Krust Toons: "No Solo Projects!" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.

Psych-rockers Them Jones recently shared a sweet, new album. Transient occupies a hallucinatory, nomadic space – one that cruises within hypnotic harmonies and around heavier peripheral edges toward the ether. Exploring experiential uncertainty through a cosmic lens, one feels at home in the vessel, yet remains held in suspense over what will be discovered. Sit back, but stay alert, because you never know how things may alter.

Maybe I’ll Feel Better When I’m Dead, the sophomore LP from The Vernes, is the band’s first official studio album, which was produced by Joe Michelini (American Trappist, ex-River City Extension) at Berlin Studios. Building off the skillful songwriting and lyricism, found on the project’s self-titled debut full-length (on which frontman Matthew Gragg also wrote and played all the instruments himself), this is the quartet’s first collaborative effort that features Fabian Mera (lead guitar), and Cole Berggren (bass), and Pat Degan (drums).

Its opening/title track is an ideal representation of Gragg’s songwriting style, as he tends to tackle shadowy themes amid the backdrop of rather upbeat instrumentation. That dichotomy finds a lovely balance between sadness and hope, making the deeply personal and introspective tales feel universal, while taking on struggles and thoughts that we all most likely have conjured up, at one point, in our minds. The themes of maturing and not exactly knowing where one belongs are reoccurring ones throughout the record. “Maybe I’ll Feel Better When I’m Dead” is followed by “1994,” the first song that was actually written for the LP. Inspired by a visit from his brother, while Gragg was living in San Francisco, and the positive changes that he had noticed in him during their time together at Big Sur, the guitars find a sweet spot between its textured layers and fiery conclusion that ultimately makes for the heaviest rocker on the album.

“Zurich 1953” is an acoustic instrumental that’s a fitting prelude to “Untitled, No. 2”. The songs seem to easily flow together on the album. “Some say that you’re the chosen one/But I don’t look at you that way/Say that you’re the only one/I’m sort of hoping that you go away” – that “chosen one” reference finds its way later on among the crunchy guitars of “Bug(s)”; however, “you are not the chosen one and I am not the chosen one” is realized, casting a melancholy that seems to blanket the entire collection. An ominous rumble introduces “Everything Goes Away,” before hearing the nostalgically poignant verse – “In this city that I call my home/Well they’re cutting down trees and they’re building new roads/And they name all the streets after all of the trees that they cut down to build all the roads that we see.” Change seems inevitable, though our protagonist refuses to give into it.

Closing out the album is “Tired Shoes,” with what sounds like a ballad being played on a lonely player piano to a melody reminiscent of “Auld Lang Syne”. Like the New Year’s classic (and the record’s title track), there is a hint of sadness and hopefulness for the end. With that existential struggle rearing its head throughout the LP, we can only hope to be “proud of the roads that we choose.” The Vernes definitely have the right to be proud of the choices that they’ve made on their latest release. (Photo by Bob Sweeney) – H.M. Kauffman

With a haunting, hazy, cavernous, psych sound that scorches and soars amid murky surroundings, Far-Out Fangtooth has reemerged (at least for one night and hopefully many more). It’s been about four years since the band has performed together on stage. Crafting dynamic, fuzzed-out soundscapes that pull you into the spiraling vortex of omnipresent rhythms and reverberating guitars, the group invites you to explore what lies within the shadows. This Saturday, Far-Out Fangtooth will be opening for the legendary Roky Erickson at Underground Arts. The contagious energy of garage-punk Chicago siblings White Mystery is also slated on tomorrow evening’s billing. (Photo by Adam Wallacavage) – Michael Colavita

Other shadows to explore this weekend…

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI West Philadelphia Orchestra, OOLALA, SAT Mothers

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Strange Parts

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Screaming Rattler/DJ Deejay, SAT 6ix 8ight Presents, SUN Drones for Queens/Abacus (Split Record Release), Painbody

PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12^th St.) SAT Eraserhood Forever 2018

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Far-Out Fangtooth

The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI American Speedway

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) Conjunto Philadelphia

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Pick Your Poison, SAT Vicious Blossom, Sun Tunnel, Computer Dating, SUN False Tracks

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI LTC, SAT 6 Underground – A ’90s Alternative Dance Party Presented By Riot Nerd, SUN Muscle Tough, Darla

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Drums Like Machine Guns, SAT The Dull Blue Lights (Release Show), Mesmeric Haze, SUN Body Spray, Tetra, Wild Dust

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI DJ Dav, Reed Streets, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN Medusa’s Disco, American Dinosaur

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI Bryant Eugene Vazquez, SAT The Bigness (Record Release), Flat Mary Road

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT The Disgruntled Sherpa Project, SUN Rusty Cadillac 

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI Paths 2 Glory, Popular Creeps, Truant Minds, SAT Women Who Slay Cabaret, SUN Fake Noose, Fenris

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7^th St.) FRI Besphrenz / Freaks & Geeks Halloween, SAT Spellbound ( Extended Halloween Edition)

The Tusk (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more information.) SAT Sheena & Thee Nosebleeds, Heavy Temple

Century (1350 S 29^th St.) FRI Teenage Bigfoot, The Barren Marys, Stolen Wheelchairs, SAT Blue Wonder & the Mystic Woman, Mike Matteson & The Sketchy Freaks, Endless Taile

Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) SAT Philadelphia Burlesque Academy Student Showcase, SUN Honeygasm

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI We’re From Antarctica

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) SUN Grimace Federation

First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.) SAT Katie Ellen, Gladie

Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Free Cake For Every Creature, Cherry

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18^th St.) SAT Erin Incoherent, Desperate Living

Creep Records (1050 N. Hancock St.) FRI Lucy Stone

Ruba Club (416 Green St.) FRI Korine (Record Release)

Jerry’s on Front (2341 Front St.) FRI Laser Background (EP Release), Sixteen Jackies, SAT Storks