It’s a Sensual World and we’re just living in it.
True to their name, the scrappily explosive, sonically riveting band which regularly lit up underground punk stages and house show floors during its initial run, is here today by virtue of the members’ shared patience to feel out the rest.
Bands — barring the occasional “psyop” industry plant — don’t come with a user’s manual. Instead, Sensual World’s four members thrive by going off a flipped script at odds with the wild and crazy world they find themselves in.
Julie Karr, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, met me for coffee in our neighborhood during a recent and typical lull in the band’s years-long hiatus, to bring me up to speed before their hotly anticipated headlining show at Studio Two Three. I’d come across Karr’s sung-and-strummed appeal through her previous project, Bad Magic, and her occasional solo singer-songwriter sets. But her contributions in Sensual World struck me as lightning caught in a bottle and put to tape, with preternatural results sounding conjured from a fierce and fiery force. Full story up at @styleweekly
I wrote a bit about Mathias Svalina’s first story collection, COMEDY, for STYLE (*linked in bio* / *like and subscribe* / *smash that heart button, if you dare*) which happens to segue nicely into this merry-go-round of other peak ‘calendar year’ moments for live music and my preferred screens:
1) & 2) Can’t recommend this surreal and stirring collection enough. Not without its LOLs but also, ya know, not just that. 1) & 3) WEAPONS — failed for several weeks to see this because it was A) Sold out, or B) Sold out save for front-row seats when I was with a friend who refused to ‘break our necks to watch a movie’ no matter how many times we’d tried to see it — still, so good, only surpassing already high expectations, spoilers be damned! 4) The Chair Company finally converted me to my namesake after years shying away from Tim’s natural yet mysterious allure. 5) The Rehearsal — has anybody else not flown since this one? 6) RD & the Roadhouse band in DC rocked it both despite and in spite of being there, in our nation’s crapitol, for even a few hours too many. 7) Tommy Wright III with Optic Sink in Memphis. 8) & 9) The Whiffs and Twisted Teens several times over at Goner Fest 22. 10) Nancy’s DC debut (ditto my sentiment towards the crappy locale from 6)) 11) Jacky Cougar EVERYWHERE, not least of all for this big Richmond gig at the National. 12) And can’t forget my top dog Pey Pey in her golden years. OK, that’s enough of that! Xoxo
Now on see/saw: @opticsink in conversation with @helloabbondelo . On their excellent new album Lucky Number (out now via @feelitrecordshop ), honing songs with guidance from Greg Cartwright, their friendship and creative partnership with @sweeping.promises , and more.
Comment SINK for a DM’d link.
📸 by @natepackard
Now on see/saw: @added_dimensi0ns in conversation with @helloabbondelo . A discussion about creative control, band order versus chaos, and the excellent new album Jane From Preoccupied America.
Comment PREOCCUPIED for a DM’d link. Photos by Amy Robinson.
Recently went back to the future with @yr_screamingyouth to cover the newly reformed @pageninetynineband for @creemmag
Tomorrow they’re playing their last show of the year, after a helluva banner season, for the Punks For Palestine benefit shows this weekend in DC. GO!
They say the proof is in the pudding we’ll check out this pudding!!!! We’ll have the final print in about 7-10 days but you can preorder now over at the total punk website. Featuring writing from former contributors to Maximum Rock n Roll, Terminal Boredom, Celluloid Lunch, Wipeout, and Conflict plus current contributors to The Bible and Bored Out! The first issue features interviews with Craig Bell, Retail Simps, Goodbye Boozy, Puppet Wipes, Geros, Will Lillingsworh, and Camero Werewolf!! Plus columns, reviews, art, and there’s even a quiz!!! Featuring killer cover art by @chipoil and a Corporate Retreat photo spread by @mari_tam12
