Dark Country | Susto
w/ Heyrocco, Buffalo Rodeo
Nov. 6
9 p.m.
$5
Royal American
Despite having only been a band for a short time, the Holy City Americana combo Susto is recording its first full-length album and looking to release it in February. Susto frontman Justin Osborne, the former lead vocalist of Sequoyah Prep School, says he was lucky to find like-minded musicians who wanted to collaborate on the songs he has been demoing for the past year, including Johnny Delaware, who released a killer solo LP last year called Secret Wave. “The thing I love most about performing with these guys is the chemistry,” Osborne says. “We all come from different backgrounds, but there is a level of experience we all have that makes playing together natural.” Osborne describes the band’s sound as “beach country,” and while many of the tracks they’ve been producing have a mellow, easy-going Western spirit (see the cosmic country shuffler “Friends, Lovers, Ex-Lovers, Whatever” and the Wilco-esque pop of “Acid Boys”), there’s also a touch of darknesss. “We want our lyrics to be reflective of reality,” Osborne says. “When we write songs, it is very much influenced by our actual experiences.” —Tamara Younkins Tonight
POP SOUL | Serena Ryder
w/ Michael Franti and Spearhead
Sat. Nov. 9
9 p.m.
$27.50/adv., $30/door
Music Farm
If you haven’t heard Serena Ryder’s latest single “Stompa,” stop what you’re doing right now and queue it up. This big-beat powerhouse is clearly one the most badass songs of the year. If you’re a Bridge 105.5 listener, you clearly know what we’re talking about. Co-written by Grammy-nominated producer Jerrod Bettis, “Stompa” is the perfect combo of soul, sexiness, pop, and good ole rock ‘n’ roll swagger, and it clearly establishes Ryder as a up-and-coming Top 40 voice. Ryder, for one, is pleased with the “Stompa” collab. “I wanted to write a song about the power of music and how it is the strongest medicine,” Ryder says. “No matter how bad of a day you are having, music can speak to you in a way that nothing else can.” Of course, Ryder’s new LP, Harmony, is not all pop-music sturm und drang. The disc also delivers ample amount of nuevo blue-eyed soul, the kind practiced by Adele and the late great Amy Winehouse. “For You” is a classic jazz ballad, the kind that conjures up Billie Holiday and Shirley Bassey, while “Baby Come Back” is a haunting R&B number that aches with longing. Ryder is particularly enamoured with “For You,” which was written by Jon Levine (Nelly Furtado). She says, “When I met up with him while writing the record, this song just finished itself so effortlessly. It’s definitely one of my most favorite songs to perform live at the moment.” —Chris Haire SATURDAY
Post-Rock | Gungor
w/ K.S. Rhodes, Meet the Sky
Sun. Nov. 10
7 p.m.
$16/advance, $20/door, $35/VIP advance, $40/VIP at door
Music Farm
The first taste many listeners got of Michael and Lisa Gungor’s musical project was 2009’s “God is not a White Man,” a sunny, acoustic guitar-driven number, propelled into the internet limelight by an animated YouTube video made from construction paper cutouts. The song was a reminder that, as the lyrics stated, God loves “atheists and charlatans and communists and lesbians and even old Pat Robertson.” It was sweet and anthemic and featured a whole lot of “la la las.” Fast-forward to the band’s release of the album I Am Mountain in September, and the sonic landscape has changed dramatically. Where once Gungor was jangly, folky, and sparse, the new Gungor is lush, electronic-infused, and dense. The track “God and Country” opens with a Pink Floyd-style synthesizer burble, and the eight-minute “Upside Down” possesses the sweep of a post-rock opus. On tour, Michael Gungor says the four-piece band now requires 48 channels in the sound system, and each band member is playing upwards of five instruments. He says the abrupt shift in style came after a period of rest at home in Denver following the band’s last multi-year tour, during which he played a lot of videogames and listened to a lot of classical music and selections from Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list. “I kind of tried to forget how to write a song and how to approach an album,” he says. “I wanted to see things with new eyes and hear things with new ears.” The result might be surprising for longtime fans, but Gungor says the shift was a natural one. “Our aesthetic has changed severely, and for me, it wasn’t merely aesthetic decisions that got us there,” he says. “It was actual personal change. As the person changes, so does the work.” —Paul Bowers SUNDAY
SASSY ROCK | Tigeriss
w/ S.S. Web, Skye Paige
Tues. Nov. 12
10 p.m.
The Sparrow
Tuesday night’s show at the Sparrow will very likely be the one and only opportunity Charlestonians have to see Tigeriss. Not that this sasstastic, hard-rocking band is breaking up. Far from it. See, when the New York-based act first formed, the band members dubbed themselves Tigerpiss. They later dropped the name for all the obvious reasons. But now, they’re changing it back just in time for a new EP in January, the appropriately titled Bringin Back the P. Make no mistake, Tigeriss singer-bassist Lara Hope and company know how to keep it light. “Throughout our years as a band, we have tried to span all different types of song topics — and genres — from horror to drinking to a touch of love — or lust — and most importantly, we remember to never take ourselves too seriously,” Hope says. Case in point: “Full Moon,” the lead-off track to their 2011 debut LP, Everybody Wins! “‘Full Moon’ is our tribute to werewolves, although the lyrics aren’t completely pointed in that direction. This song has got a lot of power and dance-ability behind it, and it seemed like an attention-grabbing opener,” Hope says. However, Hope says Tigeriss isn’t everybody’s cup of tea.“People either love our sound and energy, or they don’t know what to make of it. It’s true that people are occasionally put off by the dirty-mouthed, loud frontwoman.” And that’s their loss. —Chris Haire TUESDAY
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