’s a lot of people that need that initial invite into the scene. I’m trying to come up with a bridge of getting people to come out. We really feel strongly that this could be a positive thing for new, young people who don’t have a lot of (or ANY) exposure to local music to experience it.”
The breakdown for the show is Senior Discount will be doing a set of Blink 182 covers. Soundoff will be doing a set of Green Day tunes. Rob from The Pogs and John from Bad Larry will be doing a set of Goldfinger tunes. It all goes down at the Met Café on July 31.

Email music news to mclarkin33@gmail.com