Planning for Burial at the Raccoon Motel -- June 14.
Saturday, June 14, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
With the indie-rock and shoegaze musician's just-released recording It's Closeness, It's Easy lauded by Boolin Tunes as a "thematically and aesthetically consistent" album that "stands out in a crowded 2025," singer/songwriter Thom Wasluck's solo project Planning for Burial headlines a June 14 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist's latest also hailed by Everything Is Noise as "singular in its sound, turning the slow, crushing weight of existence into an art that will weather the expanse of time far beyond all of our expiration dates.."
Before performing as Planning for Burial, Wasluck, based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, played in local bands and recorded music with his 4-track recorder. In 2009, he released his debut album Leaving, which was re-released by Enemies List Home Recordings in 2010. Following the re-release of the album, Wasluck recorded and released a series of tapes, EPs, and splits in the following years, and his solo project finds him playing all instruments during both his home recordings and live performances. In 2014, Planning for Burial released its second studio album, Desideratum, through the Flenser record label, while two years later, Wasluck released the "As a Lover" single through New York–based record label the Native Sound. Over its years of existence, Planning for Burial has shared the stage with a wide range of music acts, including Chelsea Wolfe, Have a Nice Life, and Deafheaven.
Wasnuck's music takes influences from a wide array of genres, and is generally labeled as "gloomgaze" and "experimental metal." According to Pitchfork critic Andy O'Connor, Planning for Burial "filters post-metal, doom, ambient, and goth-rock through his own terminally miserable lens." I described the band as "a fully-contained, one-man band who delves into shoegaze, metal, black metal and other elements to craft somber, emotional songs," and compared its style to those of English post-metal band Jesu. New Noise Magazine argued that the act's sound "contains elements of slowcore, shoegaze, doom, drone, '90s alt rock, '80s goth, and black metal, while never being defined by any one of those genres." And Jason Cook of PopMatters also drew parallels between the band's debut studio album Leaving and Nine Inch Nails' 1999 album The Fragile. Wasluck releases Planning for Burial on various mediums, including on floppy disks and cassette tape.
Thom Wasluck's Planning for Burial headlines his Davenport engagement on June 14 with additional sets by Stander, Everlasting Light, and Archeress, admission to the 6 p.m. concert is $19.84, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
