Indie Rock
Sept. 29 & 30 | Arson Whales | Moody’s Bistro, Bar & Beats | Truckee
Oct. 6 & 7 | Junk Parlor | Moody’s Bistro, Bar & Beats | Truckee
Brad Penner, Linda Brancato and Joe Kimberlin were happily playing Sacramento dive bars with their cover band The Garage Openers when the pandemic halted all live performances. So, they turned their creative efforts inward and emerged with a fantastic new project, punningly known as Arson Whales, which performs Sept. 29 and 30.
Joined by drummer Stephen Linn, the El Dorado County quartet released a fantastic debut album, “Galactopus,” earlier this year. With a nod to new wave punk icons The Clash, David Bowie and The Damned, Arson Whale’s original compositions evoke the genre-defying, psychedelic, disco-pop of modern visionaries like Beck, Ween, Yo La Tengo and Modest Mouse. Full of abstract, stream-of-consciousness lyrics and atmospheric, driving instrumentals, the music is poignant, charming and fresh.
“I don’t write with much intention,” says Brancato. “I just download lyrics from the universe. They make sense to me on a personal level. When they’re done, I love to hear people come back and tell me what they think.”
The following weekend, Oct. 6 and 7, Oakland-based indie rockers Junk Parlor will invite the audience at Moody’s into a joyful, raucous and intoxicating sonic dreamscape. Their colorful, edgy live performances and signature sound combine rock and punk influences with traditional Eastern-European folk songs, Manouche rhythms, Bohemian jangling and vintage exotic belly dancing melodies. | moodysbistro.com
