8:00pm doors. $12 adv., $15 door. 21+. Proof of vaccination and mask required for entry
Los Angeles trio Flat Worms ride on a buzzsaw wave of feedback-tipped riffs into the middle distance, smog choked sunset receding in the rearview, a thousand yard dead-pan surgically pinned to a high octane set of boredom energized punk pistons. Flat Worms - an ears-a-ringing missive from the end of the cul-de-sac, the mirage of direction wavering above a mid-sized American suburb at dusk, constellations bleached black by the sprawl. A little Wipers, a little Wire, and a lot of late-capitalist era anxious energy.
Filled with anxiety and angst, guitarist/vocalist Will Ivy (Wet Illustrated), bassist Tim Hellman (Ohsees), and drummer Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby, The Babies) summon perseverance in an apocalyptic era, passing through decrepit strip malls and surreal headlines.
Their 2020 album, Antarctica, and new 2021 single, The Guest, are out on Ty Segall’s label, God? Antarctica is the third Flat Worms album in the past four years. It reflects a situation that’s dire, but not hopeless. Since the release of their 2017 debut LP — even since the band's “Into the Iris” mini-LP — the sound of the trio has hardened, with the polarities of psych and post- punk smelted into a brutal cobalt alloy. No doubt they’re aided by the Steve Albini-engineered sound rendered at Electric Audio, where the album was recorded and mixed (in collaboration with Steve Albini and Ty Segall) in six days.
The rest of the evolution is down to Flat Worms, whose world view and musical viewpoint pulse with a remorseless drive and a sense of collaborative unity. Will Ivy’s cortex-scorching guitar leads are in united space with the full-body rhythm of Tim Hellman’s bass and Justin Sullivan’s drums. Their social comment, bleak, yet earnest, is leavened with bone dry humor and caustic pronouncements; a vision of the chaotic, dysfunctional contemporary landscape that recalls the tragicomic expressions of 100 Flowers and the indefatigable recitations of The Fall.
"This is sheer balls-to-the-wall pummeling garage punk that is sure to blow the lint from your belly button as soon as the first wails of feedback make their presence known.” - Post-Trash
IG: @flatwormsband
"Hatched in 2017 via an assemblage of Flesh World, Mallard and Blank Square personnel, WARP’s from-the-hip attack immediately streamlined The Bay’s skulls, prompting sudsy devotion across spiked and freaked schools alike, a vibrant punk band operating amidst all the scooter-share inhumanity.
The damage spills from the central screaming dual-guitar tangle, a riff tract neighboring the elegantly bruised and dynamic Agnew / Baiza axis, exerting too much power for the troposphere. Rhythms twist and barrel depending on need, always leaping forward, propelling each taut composition into realms unthinkable from count-off. Tika’s smarm-centric vocal steering — wonderfully absurdist and unreservedly pissed — offers exactly the sort of punky exfoliation so very needed in these days of constant cringe. Real punk from America’s cruelest town. WARP: San Francisco’s Last & Only Rock’n’Roll Band." — Mitch Cardwell
Flex TMG is a new leftfield disco project started by Hannah D’Amato (Fake Fruit) and Rob Miller (Blues Lawyer).