WOR WE EV
RST EEK VER Cover photo Cara Walton Photography
WORST WE I’m not sure if you noticed, everyone, but ya know, uh, the sun is out! Finally! This means that my pale ass legs, after a long and arduous wait, are getting the rich and fulfilling Vitamin D that they have craved for so many months. This ALSO means that this laundry list of daily frustrations have come to turn their ugly head: Jeep bros People hula hooping in super inappropriate places Awful AC/DC cover bands playing the pavilion every Friday The acrid, deathly smell of Black’s Run worming it’s way up your nostrils People posting about skydiving, bragging about their brush with mortality And more!
EEK EVER Listen, everybody loves the spring, and hey it’s great that once JMU lets out you can drive up Reservoir street without yelling “MOTHERFUCKER” at every light, but remember that with the end of May comes the beginning of June, and Harrisonburg’s brutalizing summer humidity. Enjoy the weather while you can, because it’s all about to go dooooooooownhill.
This is the Worst Week Ever. Published and edited by Mike Arellano and Iain Oldman
Brandy Somers Photography
Friday May 1 Contemporary Performance Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative at the Ice House Two showings, 7:30 and 8:30 $5 Suggested Donation
The highlight of May’s First Friday celebrations has to be the premier performance from Harrisonburg’s newest and most promising dance company, the Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative. Based in the newly renovated Ice House, the Dance Co-Op is putting on a contemporary performance to showcase their skill. There are two showings, one at 7:30 and another just one hour later, with a suggested donation of $5. Dance is promising to become one of Harrisonburg’s best forms of art and performance, so don’t miss out on the first night of it.
Saturday May 2 Free Comic Book Day The Secret Lair There’s a great line in Parks & Recreation where Ben Wyatt retorts to Tom Haverford “You know, ‘nerdculture’ismainstream now. So, when you use the word ‘nerd’ derogatorily, it means you’re the one that’s out of the zeitgeist”. Keep that in mind as you visit Harrisonburg’s ONLY comic book store, the Secret Lair, for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Yeah, that’s right. Free, man. If you’re not into comic books, don’t worry, they’ve got a little bit of everything for you. The publications they have up for grabs include titles from the Tick, Attack on Titan, Bob’s Burgers, Lady Justice, and (my personal favorite) Captain Canuck. While you’re out there, be sure to pick up a few extra issues to help support one of Harrisonburg’s coolest and underappreciated stores.
Saturday May 2 Spring into Brothers Craft Brewing Outdoor Festival Shenandoah Alley, Jessica Weaver & Silver Linings, Travellin Hillbillies 12 PM - No CoveR
Starting fresh with a brand new name, Brothers Craft Brewing Company is putting on an awesome festival in celebration of the new season. In addition to their AWESOME beer, there’s going to be tasty-ass BBQ, salsa samplings, and music from the Travellin’ Hillbillies, Jessica Weaver & Silver Linings, and local badasses Shenandoah Alley. Oh yeah, and they are going to be pouring a Hoptimization aged on blueberry. Scoooooooore!
Sunday May 3 Salad Days screening Court Square Theater
7:15 PM $9.50 for adults $8.50 for students
Court Square Theater is putting on a special screening on Sunday, May 3 of “Salad Days”, a documentary about Washington D.C.’s awesome punk scene in the 80s, and the DIY culture it enriched. The film explores the cultural impact of bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Government Issue, Void, Fugazi, and more bands that helped spread the punk scene down into Virginia. There’s only one screening, so be sure you don’t miss it!
Wednesday May 6 William Tyler, Sleeptalker, the Bodies the Golden Pony 9 PM $6
The Golden Pony hosts a super special show on Wednesday, May 6 as William Tyler (Merge Records) visits us from Nashville. Tyler plays a special brand of post-rock inspired modern folk, similar to altheroes Eric Chenaux and Marisa Anderson. His tones are rich and beautiful and he carries the prose of a storyteller more so than a songwriter. Joining him on the bill is Sleeptalker, Harrisonburg’s best singer/songwriter, and the half-lidded, lo-fi indie quartet the Bodies. William Tyler is an act to remember, be sure to come out.
Friday May 8 Bask, Within Our Gates, Diseased Earth the Little Grill Collective 9 PM $4 North Carolina stoner-rockers Bask return to Harrisonburg to rattle the windows of the Little Grill Collective for the pleasure of everyone who owns a Sleep shirt. Harrisonburg’s melodic metal lords Within Our Gates and Staunton’s death-doom group Diseased Earth join them on stage. Metal shows at the Little Grill are simply THE BEST, and this show is a great primer for the Valkyrie show later in the month, so make sure you go the extra distance out for a great Friday night show.
Monday May 11 Treatment, Antelope King, TBA Crayola 8 PM Donations
The Virginia trio Treatment kicks off their two week tour here in their practice hub, Harrisonburg, fresh off opening the heavy sounds set at MACRoCk this year. Antelope King from Richmond is playing the basement of Crayola, too, cranking out late 80s era punk for fans of Fugazi and No Kill. The dudes in Treatment are driving out all the way to Austin, Texas on their tour, so come out and donate well for this local group.
Tuesday May 12 Ostrov, Christworm, the Vomiting Dinosaurs the Golden Pony 9 PM $4 Two man bands are the flavor of the day on Tuesday, May 12 at the Golden Pony. Local grindlords the Vomiting Dinosaurs highlight a night of Southern metal put on Worst Week Ever Booking. Ostrov visits us from Mississippi, blasting out loads and loads of heavy sludge metal, and Christworm (awesome name aside) play seriously evil doom metal brewed straight from the swamps of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sunday May 17 Thrift or Die! the Golden Pony basement 12 PM-6 PM This year’s installment of crazy ass, thrifty goodies is back in the Golden Pony basement! Pick up anything ranging from jewelry to books to fucking skulls to apparel from Harrisonburg businesses Holdfast Curiosities, Wonder Records, Whatever Vintage, and more! Last time I went to the Thrift or Die! event I picked up some awesome coasters and a copy of a book I thought I’d never see again. These get togethers are the best.
Monday May 18 Palm, Banned Books, Z Plan, Fresh Hell the Golden Pony 9 PM $5 You probably heard the chatter all MACRoCk weekend about Palm’s absolutely stunning set early on Friday afternoon. They were the best band I personally saw all weekend, and they’re a band everyone has to catch Monday, May 18 at the Golden Pony. This indie from Hudson, NY plays completely original, beautiful harmonic songs that defy conventional chord and song structure. Seriously, don’t miss this band. Not to be dismissed, either, are Philly’s bouncy and poppy Banned Books, and joining them are Harrisonburg’s infectiously fun Z Plan and the southern inspired post-rock Fresh Hell.
Tuesday May 19 Inter Arma, Yautja, Earthling the Golden Pony 9 PM $5
An amazing month of shows continues with this behemoth of a metal show. Richmond’s crossover metal giants headline the night with their extremely brutal, extremely composed pieces of heavy brilliance. Then, from Nashville are Yautja, who have blown away every crowd that’s seen them in Harrisonburg, from the basement of Crayola to the heavy showcase at MACRoCk last year. The amount of sound and fury this three piece can put out will leave your jaw dropped. Rounding out an incredible night of metal for everybody is Harrisonburg’s metal giants Earthling, playing their only show in town this month. Every group is incredible and inspiring, so make sure you show up early to get into this show, as it is completely possible it will sell out.
Wednesday May 20 Crab Action, Yellow King, Marsh Hawk the Golden Pony 9 PM $4 The Crab returns, fresh off an April record release, to the Golden Pony on Wednesday, May 20. Crab Action cranks out fun-as-shit party punk that gets the booze bouncing around in your blood. Setting you up for a set of unfiltered fun are local groups Yellow King (absolutely brutal postcore) and Marsh Hawk (hillbilly stoner doom metal).
Friday May 22 Valkyrie Album Release Elephant Child, Shenandoah Alley the Golden Pony 9 PM - $5 Friday, May 22 is the night that all of Harrisonburg’s scene people have been waiting for. Rocktown’s legendary classic doom group Valkyrie is releasing their first full length album on a major record label, and were nice enough to do it in their home town. This is a show people will talk about for months. Opening up for Valkyrie are some of the town’s other favorite acts, the undeniably fun and truly bluegrass Shenandoah Alley and the always-in-demand Elephant Child. Buy your tickets in advance here because this show WILL SELL OUT!
Tuesday May 26 Wolf Blood, Helgamite, TBA Crayola 8 PM Donations
Closing out a month of absolutely brilliant shows are the doomy, classic Wolf Blood, visiting our mountain town all the way from Duluth, Minnesota. This quartet came a long way to get you to bang your head, so be sure to donate or die on Tuesday, May 26 at Crayola. Rileyville, VA’s Helgamite and one more band TBA open up what is sure to be a fun night of basement metal. Don’t miss out!
MACRoCk XVIII For the second year in a row, the staffers here at Worst Week Ever (yes, all two of us) have enjoyed the serendipitous luxury of taking in MACRoCk weekend as the omnipotent universe intended- soaked in sweat, sun drunk and faded. I slept for twenty hours the Sunday after MACRoCk. That’s not a hyperbole. I slept for twenty goddamned hours. Here’s how it happened.
We started our Friday early at the Artful Dodger, which was packed with frothy youth by 4:30 in the afternoon, and caught the dreamy and fun Zula before getting our brains completely blown away by Palm. The New York group proved to be the most talked about band of the day, I can’t remember how many times I heard “did you SEE Palm?”. Next we hit up the Nile- er, the Golden Pony and stuck around to watch Grace Vonderkuhn (one of my personal favorite sets), Hoax Hunters, and the eternally heavy New Turks. To close out the night, Mike caught D.C. post-rock outfit Tone at Harrisonburg’s newest MACRoCk venue (Three Notch’d) and later caught up with me to watch the second half of Priests, who ramped up the crowd with immeasurable energy.
Saturday morning, hungover and sleep deprived (thanks, Crayola house!) we crawled into the Golden Pony basement to meet all of the beautiful people that came through to enjoy the label expo. We traded beer cozies with our table neighbors (88.1 WKNC, check ‘em out jessie) and filled our bodies with essential vitamin C... mixed with champagne. So we chugged some mimosas, sue us.
With our good buds Treatment opening up the day at the Golden Pony, we stuck around before heading over to Court Square Theater to watch our favorite last-minute addition Gull. Under the direction of some friends, we crawled back to the Pony to watch Rhin, who have now seeped their way into my brain. I just can’t stop listening to their song “Consumed”.
We thought, fuck it, let’s see if we can get into Clementine to catch the sets closing out MACRoCk weekend. Spoiler alert: we didn’t. We couldn’t get into the Dodger either, so we circled back around to the Pony in time to watch Richmond’s newest thrash gods Humungus. Lord Almighty from Boston ruled, as always, and Artificial Brain satisfied my annual quota for pure, New York death metal. Finally, the super stoner group Sinister Haze closed out the Golden Pony, and our night of MACRoCk shows.
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album reviews
Yellow King - Demo
It seems that a lot of post-core punk bands find a hard time finding the sweet spot in recording their music, in between the assault of sound that every band wants to carry off stage and the importance of harmony and signature tone. There’s an almost archaic vigilance to keeping recordings as raw as possible, going for that fuzzy, abrasive tone that’s almost Norwegian, and this is true especially in demos. Luckily, Harrisonburg’s Yellow King was able to channel the aggression and fury that bleeds out from their shows into a well rounded, listenable, and enjoyable three-song demo.
Yellow King has had to carry the burden of being this scene’s only true hardcore or screamo band for the past year, as bands like Thrones of Deceit, Beside Human, and True Worth have fallen into obscurity. They’ve seemingly taken it in stride. Every show is a whirlwind of speed and screams, discarding traditional hardcore expectations in favor of more composed, intentional chaos. Through their demos, Yellow King luckily captures the essence of their live shows- heavy, brutal, and original. The volume fluctuations are there, the passion is there, the fear is there, and all and all this is a great first showing from Harrisonburg’s current kings of hardcore. Best track - Inheritance
Fresh Hell Fake Mother/Cut It Off The freshly released tracks from the newest member of Harrisonburg’s alt-punk scene are a poignant indicator of Fresh Hell’s direction into the world of lo-fi post-punk. Disregard their relation to Malatese, Fresh Hell isn’t out to make acid-dripped nightmare fuel from guitars, but look instead to the past and draw inspiration from groups like Joy Division, with a little hint of the more subdued side of the Minutemen. The song structures of Fake Mother and Cut It Off aren’t a crazy waltz of time signatures or battling rhythms, but what Fresh Hell lacks in insane unpredictability, they make up for with dissonant chords that run in and out
with rich, major tones. This is a more palatable form of alternative punk for our scene, something a little bit more classic and nostalgic than anything else going on in town right now. The good news is, these are only the first two tracks to have been released, so we have much more to look forward to in the future.
The Modern Folk Leather Jacket
Harrisonburg transplant Josh Moss is quickly becoming, without proper recognition, a machine of songwriting prowess and relevance, keeping a signature sound and an ear for blending nostalgic folk with modern sound styles. Leather Jacket is just one more album that proves that the Modern Folk is a step ahead of whatever bullshit “folk� trends will spread across festival lawns this summer.
In this release, Moss steps away from the sludgy, black Appalachian folk he wrote in his previous albums, and instead replaces it with drum machines and Karen O-esque dreary indie. The results are splendid. Leather Jacket is rich and diverse in sound and genre, jumping from Saigon-era French go-go pop licks to a folk infused raga. The kicker? None of it is cheesy, or out of place, or forced. Everything feels natural and the track listing helps lead you from one world of music to the other, all under the umbrella of being distinctly Josh Moss. Someone give this man the acclaim he deserves. Best track - Don’t Move In
Marsh Hawk Self Titled Marsh Hawk digs into the vein of regional identification in their self titled debut album, looping distinct twangs of western Virginia hill music into their swampy, fuzzed out doom rock. This eight-track parade through the haunted halls of man’s fears could and will be described as crossover doom or lo-fi desert rock, but the overall theme of this album is really just good old fashioned blues pumped through a Big Muff and given a tweak of modern sound.
Some albums toeing this line have a tedious tendency to get dull and boring through repetition and predictability, and Marsh Hawk is able to stay away from that trap through their use of extreme volume diversity, layering, and true blue original songwriting. Marsh Hawk’s self titled debut has the potential to be one of those albums that has major appeal to all crowds of people- stoner rockers looking for something a bit heavier, bluegrass folk looking to get into electric music, and even doom metal purists who stumbled onto the wrong album. All in all, Marsh Hawk’s debut album is promising and shows ambition, which should leave everyone excited to see what they have up their sleeves for the near future. Best track - Somnambulist Blues
Brandy Somers Photography