Small Fires – Memphis Flyer

Amurica.com

Joshua Short and his Bomb Shelter Radio.

San Francisco artist Joshua Short will activate a pirate radio station in Memphis, Tennessee tonight at Amurica. Short built a make-shift van topper out of found materials and cardboard to house his “radio station,” and local bands that are set to perform include Small Fires, Grave Pioneer, ManControl, Quintron, Richard James, and Jessie Davis. “Bomb Shelter Radio: Memphis” is the third incarnation of an ongoing project for Short, and the station will be active until June 12th. Check out a video from one of Short’s other projects below, and be sure to stop by Amurica at least once over the next week.

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Bomb Shelter Radio at Amurica

Some advice from frontwoman Leah Wellbaum of Brooklyn-based band Slothrust delivered in the song “Crockpot”: “Don’t shake hands with the lonely kids, ’cause I hear that shit’s contagious.”

The lonely kids, contagious or not, will be in high form this coming Monday at the Lamplighter Lounge. Julien Baker, known around town for heading the band formerly known as the Star Killers (recently renamed Forrister), will play a set from her recent solo project — heartbreaking send-offs about lost love and stalled feelings; music for driving alone without knowing your destination. Also on hand will be Small Fires, an indie-emo-inspired acoustic project led by Ryan Azada (also of DADS) that sometimes includes Baker.

Shervin Lainez

Slothrust

Slothrust’s set (that is Sloth-rust) will emotionally graduate from longing into careworn apathy. Impose Magazine, in a review of the band’s most recent album, wrote: “Combining Leah Wellbaum’s slurring malaise with her punchy, post-grunge guitar, everything about Slothrust’s sound feels both earnest and cathartic, like a heart that pumps raw after a winter run.” Slothrust — a three-piece that also includes bassist Kyle Bann and drummer Will Gorin — is technically tight as hell, with lyrics to match.

Local Goner act Toxie will round out the evening in their underwhelmed, post-riotgrrrl style. Toxie, fronted by Alexandra Burden, smokes a cigarette, asks you to dance, and refuses to break eye contact.