Punks in lust: The week in music 3/4

You don’t know where Black Lodge is? Where do you work? Amazon? Oh, I see.

Wednesday, March 4

Tendai Maraire of Chemurenga Renaissance

Chimurenga Renaissance, Malitia MaliMob, DJ Chief Boima

Barboza (Map), 8 PM, 21+, $10.00

The key to Shabazz Palaces’s art is its obliqueness—Ish and Tendai heavily layer samples, imbira, and metaphors—and create something that is alluring but unknowable. It’s luxurious, seductive, and mysterious. It is a code to unlock. Chimurenga Renaissance, Tendai’s side project, is anything but indirect. Chimurenga is a Shona term for revolution, uprising, intifada. Tendai does not bury himself in metaphor here. On no bullshit boom bap, with a straight to the point flow, he takes down American and British imperialist/capitalists; he rues the Mugabes who cashed in; and he calls out the gentrifiers here in the US who are taking whatever the diaspora has managed to scrape together. This is power music.

Thursday, March 5

Leezy Soprano, Gifted Gab, Anthony Danza

Neumos (Map), 8 PM, 21+, $10.00

This winter, Gifted Gab dropped G-Shit, a 3 song EP that is exactly what it promises: there’s an LA ’97 kind of vibe on this work. Gab can summon a hard, heavy flow, but her predilection towards the trap beats favored by fellow Moor Gang member Nacho Picasso limited her work to that direction. Gab hasn’t lost that edge, but it’s tempered by a new sense of nostalgia and circumspection—a combination reminiscent of Latifah, Gab’s hero. Gab’s talents as an MC are transcendent, and every release is better than the one before; we’re going to have a boss on our hands.

Friday, March 6

PC Worship, Naomi Punk, Chubby Rhapsody

Black Lodge, 9 PM, All Ages, TBD

The sound of punks in lust: if you’d think of Caustic Resin as a slow jam, Naomi Punk is a great way to get your freak on. The tempos are sludgy but the guitars aren’t; while things are heavy, there’s a groove and a funk that comes out of this music. There’s a space, a place to shake your ass. You could bang your head, if you’d rather, but there’s a certain shake appeal.

Saturday, March 7

Lozen (facebook.com/lozenpower)

Lozen, Pouch, Besties

Victory Lounge (Map), 9 PM, 21+, $7.00

Is it easier to be heavier if it’s just two people playing? Lozen is just drums and guitar, two people, that’s it, but they pack Melvins level riffage. Hozoji Matheson-Margullis and Justine Maria Valdez are incredibly locked in; what they lose in decibel they gain in tightness and togetherness (indeed, they trade vocals in the midst of every song). The sonic impact of this music belies its complexity and skill; you might think you understand it right away, but it will stick in your head for days.