This Little Underground: New local releases + concert picks

Yes, yes, y’all. Next week will be TLU’s annual Undie Awards, recognizing the year’s superlatives in the Orlando music scene. Countdown on!

NEW LOCAL RELEASES

Few are more steadfast champions of classic country music around here than the Oak Hill Drifters, but new single “Carpe Dame” shows a fresh angle on their neo-traditionalism.

On this first release since the 2018 album Lied to Me, the Drifters step beyond the usual stomp and swing of their honky-tonk sound to hit the trail. Heavily inspired by spaghetti Western master Ennio Morricone, “Carpe Dame” — with its long, sonorous lines and horns — is a high-riding gallop through rolling hills. It’s some of the Drifters’ best, most atmospheric work to date, and it’s streaming on major platforms.

After working together for years, the members of Orlando hip-hop collective Beer Money UNLTD have just now unveiled new group Scumbag Beer Club to spread their “scumbag jazz” gospel, beginning with just-released debut album Pregame.

Their sound is a proud return to some of hip-hop’s most classic and articulate styles. Between Tek the Intern’s organic, jazz-thick production and the on-rails rap interplay between MCs Shinobi Stalin and WordChemist, Pregame shines with golden East Coast rays. Scumbag Beer Club is new, but it’s a congress of O-zone veterans. This debut — on major streaming services now — is a very realized introduction.

Rave revivalism is rising right now, and some of the best coming out of Orlando is by Astro Pup. Typically, this young techno disciple’s sound maintains a harsh Euro stomp. However, on their latest release — the two-track DIISORD3R — Astro Pup takes a dope swerve and taps not just the zeitgeist of the original rave generation but also a specifically Floridian vein.

Opener “Stress” starts out in usual Astro Pup mode with its hard four-on-the-floor beat. Then, three and a half minutes in, the track suddenly goes from hulking locomotive to sleek bullet train, dropping into a funk-pumped, head-blowing breakdown of bass and electro that carries not just the outro but the entirety of next song “Action.”

It’s all fried extra crispy per AP’s signature overdriven temperature, but those booming, liquid beats are a new look at an old-school sound. It may be 2021, but “Action” is five hot minutes of bass perfection that would’ve blown up dance floors all over this city in 1993. DIISORD3R is up on Bandcamp.

BY BAO LE-HUU

OAK HILL DRIFTERS | PHOTO BY JIM LEATHERMAN

On their first release since 2018, the Oak Hill Drifters step beyond their honkytonk sound to hit the wide-open trail with atmospheric songs inspired by spaghetti Western master Ennio Morricone

CONCERT PICKS, DEC. 23JAN. 12

Due to our upcoming year-end coverage, this extended outlook goes past the holidays. So buy yourself a new calendar and mark these dates.

New Year’s Eve Punk Rock Blowout:

Love both punk rock and Uncle Lou’s? This is your bash. The crazy-long lineup includes Free Fall, the Palmerians, Pizza Nightmare, Grab Bag, Gamma Waves, Black Clash, Human Error and Hobo Houston — which, in punk terms, could amount to either four hours or 30 minutes of music. After the ball drops, Free Fall will perform their tribute anthem to the beloved establishment. Look up “Uncle Lou’s” on Violent Breed Records’ Bandcamp if you wanna sing along and be in the video. (7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31, Uncle Lou’s, $5 from 7-11 p.m./free after 11 p.m.)

.gif from god, Infant Island, Gillian Carter, C0MPUTER: These days, a good, hard shriek is just what the doctor ordered. And from heavy Virginia bands .gif from god and Infant Island to intelligent Orlando ragers Gillian Carter and C0MPUTER, this bill packs a parade of professional-grade screamers powerful enough to peel the paint. (8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, Stardust Video & Coffee, $8)

Machine Girl: At their 2019 show here at Stonewall, this New York electro-punk act showed the rare goods to ignite a room in the way that only legends like Lightning Bolt and Monotonix do. Expect total insanity. (7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, The Abbey, $16 advance/$20 DOS)

Puddles Pity Party: A giant clown crooning torch songs seems like an obvious gag. Yet the poignancy Puddles can muster will give you a Chip Baskets level of reverence for clown artistry. Astonishingly gripping, this pop-music Pagliacci act is worth every devoted ounce of its deep cult. (7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, The Plaza Live, $34.50-$59.50)

baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com