Emilie Autumn
Los Angeles native Emilie Autumn was a classically trained violinist at age four, but she abandoned classical music for a Victorian cabaret-inspired goth hybrid that mixed classical, rock, and electronic. In 2006, Autumn released Opheliac, exploring manic depression and self-mutilation against the backdrop of a mental institution. It was informed by her own institutional experiences, which she related in her 2010 memoir The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. “Anybody who’s ever thought about killing themselves, anybody who’s cut themselves, licked the blood, and liked the taste, I’m your girl,” she says. Ever theatrical, Autumn is accompanied onstage by her corseted backing band, the Bloody Crumpets, and often a range of performers from burlesque to men on stilts. The pancake makeup and costumes are designed to offset the harrowing subject matter. “This is the darkest stuff you can manifest,” she says. “To balance that out, I need to look like a fucking cupcake.”— Chris Parker
8 p.m. Friday, February 24. Peabody’s. Tickets: $18, $15 in advance; call 216-776-9999 or visit peabodys.com.
Children of Bodom
Finnish death-metal band Children of Bodom named themselves after a mass murder that took place in their homeland in 1960 involving bludgeoned teenagers. Appropriately, the band’s music hits just as hard. Last year’s Relentless Reckless Forever, their seventh album since 1997, is a venomous but melodic listen. The group is so popular in its native country that the record was certified gold the day it came out. Children of Bodom take themselves seriously enough to churn out complex, interesting songs, but they’re also looser and more playful than many of their peers, cracking smiles between the heavy riffs. They’ve been known to break out spirited covers of Britney Spears’ “Oops! … I Did it Again” and Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” in concert. Even some of their original material, like “Shovel Knockout” and “Everytime I Die,” showcases their taste for black-humor brutality. — Ben Gifford
With Eluveitie, Revocation, and Threat Signal. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 25. Peabody’s. Tickets: $25, $20 in advance; call 216-776-9999 or visit peabodys.com.
Young the Giant
At times, Young the Giant frontman Sameer Gadhia looks like he’s trying to swim through the air, grasping at a phantom something in front of him before he finally grabs one of his microphones. The band’s concerts are kinda like a party hosted by Foster the People, but then the Killers walk in and dim the lights. All the poppy hooks are intact, but they’re painted black around the edges, taking on an edgy aggression that fuels each song with an extra kick in the balls. Songs like “Cough Syrup” come complete with rousing choruses that sound like they were manufactured for maximum impact (the California quintet’s critics refer to them as “corporate indie”). Still, it’s difficult to press pause during “My Body,” their pulsating pop hit that snagged a featured spot on American Idol last year. You won’t have a chance to stop the centrifugal force that Young the Giant bring to their live shows either. So just put your arms up and make sure to come up for air. — Danielle Sills
With Walk the Moon. 8 p.m. Sunday, February 26. Beachland Ballroom. Tickets: $15; call 216-383-1124 or visit beachlandballroom.com.
Scott Kelly
Since 1985, Scott Kelly’s deep, demonic voice has led the ferocious songs of the Oakland punk and post-metal band Neurosis. He has a long line of credits behind him, including stints with Blood & Time, Shrinebuilder, and Tribes of Neurot. He’s even had guest spots on the last four Mastodon albums. He spent his formative years with Neurosis pioneering doom metal and making people convulse in the corner at his shows and behind closed bedroom doors. “Neurosis” perfectly describes Kelly’s music, which thrashed through the ’80s and ’90s with little regard for anything else happening at the time. He’s mellowed a bit — just a little bit, we should point out — over the years, incorporating elements of ambient and folk into his abrasive songs. His solo albums — the most recent is 2008’s The Wake — are mostly acoustic and way different than anything found on Neurosis’ debut, Pain of Mind. And even though he may tone down the volume, you can’t escape that voice. — Courtney Kerrigan
9 p.m. Tuesday, February 28. Now That’s Class. Tickets: $10; call 216-221-8576 or visit nowthatsclass.net.
Tennis
There’s a cute story behind Cape Dory, last year’s debut album by Denver indie rockers Tennis: The husband-and-wife duo of Aliana Moore (she sings) and Patrick Riley (he plays guitar) sold all of their stuff, bought an old sailboat, fixed it, and then spent seven months sailing the eastern seaboard. After they got back on land, Moore and Riley wrote about their watery adventures, tied it into their relationship, and recorded an album that was one of the most buzzed about of 2011’s first quarter. A year later, the band — now joined by drummer James Barone — set sail for Nashville and hooked up with the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, who produced Tennis’ just-released second album, Young & Old. And for a guy whose thing is stripped-down, primitive-sounding blues rock, Carney applies a full polish to Young & Old‘s 10 songs, reaching Spectorian heights at times. Moore plays along, adapting a 1960s girl-group croon on songs like “Origins” and “Traveling.” She even gets all moody on “My Better Self,” slipping between hand-claps and keys like they’re salvation from an inner storm. Hopefully the trio, without Carney, will be able to pull off this semi-wall of sound onstage. — Michael Gallucci 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 22. Beachland Tavern. Tickets: $20; call 216-383-1124 or visit beachlandballroom.com.
Under the Radar
Back in the mid-’80s, the Del Fuegos were at the front of a garage-rock revival that’s still resonating in certain PBR-swigging circles today. Last summer the Boston band played together for the first time in 21 years. They liked it so much, they’re now on tour. Frontmen Dan and Warren Zanes have kept busy over the years, performing Grammy-winning children’s music (Dan) and serving as VP of Education at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Warren). They’re back doing what they do best at the Beachland Ballroom on Friday.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2012.
