Each week we bring you our picks for the best shows of the next seven days! To submit your show for consideration, click here. All events subject to change; check with the venue for the most up-to-date information.
Radkey, Fight Back Mountain, the Monocles, the Kuhlies
8 p.m. Friday, March 11. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street. $15. 314-714-8678.
Radkey kicked off 2020 on the precipice of the band's collective rock & roll fantasy: opening for the Foo Fighters. Plans change, though, and that dream gig was canceled, much like everything else that year. While that could have derailed the momentum of a lesser band, this trio of brothers (with dad still driving the tour van) saw a fork in the road and went barreling down an arguably better path. Fast-forward to 2022 and not only has Radkey already toured with Foo Fighters, the Missouri-based punk outfit was also featured in Dave Grohl's documentary What Drives Us, a film that also follows St. Vincent, Ringo Starr and Flea, among other artists, as they travel across the country in often rickety and worn-out vans. Despite their relatively young age, Radkey has been around for more than a decade, securing opening spots on tours with the likes of Jack White and the Damned, but the power trio only recently etched their names in the annals of rock history. In late 2021, Grohl tapped the group to cover any song of their choosing as part of the Foo Fighters' Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Their choice? "I'll Stick Around," a deep cut from the band's 1995 self-titled debut album, which should tell you everything about Radkey's ability to bridge the gap between punk and alternative rock. This mini-tour precedes an upcoming national tour with the Offspring, so expect to see much more of Radkey in the months to come.
Eat Local: Radkey hails from the not-so-distant land of St. Joseph, Missouri, which is located just about an hour north of Kansas City. They're not considered a local band per se, but St. Louis has been a repeat destination for most of the group's career. You know who is local? All three of the openers, including breakneck pop-punkers Fight Back Mountain, sunburnt rockers the Kuhlies and mathy emo duo the Monocles.
—Joseph Hess
Deterioration, Unspeakable, Blackwell, Acid Kids
8 p.m. Friday, March 11. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway. $10. 314-328-2309.
For most sane listeners, Deterioration's quote-unquote "music" might be best described as "unlistenable," an absolute cacophony of blastbeats and screaming over a wall of impenetrable distortion. And while that description is wholly accurate, the band has an ace up its sleeve: Sane listeners are not its target audience. The two-piece Minneapolis grindcore act has been at this for more than a decade, pumping out a staggering number of releases in that time, with more than 30 albums and splits listed on its Bandcamp page. The band relies heavily on movie samples between many of its blink-and-you'll-miss-them songs, with a gore-drenched sound that evokes the best of Insect Warfare, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Afternoon Gentlemen and the like. For all the racket, Deterioration is not without its own perverse sense of humor. Its latest, August's Transcending Human Confines, features such tracks as "Dig Him Up and Slap the Shit Out of Him" and "I Will Gladly Assist in Returning You to Your Original Lovely Liquid Form." It's loud, it's ridiculous, and it will cause your ears to ring for days. Embrace the insanity.
Prepare Thee For Tinnitus: Opening the show are locals Unspeakable, Blackwell and Acid Kids. The latter, featuring members of Eating Rats, is a bit of an outlier on the bill; the newcomer act has a more hardcore punk sound than the war metal of Blackwell or the black metal of Unspeakable. All three bands are worth your time, though, so do arrive early.
—Daniel Hill
Zantigo Release Party w/ Subtropolis, Enemy of Magic
8 p.m. Saturday, March 12. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Avenue. $10. 314-352-5226.
With singer Shauna Sublette at the helm, St. Louis' Zantigo scales an Aggro Crag of tumultuous rock while using classic metal hooks to support the band's heavy songs. As heard on its recent YouTube video drop "BALLAD OF JVM," the band juxtaposes relentless, repetitive riffs against slow-moving vocal melodies for a metallic approach to prog rock. With members from many prolific south city bands such as Pat Sajak Assassins, CaveofswordS and the R6 Impant, to name a few, Zantigo debuted on September 11, 2021 as the opener for Subtropolis' record release show. That was a night the band will likely never forget, especially since Subtropolis is returning the favor by joining Zantigo for their so-called "release stuff party" at the Heavy Anchor this Saturday. Zantigo has made promise of the all-encompassing word "stuff," which has so far been revealed to be music, t-shirts and stickers — an exciting prospect for those who have had a band-merch-sized hole in their lives these past two years.
Underrated and Over It: Fresh off a pair of shows in Indianapolis and Louisville in late February, St. Louis' trashy garage prog rock outfit Subtropolis will perform its dense guitar and drum arrangements as part of a tight three band bill that also features Enemy of Magic, another new band that has already notched quite a few shows in its belt. Enemy of Magic's recent Antimoon EP is a pitch-perfect funnel of sludge and molded metal that holds promise for any future releases to come. Keep an eye out for both of these bands.
—Joseph Hess
