There are a number of fine performances scheduled at Rozz-Tox as detailed on their Web site, but the arrival of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet on May 4 is unique even by the standards of that most eclectic of QC venues.

In the 2020s, the “doom” or “sludge” tag is increasingly self-applied, as an ethos as well as an aesthetic, by bands who create oppressive, cathartic music intended as a reflection of our dismal times. Such are the three bands – Body Void, SERAC, and Everlasting Light – playing Davenport's Raccoon Motel (315 East Second Street) on Friday, December 8.

Sarushibai (猿芝居) are a three-piece from Fujioka City, Japan, crashing merrily around the USA in support of their new album 日​陰​者​の​矜​持 (loosely translated to Pride of a Person in the Shadows.) It's a slim, clamorous ten-song rush of energetic power-chord chug.

“Rich Men North of Richmond” caught on like a wildfire, and the haze it generated has become nearly impossible to escape. That's not just a glib metaphor - speculations on the origins of singer Oliver Anthony and who or what are behind the song's runaway success are so thick that it's hard to read the monitor.