.Social Eyes: Week of July 25-31

THURSDAY

ROCK

SARAH PEACOCK

Roots-rock phenom Sarah Peacock is one of few artists brave enough to fuse folk with heavy metal, and she doesn’t stop there. A songwriter through and through, the Nashville-based artist applied her barnstorming style to the history of the Salem witch trials to craft the title song of her 2020 album, Burn the Witch. The album is packed with intensity, reflecting on parallels between the grim witch trials of the late 1600s and the present. Noting Peacock’s fearless advocacy for the disempowered, Country Queer called this body of work “country music for witches and change.” – ADDIE MAHMASSANI

INFO: Thu, 8pm, The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $20/adv, $25/door. 510.381.1997.

FRIDAY

HARDCORE

STÄLÄG 13

Although Southern California hardcore band Stäläg 13 disbanded only one year after their ’84 debut, no punk record collection is complete without it. The band regrouped in 2003, but when lead singer Ron Baird decided to hang it up, he gave the band his blessing to keep playing. However, Baird recently rejoined his old straight-edge band, and they’re now touring off their freshly released album, Holding On, Vol. 1. Joined by Party Force, the Vaxxines and F.U.X., this is one show where there’s no excuse not to go. The choice is yours! – MAT WEIR

INFO: Fri, 9pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $18/adv, $23/door. 510.526.5888.

FRIDAY

EXPERIMENTAL

MERIDIAN BROTHERS

Boasting one of Latin America’s most fervent creative music scenes, Bogotá has embraced all manner of musical experimentation, like Colombian guitarist Eblis Alvarez’s Meridian Brothers. Launched as a personal laboratory for investigating a volatile blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, the group has evolved into a leading exponent of tropical psychedelia over the last two decades. Alternating between guitar, electronics and theatrical vocals, Alvarez laces cumbia, vallenato and salsa with samples and elaborate sound processing from Alejandro Forero on electronics and synths, Maria Valencia on reeds and percussion, Alejandro Araujo on drums and percussion, and Cesar Quevedo on bass. – ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: Fri, 8pm, Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $39/adv, $44/door. 510.644.2020.

FRIDAY

ACOUSTIC

MASON JENNINGS

After a year of not writing, Mason Jennings churned out 48 songs in a burst of inspiration, allowing him to craft his latest album. Underneath the Roses represents the creative mulch that allowed each song to flower into being: The psychological toll of the pandemic, the thorny darkness of personal loss and the birth of his son. The album reflects Jennings’ characteristic heartfelt and introspective storytelling, diving into love and grief with a raw, acoustic intensity. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT

INFO: Fri, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $23/adv, $26/door. 510.214.8600.

SATURDAY

REGGAETON

LA GOONY CHONGA

Science has yet to discover anything more booty-shakeable than the bouncy “boom-ch-boom-chick” dembow beat that undergirds reggaeton and its many offshoots. Crybaby’s beloved Desmadre Night features these infectiously danceable genres alongside all the other Latin dance flavors and fusions, including guaracha, merengue, corridos and more. This night will also include a special performance by La Goony Chonga, a joyfully camp Cuban-American rapper/singer with a fun, provocative reggaeton-trap hybrid tailor-made for twerking. – SBB

INFO: Sat, 10pm, Crybaby, 1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $0-$57.

SATURDAY

SOUL

DAWIT TSIGE

An African artist originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Tsige’s music is a fusion of traditional Ethiopian music and modern elements. Backed by a kicking-it band oozing talent in cooler-than-cool smokey tones that hustle into high gear on up-tempo tunes and fly high on the power of terrific percussion and brass wings, Tsige can offer nothing less than a smooth performance. And the setting at the Continental is always spectacular. – LOU FANCHER

INFO: Sat, 9pm, Continental Club, 1658 12th St., Oakland. $76+. 510.542.5742.

SUNDAY

ROCK

DEATH LENS

With Cold World, the band Death Lens has channeled the chaos of the present into a hard-hitting, emotionally resonant soundtrack to these midsummer nights. Teaming up with producer Brett Romnes (Hot Mulligan, Mom Jeans), the L.A. musicians have created some of their most explosive songs yet. With massive hooks, unexpected harmonies and pointed lyrics interrogating their place in the world, the self-described “five Brown boys from La Puente” have clearly left their garage-band days behind. Fans of hardcore punk bands like Turnstile and post-hardcore projects like Militarie Gun will find much to love here. – AM

INFO: Sun, 7pm, Gilman, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $17/adv, $20/door. 510.524.8180.   

MONDAY

ROCK

GOSSIP

Coming out in March 2024 with their sixth studio album, Real Power, the indie-rock/dance-punk band Gossip slings “everything against the wall,” creating content that laser beams on collective trauma. The band formed on the tails of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in singer Beth Ditto’s adopted home of Portland, Oregon. LGBTQ+ politics feed the song’s narratives as what is political becomes personal. As Ditto sings, choosing family over all other forces and actors is real power. – LF

INFO: Mon, 8pm, UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $50. 510.356.4000.

TUESDAY

JAZZ

PAUL TAYLOR

For the past 30 years, alto and soprano saxophonist Paul Taylor has thrived in the world of smooth jazz as a bandleader, recording artist and foil for R&B vocalists such as LaToya London, Regina Belle and Peabo Bryson. The Las Vegas resident crafted his latest album, 2021’s And Now This, by exchanging digital files with his longtime producer and cowriter Dino Esposito and delivering a broad spectrum of electronic pop and bouncing beats anticipating the easing pandemic. He’s had plenty of time to translate the grooves from the studio to the bandstand, and he’s known for giving his fans a polished production. – AG

INFO: Tue, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $41-$84. 510.238.9200.

WEDNESDAY

BLACK METAL

MIZMOR

All hail the East Bay! Where else in the Bay can a bored hesher be guaranteed a brutal black-metal show on a Wednesday night? End the month on a note of eternal damnation when Portland-based, one-person-band artist Mizmor brings his gritty mix of blackened doom to Thee Stork Club. Mizmor—Hebrew for “a poem sung to the accompaniment of the stringed instrument”—draws on themes of nihilism and absurdity set to a soundtrack of headbanging blast beats, blood-curdling screams and nasty riffs filled with hellfire and brimstone. Make sure to arrive on time to catch Chico’s Amarok and Oakland’s Leaving. – MW

INFO: Wed, 9pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $18. 510.859.8709.

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