The Washington Post - 06.09.2019

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THE WASHINGTON POST

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

meaningless,” the bassist said with

a soft smile. “So to fold it into

something beautiful and orga-

nized, something that makes

sense? It makes you feel better.”

Like a song, that explanation

felt reassuring, satisfying, neatly

resolved. Then, also like a song,

our conversation was over.

[email protected]

image of yourself or your experi-

ence. But it’s still super-fleeting,

right? A song only lasts for, like, 2^1 / 2

minutes.”

Suddenly, we were all sitting in

the middle of a very big idea — an

idea that Bennett promptly

shrunk down to human scale. “At

the risk of sounding depressing,

life is largely sad, painful and

question. Why does melody feel

good?

Banks twirled it around in his

brain for a half-second before lo-

cating an answer: “I think it’s a

sort-of idealized now. Melody feels

good when you’re hearing it, or

when you’re playing it, because it’s

like stepping into a mist of opti-

mism. Or hope. It’s an idealized

BY CHRIS RICHARDS

T

wo guys from the D.C. punk

trio Dot Dash recently con-

vened inside a coffee shop

on K Street to explain when

and how they make music. It hap-

pens on Sunday mornings at 9:30

a.m. — even though Terry Banks,

the band’s singer and guitarist, has

an unfortunate habit of posting 30

minutes late. Still, whenever he ar-

rives, he always remembers to

bring the chords and the words.

Drummer Danny Ingram (formerly

of the legendary hardcore group

Youth Brigade) and bassist Hunter

Bennett bang along until it feels like

a song.

It’s a method that requires lots

of trust and very little discussion.

“We dive in and pursue what

sounds good and feels good,”

Banks explained between coffee

swigs. “The melody takes me

somewhere, I babble some non-

sense, and it gets us to a place

where these guys can instinctively

drop in.”

What else is there to talk about

with a band that has such a clear

understanding of itself? Only the

really big stuff, and since melody

seems to be the lifeblood gushing

through every Dot Dash album —

from 2011’s “Spark>Flame>Em-

ber>Ash” to the brand-new “Proto

Retro” — I tossed up an impossible

Music

BY HAU CHU

Uniform

When the hardcore duo Uni-

form set off in search of musical

inspiration for their latest album,

they found an unlikely source:

Bruce Springsteen. The Brooklyn

thrashers teamed with Provi-

dence heavies The Body to con-

jure the ferocious “Everything

That Dies Someday Comes Back”

— a turn of phrase from one of the

Boss’s all-time great yarns, “Atlan-

tic City.” You won’t get the same

melodies as you do from Spring-

steen as you adjust your ears to

the harsh howls between the two

bands, but that’s intentional. If

you sift through the pounding

industrial sounds, you’ll find a

gem about embracing the battle

that, against all odds, some prob-

lems won’t simply go away — and

that’s okay. Saturday at 8 p.m.

(doors) at Black Cat. $20.

Danny Gatton tribute

The music of Danny Gatton,

like pretty much all the best

things about D.C., wasn’t just a

singular experience, but rather

something meant to be admired

by all. The District-born guitarist

graced our sonic frequencies with

his blending of blues and rocka-

billy riffs to create a distinct

brand of what was referred to as

hillbilly jazz. It has been 25 years

since his death, so a mess of local

Gatton disciples, including gui-

tarist Dave Chappell and drum-

mer Big Joe Maher, will com-

mune to deliver a fittingly boogy-

ing tribute to the guitar virtuoso.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the

Birchmere. $25.

Brandee Younger

Album titles aren’t always sup-

posed to be so on the nose, but the

latter word of Brandee Younger’s

latest album, “Soul Awakening,”

sure seems to fit her career path.

The 36-year-old harpist has al-

ready collaborated with her share

of accomplished jazz peers, in-

cluding Pharoah Sanders and

Ravi Coltrane — she has even

released albums on the legendary

labels Blue Note and Impulse. But

“Soul Awakening” is a self-re-

leased effort that dazzles, as the

accompanying bass, percussion

and saxophones all masterfully

stay in orbit around the sheer

force of Younger’s harp. And for

the cherry on top, one of Young-

er’s compositions, “Hortense,”

was featured earlier this year in

Beyoncé’s documentary “Home-

coming.” Sunday at 6 p.m. at

Studio K of the Reach. All passes

claimed.

Jlin

If you’re ready to get your

breath taken away on the dance

floor — maybe literally — turn

your attention to the dizzying

sounds summoned by Jlin. The

Gary, Ind.-based producer started

in 2015 by fashioning her own

spin on footwork, a style of dance

music created in nearby Chicago

that encourages, in technical

terms, going absolutely wild with

your feet in the club. “Black Ori-

gami,” released in 2017, is in a

class of its own as a wonderfully

idiosyncratic swirling of almost

unearthly sounds that somehow

remains quite danceable. Thurs-

day at 10:30 p.m. (doors) at

U Street Music Hall. $10-$20.

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Finding the melody in life

ROXPLOSION

DOT DASH

Show: Opening for the Vibrators on

Tuesday at 8 p.m. at DC9,

1940 Ninth St. NW. $15.

ERIN PATRICE O'BRIEN

Harpist Brandee Younger, whose “Hortense” appeared in

Beyoncé’s documentary “Homecoming,” will perform at the Reach.

4 more concerts to catch

To create one of punk trio

Dot Dash’s signature melodies,

singer-guitarist Terry Banks,

center, with Danny Ingram and

Hunter Bennett, brings the

words and chords while his

bandmates bang around until it

feels like a song. A melody,

Bennett explains, “makes you

feel better.”