Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: Sleigh Bells at The Paradise
Back in April, Sleigh Bells unleashed a new era of noise-pop with the release of sixth album Bunky Becky Birthday Boy, and we have the interview to prove it. In an extended Q&A, Victoria Wasylak chatted with Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller about the new record, the Pixies, and more, and tonight the duo sling it up to Boston for a loud-as-fuck show at the Paradise Rock Club. “A big part of [the album] was a lack of self-consciousness,” says Miller. “‘Bunky Pop’ – the first song on the record – as corny as it is to say, it’s a ‘dance like no one is watching’ type of vibe. Just be completely unselfconscious. Make the thing that you’re dying to hear. Don’t worry about it being ‘too much’ or over the top, don’t restrict yourself – all things that I think tend to really aid the creative process.” Adds Krauss: “[W]e’d been working on the album for a few years, and it was prolonged a bit by me getting pregnant and then having [my son] Wilder. And that, I think, actually gave us a lot more space and time to make the album better and add a couple tracks that wouldn’t have been on it had that not happened. It didn’t feel rushed, but it felt like we were ready to get it out.” Hit the link for the full interview.
SLEIGH BELLS + SOPHIE HUNTER + ATOMIC LIFE :: Friday, June 6 at The Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, MA :: 7:30 p.m., 18-plus, $34 and up :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Music: The Ocean Blue at Arts at the Armory
Any list of the greatest songs of 1989 — and perhaps the ’80s overall — is incomplete without “Between Something and Nothing,” the timeless modern rock lullaby from The Ocean Blue that still sounds as captivating as it did more than 35 years ago. Tonight we’ll be treated to it and all its expansive glory as Get To The Gig brings the Pennsylvania band to Somerville’s Arts at the Armory, where the ‘Blue perform both their self-titled debut album and 1991 follow-up Cerulean in their entirety. The hits will be plentiful — the swelling “Drifting, Falling”; the galloping “Vanity Fair”; the hypnotic “Ballerina Out of Control” — and the mood divine, as The Ocean Blue’s ability to transport us to the glory days of classic alternative and dream-pop is a needed escape from the harshness of our current times. Word is we might even get treated to a Smiths cover, as well.
THE OCEAN BLUE + BRIAN TIGHE OF THE HANG-UPS :: Friday, June 6 at the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave. in Somerville, MA :: 6 p.m., all ages, $40.93 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: Spooky Sundays at Fine Arts Theatre
There’s a lot going on in the wicked world of JR’s Spooky Shack, the horror collectibles store that moves into new Hudson digs on Friday the 13th (of course), complete with a grand re-opening party starring cosplay guests Machete Mosaic as Jason Voorhees and Dreamkiller Cosplay as Freddy Krueger. But first, the shop heads over to Maynard Rock City, once again proving the little town that could is maybe the coolest Massachusetts ‘burb these days, to launch the Spooky Sundays film series this Sunday at the Fine Arts Theatre. It’s a mystery screening promising “blood-curdling horror that will keep you on the edge of your seat,” and we won’t know what we’ll be seeing until the lights go down. The Shack says it’ll be “something very rarely shown on the big screen,” and who are we to question? It’s also a great excuse to support this intimate independent theatre, and much like the Sanctuary live music venue on the other side of downtown, once again shows the ol’ phrase “Only in Maynard” is taking on a whole new meaning these days.
SPOOKY SUNDAYS :: Sunday, June 8 at Fine Arts Theatre, 21 Summer St. in Maynard, MA :: 7 p.m., $10 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
