So, wouldn’t it be fun if you could see Tesla Rossa, Hollywood Ten, Kingston Springs and the Jompson Brothers for free tomorrow night at Exit/In? Sure it would. And incidentally, we’ve got six free tickets to give away. They’re going in pairs, and it’s first come, first serve, so the first three who e-mail jess@thedelimagazine.com get them. Show starts at 9 p.m. – The Deli Staff

Admittedly, there are very few musical tributes that are tolerable, but it’s hard to resist a Tom Petty night at The 5 Spot when Reno Bo, Will Morgan Holland and Derek Hoke are putting on the show. The lineup also includes Patrick Collum, Nick Pagliari, James Farrell and possibly a few other artists. They know their Americana, and they know their rock n roll, so it’s probably worth checking out this Saturday, just for shits and giggles. – The Deli Staff

It’s going to be eight bones to get into The End on New Year’s Eve and worth every penny. They’ve got one hell of a lineup, including Voyager, Cy, Natural Child, PUJOL and Turbo Fruits. See you guys there. – Deli Staff

Whenever a local band comes out with an EP there is always an unspoken fear that it will not translate into a kick-ass album. On the other hand, sometimes a band sounds too clean as they get lost in an Auto- Tune garden. Nashville natives The 1-10’s new EP Fighting for the Golden Age walks the tightrope of sounding authentic to their heavy, impromptu live sound, while not sounding sloppy.

The opening track, “Run From Your Master,” sets the tone for the heavy rock sound that is evident throughout the entire album. As the lead vocalist sings in an almost scream, “That’s looks good,” there is a lighthearted feel to the music, the kind found front row at a crowed live show complete with sweaty punk rock kids and a Parliament Light smoke cloud.

Heavy electric guitars and funky beats make this album one to be played loudly, or not at all. The real narrative is in the music, not the words. Lyrically there is a surrealist bluesy quality, but the music itself achieves a constant rhythm of near perfect electric guitar riffs and heavy drums beats. This is especially evident in “Liars and Thieves” where there is a guitar solo that would impress Slash. The lead singer has the quirky, almost conversationalist lilt of Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), while at times seeming like a less pretentious Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon), with a splash of grunge rock irreverence thrown into the mix.
 

“Dying Blues” starts off with a beat that sounds like the opening sequence of “Seinfeld.”Then it unleashes a mash of heavy bass and electric guitars that seem to almost be fighting with the lead vocalist for command of the song, but it’s a nice fight, as the song works in its high intensity.

On “Eye for an Eye” the lead vocalist and backup vocalist volley of each other to produce a sound reminiscent of an angrier Mumford and Sons, as they aim for a slower, more harmonic sound. This track has some pretty memorable lyrics: “This morning I cried and I cried out to my God and he didn’t reply/I’m willing to try anything but love.”

Fighting for the Golden Age is a musical Molotov cocktail of dirty, off-the-cuff rock that isn’t for those who prefer their music polite and controlled. There’s always Ryan Cabrera for that. – Krystal Wallace

If you’re looking to really do it up big this New Year’s Eve, you should head to The 5 Spot on December 31st. The Electric Western DJs, who’ve been hosting The 5 Spot’s weekly Monday night dance party KEEP ON MOVIN!, have planned a Gatsby sort of evening to reel in the New Year. This means 1920s dance music from live swing band Chubby and the Dots, an old-fashioned photo booth, era décor, champagne and cocktails to start 2011 with a bang. And don’t be lame and not dress up. 1920s attire is encouraged! Tickets are $13 in advance or $15 at the door. You can preorder tickets here, and they will be ready for you at the venue the night of the event, but if you want to pick them up or have them mailed to you, contact info@electricwesternrecords.com. Party lasts from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.  Check out the promotional video here. – Jessica Pace

A plethora of bands are lined up for your listening pleasure at Exit/In’s Clash of the Music tonight. The lineup includes the electronic indie pop of Boss of Nova, as well as Welch/Eason, the collaboration of Nashville artists Shaefer Welch and Justin Eason. This show will also be the first Nashville gig for Murfreesboro’s indie songstress Sephra, with Abbye Blythe providing backup vocals, and don’t forget alt-pop artist Kimberly Quinn, singer/songwriter Sara Beck, and indie rockers The Max. The first band is set to go on at 8 p.m., so get there early. There’s sure to be something for everyone. – Jessica Pace

Several pieces of news concerning punk/metal/rock group Look What I Did have been circulating. First off, if you haven’t heard already, they’ve been working on a new EP to be titled Zanzibar III: Analog Prison. The concept record will continue the Zanzibar storyline from their first two albums, and it will only be available on cassette and vinyl; only one song will be released digitally. Details are fuzzy as far as who will be appearing on the album, but the band has said a variety of musicians will be contributing vocal performances, and Foxy Shazam’s Eric Nally has been named as a possibility. Additionally, Look What I Did has begun filming two music videos for songs off of Atlas Drugged, their most recent release. We can expect a variety of celebrity cameos, though no names have been offered yet.

Look What I Did vocalist Barry Donegan is also working on a new music service called Gazzmic, which is designed to change how bands and fans consume music. The hows and whys of this service are unanswered at this early point in development, but you can check out their temporary site here, and musicians can apply to participate in a limited, invitation-only and free closed beta program. Interested bands can contact info@gasmic.com to request a closed beta key, and participants will be able to promote their music over a free custom mobile application platform for the iPhone and Android Market. – Jessica Pace

Brave the weather tonight and stop by The End to catch Oh No No celebrating the release of their EP, Tren Del Sexo (Sex Train). The Nashville group plays a rough, still-developing hybrid of indie-blues rock, but it’s bound to be a good time and the EP’s title alone makes the set worth checking out. Plus, The Great Collide is on the bill. Their instrumentalists are talented, the back-and-forth vocals of Jane Lee and Wyatt Wolfram are pretty and melodic, and they put on a good live show. Max & the Wild Things will be bringing their lackadaisical alt-country to the lineup as well, and Kat Smo will be there pounding out a few tunes on the keys. Show starts around 9 p.m. – Jessica Pace

Tonight is creating quite the conflict of emotions because there are so many good shows! Local singer/songwriter, Keegan DeWitt’s release of his new 7-inch, "Two Hearts/Reluctance," will be tonight at Exit/In, with performances by Madi Diaz and The Bridges. That show is going to be packed, but as an incentive, the first 100 people through the door receive a copy of the album. Doors are at 8pm, cover is $7. Watch the music video of the single, "Reluctance," and go here for additional show details.–Deli Staff

Don’t worry about all of that freezing rain nonsense tonight. The weather men are probably just making up all that jazz to rile people up. We’re gonna brave the storm because our favies Heavy Cream are playing their first Nashville show in awhile tonight and we hear they’ve got a new drummer who’s a major HoTTie! Also playing will be Bake Sale (from Memphis), and Reid Magette. Show is at The End, doors at are 9, show is 18+, and it costs a measly $5, so put on yer galoshes and mittens and goooo!–Deli Staff

Harvest the Beast was an end-of-summer release, and it’s high time it got a shout from The Deli as it’s the first album and last testament of the former Bad Cop lineup. With vocalist Adam Moult the only remaining original, there are mixed feelings out there concerning the member swap. But let’s move past it. Throughout the course of 10 tracks, the band displays lyrical brazenness and complete confidence in the formulaic approach, and that makes all the difference. Beneath the loud, comic-book cover art is an album churned and mashed with rock and pop influences and steeped in psychedelia. It starts off deceptively with some pretty chords à la Death Cab for Cutie as Moult declares, “You can’t love someone who doesn’t love themselves” in “Amorres Perros” but then delves into the harder, fleshier tracks.

Crunchy guitars break down into prolonged, whining chords over rumbling drum beats, transitioning from hyper grit-rock to meandering psych-rock in a matter of minutes, as found on “Tonight Only.” Moult’s alternation of frightening yells and stern, commanding proclamations mimic Jim Morrison’s vocal style, but the real intrigue is in the guitar parts, which putter, squeal and grate relentlessly even when Moult’s vocal assault gets tiresome. Definitive guitar melodies pull Bad Cop out of any slump – not that they’re in one – as “One in the Same” illustrates, or “Judas the Snake,” in which drilling riffs devour thundering bass and a clashing high-hat. “I Ask Questions” opens with the repetition of “We don’t know where we go when we die,” an assertion that makes no attempt at obscurity. But then, nothing about the album is trying to keep quiet. Bad Cop has ambition, and they’re so sure of Harvest the Beast, the listener is, too. – Jessica Pace

The first show in a new event series, BASSICK, presented by Everything’s Nice, took place at Mercy Lounge last night, as an addendum to STRICTLY DUBSTEP. After arriving at a sold out show to witness a number of drunk, show attendee hopefuls on the front porch, screaming over the blasting bass fury from inside, we followed the vibrations and teetered our way up the shuddering steps into a hotbox of sweat, glazed eyes, and bass ecstasy. (No pun intended).

We realized that we weren’t the only ones whose guilty pleasures include music of the bass variety, judging by the large assortment of individuals surrounding us. There were hippies, dance music nerds, hipsters, average Joe’s, glamour-pusses, and a lot of those underage girls who like to wear short skirts and get drunk and make out with each other in front of frat dudes. Dub don’t discriminate, which we appreciated, as well as the variety of styles we heard throughout the night. Apparently the purpose of BASSICK was to showcase all the sub genres of bass music, (i.e. dubstep, house, jungle, and a bunch of other mini genres) proudly represented by our local dj’s and producers, who were opening up for the national headliner, SKRILLEX. We determined that the actual purpose, however, was to give everyone an excuse to wear glow jewelry and pack us in like haphazardly-dancing sardines.

Local dj, Wick-It The Instigator, laid down the slow, nasty beats that we’d been craving, and it was clear the audience had been as well. You can’t really get any lower on the low end, or further into the ol’ half-time groove than Wick-It. In fact, we wonder why he doesn’t go by DJ Womp-It. HA! He played originals, as well as impressively mashed up countless old favorites from every imaginable artist, creating instant audience sing- alongs for him to instigate, and us to dance our pants off to. (Not really, but one girl did before she crowd-surfed and shrieked ‘It’s my birthday’)! We gotta admit that Wick-It was the local standout, which is rare in a genre that has so many bassickly required similarities and obvious characteristics. (You can hear what a STAND OUT he is by checking out his Soundcloud page).

Let’s just say that since our attendance was strictly business, we didn’t really share in the same sense of “eurphoria,” that the majority of the audience seemed to be experiencing, so we suspect that for someone who was drunk, hallucinating, or already a huge fan of Skrillex, the experience was fantastically stimulating. We waited around to hear that song he did in the Twilight movie, along with his remix of Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro,”–(again, this night was about guilty pleasures)–and while it was all bass-heavy, and we could certainly see why people were so consumed by his set, things just got a little too fast-paced and we decided that Wick-It was more of our style.

“This has turned into a rave,” my friend aptly pointed out, so we decided to head home, in awe at our foolishness for going to that type of show so narcotically unprepared. We’ll be sure to remember next time though, and hopefully by then, our heads will have stopped womp-womping.

—Erin Manning