The ever-touring Philly-based quartet Hoots & Hellmouth will be braving the heat and making a free homecoming appearance outdoors at Morgan’s Pier this Saturday. The band brings a time-tested blend of musical styles taking cues from folk country, blues, bluegrass, gospel, etc. and combining them in a way that is reminiscent of the past while also remaining fresh. In this way, Hoots & Hellmouth prove that what once was old can be new again with Rob Berliner reinvigorating the classic sounds of the mandolin and organ, while Todd Erk and Mike Reilly provide the sturdy backbone of rhythm. It also doesn’t hurt that Sean Hoots has one beautiful down-home, soulful voice. This is the kind of music which makes you standup, stomp your feet, and joyously sing along. It’s a revival of something that truly never gets old when done this good. Morgan’s Pier 221 N. Columbus Blvd., 6pm, Free, 21+ (Deneka Peniston) - Michael Colavita
More entertainment to help you forget about this brutal heat…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Faux Slang, Royal Shoals, SAT Conversations with Enemies Album Release w/Little Black Rain Clouds, The Makes
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI JRG, The Interest Group, Hippy Johnny, SAT Toxic Life and the Underachievers, SUN Weird Hot, Los Ombres
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave) FRI American Schoolyard, Alec Stewart, SAT (All Ages) Young Statues, Case Closed, Edelweiss, Bright and Early, SAT (Late) The Kai-Yotes, Wired to Fly
The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Ma Jolie, Nona
Rebel Rock Bar (100 Spring Garden St.) FRI Sunshine Acid Tabs, Wooden HEZ
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT Kwesi Kankam, Paul Hocynec, SUN Rusty Cadillac
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Jason Ager & The C.O.P.O, Sweet Eureka, Christian Bitto, Nomad Clientele, SAT Finding Westerly, Neighborhoods, Heroes and Errors, Oldboy
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI Rk$tdy, SAT June Divided Album Release w/Music From Another Room, Seamus Browning, SUN Mason Porter & Friends
Blockley Pourhouse (3801 Chestnut St.) SAT Splintered Sunlight, The Bansai Bills
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Tungsten, Dime Street Joker, Murph, SAT Coffin Fly, SUN The Frayed Coats
Triumph Brewery (117 Chestnut St.) SAT Philadelphia Slick, Abstract Verses
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Acid Finger, The Tombstones, SAT Ricky Radio, Fabian Akilles, Dewey Decibel, SUN Leana Song, Gina Ferrera
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) FRI Angel Sanchez, Sean Henry, Mark Hernandez, Antonio McIlwaine
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Sadgiqacea, Hivelords
Highwire Gallery (2040 Frankford Ave.) SAT The Horrible Department Milkboy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Left of Logic, Impressionist, Kit Colt, SAT Fang Fang, Polarbear Lars
The Station (1515 McKean St.) FRI The Improbables, Blessed Muthas
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) Friday - The Really Cooks, Matt Gauss Band, Tom Christopher, SAT The Yuzh, Ronald Reagan? The Actor?, Burn Switch, Catullus John Salamone Band
For those who decide whether to come or go based on the first forty seconds of an album, Restorations’ LP2 is practically tailor-made for snap judgments. After a chiming, anthemic guitar opening, the band already known for fist-raising jams lets all hell break loose with “D,” their most unrestrained opener yet. The drum kit-mauling, earth-shaking bass lines and ascendant guitar riffs can only be described as complete sensory overload, and make it clear that the following eleven songs are going to be fueled by pure viscera. If your preferences run towards structure over huge sound, this release may leave you cold; LP2’s predominant means of exploring the band’s wealth of ideas are stadium-sized instrumentation and endless waves of atmospherics, as well as a dose of ennui.
This is a murkier, more inward-looking Restorations than we’re used to. Everything that was there before, musically, is blown sky-high this time around. They’ve managed to pack ideas into every iota of the song list, aided by Jon Low’s miles-deep production; the density of the music itself is offset by an album-long meditation on place, belonging, and the ramifications of leaving the familiar behind, which makes the outsized sound that much more of an interesting direction. Juxtaposing the existential discomfort with more sophisticated, complex forays into Restorations’ sonic wheelhouse.
The spiraling guitars, one of the album’s specially prominent features, are everywhere, serving various purposes in each song. “Kind of Comfort”’s jittery glam rock aspirations accompany lyrics of searching and wanderlust. Even the more downbeat cuts (“In Perpetuity Through The Universe,” “New Old”) are propelled beyond their subject matter by the songs’ barely-concealed restless energy. At its more pensive moments, like the folk-inflected “Civil Inattention,” there is a restless undercurrent of texture and volatility that never quite lets up.
Album closer “Adventure Tortoise” is all monster buildup laced with extraterrestrial effects, kicking off into a sort of requiem for the band’s neighborhood. “I’d really like to stay to help this place,” growls Jon Loudon through his teeth, but the allure of letting it all go is too strong to resist. The longing for a place “where nobody knows your name” isn’t quite all-consuming enough to inspire real action, but it is definitely the new paradigm Loudon means.
It takes guts to pull off a release that feels ten minutes long but contains more emotional and musical texture than most records. Restorations cover a whole lot of ground on LP2, and for the most part, pull off their ambitions. A bit too sanguine for shoegaze, and maybe too heady for punk, Restorations’ second full-length album brings an intriguing palette of aspirations to their open road-ready sound, prepared to try anything and everything. - Alyssa Greenberg
