TRAP | The Cocktail Bandits Present: Trappy Hour
BKiddo, Glizzy
Sun. Jan. 20
8 p.m.
$10
The Royal American

It’s been a long time, but the Cocktail Bandits, those curly-haired ladies “who talk cocktails daily,” are back with their signature event, Trappy Hour. The Holy City hasn’t had a Trappy Hour since last summer, so this is the perfect chance to get out of the house, let your hair down, and start your year off with a little trap. Followers of the underground will dig performances by local female emcees BKiddo and Glizzy, and 75 percent of the DJ’d tunes will come straight from Charleston’s ever-growing local hip-hop scene. DJ Dope D will serve up the main course, and you can enjoy delicious Espolon tequila cocktails dreamt up by the hosts all night long. —AsiahMae SUNDAY

SORTA FAKE, SUPER AWESOME DANCE-POP |Sexbruise?
w/ Slone
Sat. Jan. 19
9 p.m.
$5
The Royal American

Sexbruise? isn’t really a world-famous band of sleazy hip-hop electronic pop stars. They’re just a bunch of good musicians who came up with a great fake concept back in 2014 and ran with it. “It took us all by surprise how well this tactic worked,” says singer Julie Slonecki (aka “J-Dollar-Sign”). “And then you turn around and see somebody like Donald Trump get elected using similar tactics. It’s crazy how easy it is sometimes.” Since the start, the guys have had faux beef with Kanye West and inflated their popularity by buying followers. “We were taking a band that didn’t exist but talking about it and acting like it was already very well established,” Slonecki says. “We just had the name and the concept, booked our first show, and wrote all of our ‘smash hits’ in a week, and then we won ‘Electronic Band of the Year’ in the City Paper [Music Awards]!” Slonecki says that Sexbruise? is a welcome distraction from her own musical career, which leans more toward electronics-tinged folk. “There’s a pressure that you feel as a serious solo artist to perform well and deliver your songs in a way that people can connect to,” says Slonecki, whose solo project Slone will open the show this weekend with songs from her recent self-titled release. “But with Sexbruise? you can kind of let go because none of that matters. It just matters in the moment when you’re being ridiculous onstage and running around trying to get the crowd dancing.” —Vincent Harris SATURDAY

DEATHCORE | Down Under
w/ Cognitive, Micawber, Hath
Thurs. Jan. 17
6 p.m.
$8
Purple Buffalo

Just as it did for hip-hop, the Purple Buffalo is trying to keep the pulse thumping on the local metal scene. Thanks to promoters Charleston Shows, the job gets a little easier. Each band performing is a different brass knuckle covered finger in a brutal punch to the chest. Down Under brings out the austere misanthropy anthems that netted a City Paper Music Award for Metal Band of the Year in 2018. New Jersey’s progressive techmetal group Cognitive are set to show the Lowcountry their void-gazing tunes. Moody, bleak noise melodies will be the theme when black metal band Hath warms up their amps. And lastly, the apocalypse will be visible for a few minutes when Micawber thrashes the stage with sound. —Heath Ellison THURSDAY

VARIETY | Satin: The Show
w/ Baby Baby, Tom Angst, Abstract That Rapper, Semkari
Fri. Jan. 18
9 p.m.
$15
Purple Buffalo

Brent Best was new to the local scene in the beginning of 2018. Coming down from Greenville, where he organized genre variety shows, he started Ingenium Entertainment to put different musical stylings on the same stage. “I wanted to do something similar down here, something that’s all inclusive,” says Best. “All parts of the scene can get into, different people from different crowds can meet each other. I just wanted to bring everybody together.” For this performance, Ingenium will bring out City Paper Music Award winner Abstract That Rapper (Hip-Hop Artist of the Year), who’s likely to keep the momentum rolling as his popularity seemingly spiked in the past year. Pop sadness provocateurs Tom Angst will make the trip down from Greenville to leave the emotions onstage. Atlanta act Baby Baby’s special brand of weirdo fun rock beloved by such outlets as Afropunk will grace the room, and local hip-hop up-and-comer Semkari will show off his R&B influenced trap tunes. —Heath Ellison FRIDAY

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