D.C. has a rich musical history, but there’s still a chapter being written: what’s happening now. Indeed, there are tons of bands dominating the local music scene and DCist has only scratched the surface in our coverage. Welcome to Listen To This, a new semi-regular feature wherein DCist’s music staff shares new(ish) and/or noteworthy music from local artists that they’ve come across.
Photo via The Effects’ Facebook page.
The Effects, “Blister”
Blister b/w Old Soul EP. Self-released.
Buzz about The Effects swirled well before the band even played single note in front of an audience. The band, a local supergroup of sorts, is the latest musical brainchild of Faraquet/Medications frontman Devin Ocampo, and is rounded out by Deleted Scenes/Joy Buttons bassist Matt Dowling and Buildings drummer David Rich. After playing a handful of electrifying live shows—including the first DCist co-sponsored concert at The Lot @ Atlantic Plumbing and a great Fort Reno bill—the band finally has a proper recording out.
The band’s first single, “Blister,” is as knotty and explosive as you hoped it would be from an Ocampo-fronted band. The song kicks off simple enough, with the slight reverb of a simple guitar riff hanging out before the bass and drums joins the party. From there, the song kicks into overdrive, as Ocampo sings “Incapacitated in this warm bed / Casting out all semblances of fear,” over a series of angular detours and a driving rhythm section. Yes, this is a delight for anyone yearning for more Faraquet/Medications tunes, but Dowling and Rich add their own touches to give The Effects their own unique sound. Part post-hardcore, part garage-rock, an overdose of searing guitar riffs, all awesome. — Matt Cohen
The Effects play at The Dougout tonight with Krill, Et. Al., and Two Inch Astronaut. Info here.
Witch Coast, “Witch Coast For President”
4-song EP, self-released.
Not a lot is known about the mysterious new local project Witch Coast, who self-released their first EP, Witch Coast For President on August 26th. We can, thankfully, confirm that they are indeed from the DMV area. Where exactly? Latest estimates put them somewhere between Dupont Circle and College Park. It’s also true that Witch Coast features Jon Weiss of The Sea Life on vocals and guitar. As for the rest of the band, well, their Bandcamp page (decked out with some sweet graphics from local artist “The Wax Haus”) lists “Doc” on guitar, “Head” on drums, and “Becky” on bass—so your guess is as good as ours on this one.
Luckily, whoever fills out the rest of this fuzzy trio blends oddly satisfying rhythms and heavy bass with Weiss’ scuzzed out guitar, which fits right into the band’s self-described “half wax rips, half mental illness” sound. A clear highlight is “True East,” a scorching lo-fi anthem that drags up just a taste of dreamy pop as it steadily descends into howls and feedback.
The EP was release two days after it was written and recorded, and clocks in about seven minutes over four songs with “no overdubs, no production, no mastering.” It wouldn’t be totally out of line to attribute this project’s existence to the late summer boredom of “Doc” and the gang. Though that might sound like the blueprint of a shitty summer project from bored high school kids, Weiss is a gifted songwriter and the EP shines through, despite the lack of a formal release or recording process. — Quinn Myers
Witch Coast will play the Clarendon Courthouse Arts & Craft Beer Festival on October 12. Info here.
Crimson Wave, “Calling You”
“Say”/”Calling You” 7-inch. Accidental Guest Recordings.
After about two years of playing shows—each one increasingly better than the last—as well as a self-releasing a tape last year, Baltimore’s Crimson Wave are releasing their first proper 7-inch, “Say/Calling You” on local label Accidental Guest Recordings soon. The b-side, “Calling You,” finds them dialing back much of the reverb heard on the previously mentioned tape, instead making room for a unabashedly earworm of a pop song.
The track begins with a chugging rhythm guitar and a familiar bass line that might make you feel like you’re about to get hit by a wall of fuzz. Instead, you get a lackadaisical, dreamy guitar riff accompanied with the vocal refrain “I found myself falling through (calling you)” courtesy of singer/guitarist Megan Lloyd. It’s bound to get stuck in your head for hours. — Ahmad Zaghal
Crimson Wave are playing an Empower DC Benefit show at La Casa (3166 Mt. Pleasant Sreet NW) on Friday alongside Baltimore’s Birth (Defects), Philadelphia’s No Other, Pittsburgh’s Secret Tombs, and D.C.’s Jail Solidarity. More info here. You can pre-order the Crimson Wave 7-inch here.
Seán Barna, “Cutter Street”
Five-song EP, self-released.
Seán Barna’s debut EP begins at the end. Rather than a narrative about love, Cutter Street is a story about the resurrection afterwards. Barna immediately makes that clear in the opening track of the same name. “In the end we go insane / When we find our common ground / What we need we take in vain / You should have thrown that bottle down.” Woah, Seán.
After a stint in California, the drummer-turned-songwriter returned to D.C. to celebrate this reawakening. The following album’s five ballads are related reflections on the booze, pills, and bar bathrooms that both destroyed a relationship and healed at least one of its victims. Barna’s intriguing Scottish accent augments the torturous immediacy of the singer’s pain. — Tori Kerr
Seán Barna will play an EP release show co-sponsored by DCist, Union Kitchen, and DCDIT at The Lot @ Atlantic Plumbing on Saturday. More Humans and Typefighter are playing too, and it’s free, so you should come. More info here.
