TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24
Phantom Head (Kansas City, MO)
Faultfinder (Kansas City, MO)
Jailbus (Iowa City, IA)
Lumpy & the Dumpers
Veil
@ Foam / 3359 S. Jefferson Ave.
9 p.m. / $5 / all ages
Phantom Head fires off sludgy noise rock with nasty chords and sinewy, feedback-laden riffs. Like its genre namesake, there are horribly catchy hooks here, you just have to wade through the muck. And the muck is fucking delicious. Faultfinder has been hitting St. Louis for years with its brooding anti-punk. Every song is a slow burn that leaves permanent brain damage.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
Quief Quota (reunion show)
Eric Hall
Zak M.
Sugar Rags
@ The Firebird / 2706 Olive Blvd.
8 p.m. / $5 / all ages
While the band started as an indie-rock offshoot of Skarekrau Radio, Quief Quota carved an identity for its candy coated songs with a gooey, sex-crazed center. Newcomer Sugar Rags opens the show along with a special organ set by Zak M and whatever the hell Eric Hall ends up churning out. A five-buck bargain on Thanksgiving-eve at the Firebird.
Kevin Harris
Trancers
Smallpox Champion
DJs Ghost Ice + Radiator Greys
@ Foam / 3359 S. Jefferson Ave.
9 p.m. / free / all ages
There is some joke about “boys bringing the noise,” but I’m too lazy to write it. Kevin Harris is a proven (modular synth) stud who often brings intense, reactionary visuals to go with his mind-melting electronics. Trancers brings a cyclical, meditative sound that builds in loops before merging into solid, unyielding melodies. Nicholas Goldschmidt, known for his guitar in Posture, Burners and his newest project Drag, has a harsh, synth-based alter-ego in Smallpox Champion.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27
Radradriot (Little Rock, AR)
Headcold (Conway, AR)
Nos Bos
@ Foam / 3359 S. Jefferson Ave.
9 p.m. / $5 / all ages
This guitar/drum duo isn’t so much concerned with the inner-workings of an infectious pop song, but it seems to pull off solid hooks with little effort. This is a pizza party of rock ‘n roll with chill vibes — whatever that means. The video above shows the band playing in a laundromat while people creep around in the background, just trying to go about their night.
There are a few solid, all-local shows on this night with Hell Night releasing its new EP at the Firebird and the sorely underrated Tennis Lesson performing for free at the Tap Room.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28
Bruxism No. 12 feat.
Mike Pitts
desoeuvre bruit
Complainer (noise set)
DJ Grey Shell
@ Foam / 3359 S. Jefferson Ave.
9 p.m. / $5 / all ages
This show celebrates two full years of Bruxism at Foam. What started as a collaboration between Apop and Nathan Cook’s Close/Far label, Bruxism is loosely defined as the “involuntary gnashing of one’s teeth” and that’s about what you get from these shows, musically. The five buck door price nets you a brand new cassette tape from Close/Far, the contents of which have not been revealed. This show is also the final Bruxism event at Foam, as the bi-monthly series moves to Schlafly Tap Room for 2016.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Johnny Young (Chicago, IL)
Jaded Evil Lambs
American Merlin
Hess/Cunningham Duo
@ Kismet / 3409 Iowa Ave.
8 p.m. / $5 / all ages
This is another noise show on a full week of similar offerings, but this night might provide the biggest range of sound from harsh to calm and melodic. Chicago-native Johnny Young wrecks havoc on the six-string, offering a soothing drone under riffs that spin, bend and contort, keeping in constant motion. Jaded Evil Lambs is the moniker of one David Bell, known for the best noise-based podcast to come out of the greater St. Louis region, Paradoxal Pterodactyl.
