Gig Alert: Red Sparowes and Doomriders Tonight at Lola's

By Darryl Smyers Thu., Apr. 1 2010 at 2:55 PM

Red Sparowes

Though the band hails out of Los Angeles, Red Sparowes plays music more akin to the cold, concrete landscape of Chicago: Forsaking vocals all together, Bryant Clifford Meyer and crew invest their "songs" with a post-rock/metal vengeance that should thrill fans of acts such as Mono and Jesu. Matter of fact, Meyer still fronts the stylistically similar, sludge metal monster knows as Isis.

In any case, Red Sparowes new effort, The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer, is compositionally challenging, with extended workouts on songs such as "Giving Birth to Imagined Saviors" and "As Each End Looms and Subsides." It's a testament to the band's skill that its brand of all-instrumental post-rock never slides into the boring abyss of guitar wankers such as Joe Satriani or lame jam bands such as Phish. Heavy and heady, the music of Red Sparowes is guaranteed to rock you physically and mentally.

The more typical (but no less interesting) caterwauling of Boston's Doomriders open up tonight's proceedings. Jebb Riley actually sings while his band plays hard rock that is obviously influenced by Danzig, but don't let that stop you from getting to Lola's Sixth in Forth Worth early tonight. Doomriders' 2009 effort, Darkness Comes Alive, was one of the better metal releases of last year. And area metal favorite Maleveller opens.