PUREHONEY MUSIC & ART

Creation and destruction, the elements for all things human, are perfectly encapsulated in Shiva, the head of Hindu gods. Shiva is also the god of: yoga, dance, time and art, and is a destroyer of evil. The fact that this deity is invoked by the Shivas is a testament to their band’s creed that they “just want people to forget that they have to work in the morning.” While the mythology doesn’t explicitly state that Shiva is the god of fun, it would be hard to imagine them taking exception to the association claimed by this group of Oregonians, who spent the last several years on the house party circuit. Fun is what these Portland natives are going for. The group’s new album, Dark Thoughts, is, in their own words, “a sweet and sinister album about confronting your demons and the growth that comes from fearless selfexamination.” Adria Ivanitsky THE SHIVAS

The band plays decent rock ’n’ roll through the lens of garage rock. It’s not psych, it’s not shoegaze, it’s pure rock ’n’ roll. That’s pretty refreshing these days, when everyone is trying to find an angle; how about originality? Dark Thoughts is a fun romp through the psyche of a band learning to trust each other and growing up in the process. According to drummer and vocalist, Kristin Leonard, “We’re starting to talk a lot more philosophically about why we do what we do. Some of my favorite music came from people needing to find a space. Music is just such a visceral place to find a release.”

The band has existed in different forms for 13 years making their bones across the world, playing house shows and basically any place that would have them. In 2017 they acquired guitarist Jeff Boyardee rounding out the line-up of Leonard, Jared Molyneux, and Eric Shanafelt. The band has been hitting the road pretty hard and boasts having played over 1,000 shows in their time; an impressive feat for any band, but par for the course for any group that’s been racking up frequent flyer miles like these guys have.

CHURCH OF SOUND DAY 2: The Shivas with Electric Supply Company and Vagnauts play an 18+ show Friday, February 7 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. ONLY $5 ADVANCE! theshivas.org ~ Tim Moffatt

Ebru Yildiz

A place to bury strangers would be a scuzzy, nondescript kind of barren area that’s easily accessible by car and with a reliable tide that rolls in early the next morning to wash away your sins. Think the New York City of the 1970’s that has forever blessed its denizens with a history of bad attitudes, rude behavior and ultimate cool.

Apt then, that A Place to Bury Strangers (APTBS) is a band in a chaotic spin recreating that New York City which lives in the grooves of Suicide and early Sonic Youth recordings; recalling the grimy exterior of CBGB and the sticky heat of summer.

Formed in 2002 by David Goffan and Tim Gregorio – and immediately joined by current front man and guitarist Oliver Ackerman – APTBS is a machine with its hood always up. Goffan and Gregorio made early exits, leaving Ackerman to soldier through various lineups before arriving at its current incarnation as a trio with bassist Dion Lunadon joining in 2010 and drummer and vocalist Lia Braswell joining in early 2018.

Loud as all get out, they mix a toxic brew of post-punk, shoegaze, noise and varying degrees of experimental and psychedelic rock into an almost industrial din. It’s no surprise that they’ve routinely been heralded as their city’s loudest act and one of its best.

This isn’t to say APTBS heralds a major awakening in NYC’s scene, or in music in general. Their lyrics take a backseat to the instrumentalization. Vocals are, if anything, a compositional necessity to humanize the output. What gets them the accolades is the drive, energy and will to explore.

In their fifth and latest album, Pinned, Braswell provides a solid counterpoint to Ackerman in the first instance of a second vocal in the band’s recorded work. She brings a bit of air and fresh flexibility to his deadpan grit. Make no mistake, she’s a powerhouse on the kit, matching the band’s raucousness, and this album is enjoyable independent of how they present it live — a welcome evolution for a band nearing the 20-year mark. CHURCH OF SOUND DAY 1: A Place to Bury Strangers perform Thursday, February 6 at Respectable Street, WPB w/ Glass Body, Ghostflower and Deathbirds. ONLY $5 ADVANCE! ~ Abel Folgar

WHITNEY

Olivia Bee

seasoned, almost-thirties soft rockers. WHITNEY In “Used To Be Lonely,” by Chicago indie rockers Whitney, the chorus is the song title with the last word repeated as a nostalgic echo. This simple but effective lyric encapsulates the growing momentum of this band and its infectious sound. After the breakup of their popular Chicago band Smith Westerns, singer and drummer Julian Ehrlich and guitarist Max Kakacek found a new comradeship in their transition out of that band. The brash, twenty something glamgarage rockers would turn into

They’ve been lauded by indie lovers everywhere and in the Windy City in particular; even Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proclaimed August 30, 2019, the release day of their sophomore record, Forever Turned Around, as “Whitney Day.” To think it all began lackadaisically as a way to pass frosty winter mornings and to mend the void left by Smith Westerns’ implosion. In the process, they created the persona of Whitney as their gestalt collaborator and creative scapegoat. The moment couldn’t have been better, with Ehrlich and Kakacek both experiencing a serious bout of creative fuel (read: romantic endings) and in the character of Whitney, they were able to abstractly explore the best way to exorcise the feelings. Their debut, Light Upon the Lake, connected with listeners and propelled the new band into a serious touring cycle that continued revving up the energy and chemistry between them. With Forever Turned Around, they explore time and finite existence through questions of mortality, love and friendship. More than anything, it is a product of their kinship and need to create as much as possible together. Ehrlich and Kakacek are best friends and this album is a celebration of their bond; they might sing about loneliness, but they are lonely no more. “Forever turned around is also the idea of seeing something that you can’t really unsee,” Ehrlich told The Fader in 2019. “You were blissfully unaware before, and now hyper-awareness needs to happen. Your idea of forever has actually turned around.” Even better live, the band is rounded out by keyboardist Malcolm Brown, guitarist Print Choteau, bassist Josiah Marshall, trumpeter Will Miller, and former Smith Westerns bandmate Ziyad Asrar on rhythm guitar. Whitney performs 7pm Wednesday, February 5 at The Ground in Miami. ~ Abel Folgar

Jacksonville is Florida’s last East Coast hurrah before traversing into the not-always clearly outlined dry pockets of Georgia’s south. It’s the last major stop to fully soak in the Floridian vibes before spreading the gospel of Florida Man across the nation’s asphalt veins. Jax has a lot going on at the moment and Winterland 2020 is one of the coolest music fests in the state.

The brainchild of musicians Glenn Van Dyke and Lena Simon, Winterland 2020 is the third iteration of the three-day festival that takes over Jacksonville’s historic Five Points neighborhood – the city’s staunchly bohemian, arts-driven enclave. More than 40 artists will spread music and related programming across Park Street’s coolest venues like Root Down, Rain Dogs, Ale Wife and Hoptinger.

Van Dyke, a Jax native and audio engineer who made her mark as a founding member and guitarist for Brooklyn’s BOYTOY and Simon, who’s held the bassline for L.A. rockers La Luz since 2014, brought energy to Jacksonville after seeing the vast pool of talent that is currently available. For the first Winterland, Van Dyke literally threw her savings into the wind but the overwhelming response and enthusiastic participation made it a hit with the momentum to keep on growing. WINTERLAND

This year’s festival will have headliners like New York City’s noise rockers A Place to Bury Strangers, British ex-pat singer-songwriter Harkin, Portlandian garage rockers The Shivas and their friendly, cumbia-savvy neighbors Sávila. Florida darlings Surfer Blood and Miami’s Haute Tension will be there, too, rocking alongside three dozen Northeast Florida acts. Intentionally or not, the festival name also conjures a rock ’n’ roll touchstone: San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, a concert hall enshrined in scores of iconic gig posters and one Martin Scorsese concert documentary, “The Last Waltz.” It was in that converted ice rink that music promoter Bill Graham presented everyone from The Grateful Dead to the Sex Pistols, from 1966 until the venue closed in 1978. Single day Winterland 2020 passes cost $30 but a $60 pass is good for every show across the weekend – a steal for a lineup this good. Winterland 2020 runs Friday through Sunday, February 7-9, across various venues in Five Points, Jacksonville. winterlandpresents.com ~ Abel Folgar

Juan Vergara

Nothing like a good old Hallmark date to get the temporal stock of roses to rise like gas prices after a hurricane. Yup, Valentine’s Day is around the corner and the anxiety-inducing event riles up even the most solid of couplings and devastates the psyche of those without. In any scenario, the endgame is to get all your precious cash out of your wallet.

It’s good then, that a more charitable and infinitely more worthwhile arrangement has emerged in the Annual Valentine’s Day Village of Love celebrations benefitting Planned Parenthood. Founded in 1916 as the American Birth Control League, Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides crucial reproductive health care in the United States and across the world, often under siege by antiabortion campaigners and elected officials who dispute a woman’s right to choose. AFROBETA

For the eighth year, Panache Booking in Los Angeles has partnered with likeminded folks across the U.S. to raise funds for Planned Parenthood in the most “symbolic” day for love. This year, February 14 will also get slayed in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, and in Miami with Gramps in Wynwood hosting. All proceeds from the Miami show will go to Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida. In previous editions, bands and music acts have performed short thematic sets. Bringing the love to stage this time will be some honestly very dreamy Miamians, including synth-pop duo Afrobeta, next-wavers Donzii, sonic-sauce auteurs Haute Tension, multilingual punkers Las Nubes. St. Augustine based sibling rockers The Dewars also play. Venezuelan hip-hop and r&b singer Santa Bandida (a.k.a. Marie Manrique), now based in Miami, rounds out the lineup, with special guests to be announced. Even if everything is going right romantically at the moment, nothing will tell your date more about you and your convictions than attending this benefit. The music might uplift the feeling, but the proceeds will go into the right hands. Now, more than ever, is the time to act and ensure that Planned Parenthood continues their mission for another hundred years. Panache’s Annual Valentine’s Day Village of Love, a benefit for Planned Parenthood in Florida, happens Friday February 14 at Gramps in Miami. ~ Abel Folgar

WE ARE THE PUNX 3 FEST

Back in the halcyon ‘90s the local scene was festooned with emo bands and oddities that would eventually become South Florida classics. But one segment of the punk rock community that was woefully underrepresented was spikey-haired street punk a la the Exploited circa 1982.

That’s not to say that those bands didn’t exist. That’s the kicker; they did. But we rarely had any in the tri-county area. Sure, there was US Decline and eventually U. F. C., a band name whose meaning changed depending on the direction of the wind. But one or two bands can’t keep up with the demand of the underprivileged and underrepresented drunk punk crowd — c’mon, man! When New Jersey’s Blanks 77 would come to town they would play with the Beltones, a super fine band in their own right that sounded like a teenage rebellion based on Stiff Little Fingers, and that was about as crazy as it got. ERECTIONS

Skip ahead 25 years and now we have the organizers of We Are The Punx, a contingent of capable forward thinkers who can’t get enough of the sounds of ’82. And what started as an epic one-nighter is becoming a three-day affair. That’s optimism. We Are The Punx was initially a who’s-who of local and regional favorites. This year sees numerous bands flying in — a few from very far away — to get some sun and fun, and create some nighttime madness. The third edition includes the aforementioned Blanks 77 as well as The Ejected (London), The Erections (Tokyo), Unwanted Noise (Quebec), The Lower Class Brats (Austin), The Ghouls (Philadelphia), Who Killed Spikey Jacket (Boston), Wrekt (Nashville) and Warthog (New York). The home teams are Miami’s Deviant Burial, Antifaces and Brute, and Fort Lauderdale’s Spur and Uhu. So, basically, Respectable Street is going to be rife with punks for three nights, and bougie denizens of Clematis will be clutching their purses in terror. They may think there’s no reason any more for punk, but there’s always a reason to break things and scream into the abyss. We Are The Punx 3 is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 28-March 1 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. Doors open 6:30pm ~ Tim Moffatt

INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONFERENCE

Miami is the epitome of money-forart payola. It’s true, don’t stress; I said it and I’m not sorry; die mad. Here’s the thing: for all the Art Basel b.s. cluttering the neighborhood and Winter Music Conference nonsense occupying the 305 for the remainder of spring, we have the International Noise Conference.

Behind this endeavor, founded in 2003, is Rat Bastard, born Frank Falestra — producer, musician and bandleader of Miami noise stalwarts the Laundry Room Squelchers. A man whose former crew of miscreants, Scraping Teeth, was named worst band ever by SPIN magazine. He’s the winner of a prestigious Knight Foundation arts grant and the subject of a complete rock opera, “Hearing Damage,” written by his friends. And every year his festival is attended by the likes of Thurston Moore, Iggy Pop and other random notables.

But they’re not the headliners. At INC there really aren’t “headliners,” just a barrage of artists playing 15 minute sets on alternating stages with no breaks at Churchill’s Pub in Little Haiti, making things in audio that can’t ever be reproduced. That’s the beauty of INC.

The crux of it is that there can be any number of strange things happening at once. Past installments have given us a drum circle of female musicians, and a Pompano Beach entity called Human Fluid Rot assaulting ear drums while being assaulted on stage. There was once a man in tighty-whities with cymbals attached to his legs as he lumbered his way through Churchill’s, and there is any number of more harmonically conventional musicians galavanting through the green room and every other square inch of the pub.

The only thing that’s limited at INC is your imagination; there’s always something for everyone and something that gets lost in translation. As has been stated in the past, “To be creative is to be misunderstood.” This is that crowd personified.

South Florida music fans, let your folk flag fly: The Where I’m Bound Folk Festival visits West Palm Beach on February 1 for a full day of live music from 13 different hometown acts. Founded by musician Tabitha Meeks, who will also be performing with her band, Mona Lisa Tribe, Where I’m Bound takes its name from a Tom Paxton song and aims to cultivate a love for folk music in South Florida. Meeks became increasingly frustrated after friends told her to move to Nashville if she wanted to be part of a viable folk scene. She decided instead to create her own pathway for folk here. She’s found support and backing for her vision from promoter Ashley Glantz, and fellow musicians Micah Drum and Jakob Takos. MONA LISA TRIBE Ian Jones

With its tradition of unplugged instruments and story songs, folk “is such an underrated genre that not many people talk about or even promote,” Glantz tells PureHoney. “This underrepresented culture needs to find its place in our community.” West Palm Beach’s burgeoning warehouse district could be an ideal place to foster it. Elizabeth Avenue Station, the festival’s venue, is an emerging community hub that consistently showcases local artists and gives them platforms to perform their work. With plenty of eclectic vendors and good vibes, Where I’m Bound should have a comfortable home there. The lineup spans the bluegrass-tinged ballads of The 502s, the string-quartet interplay of the Lubben Brothers, the solitary odes of singer-songwriter Riley Moore, the rock-folk hybrid jams of Rogue Theory Band and the he-and-she acoustic repartee of Grace Roots. There will also be an open mic from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. For those who want to keep the music going late, a smaller after-hours show will happen from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. that is donation-based only. “The mission of WIB is cultivating a real community of support for the arts,” Glantz said. “It’s about connecting with each other and being a part of something special that came from the heart of the people who live here.” The Where I’m Bound Folk Festival runs noon-11pm Saturday February 1 at Elizabeth Avenue Station in West Palm Beach. wibfolkfest.com ~ Olivia Feldman