Monopolyopolis / Another Michael / Dogs on Shady Lane
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
SAGE BIRD CIDERWORKS
$10 ADV / $15 DOS
Taproom open 11am-9pm
Kitchen open 11am-3pm & 6pm-9pm
—
MONOPOLYOPOLIS (Harrisonburg)
Experimental indie instrumental post-rock live loops
DOGS ON SHADY LANE (Brooklyn, NY / Lauren Records)
Dogs on Shady Lane is an indie-rock band from Providence, RI, and partially based in Brooklyn, NY. Songwriter and guitarist Tori Hall began Dogs on Shady Lane in 2018 as an independent creative exploration. The project has since grown to include Evan Weinstein (guitar/synth/vox), Calder Mansfield (bass/vox), and Grace Goss (percussion) as of 2020. The now 4-piece band is known to create a dynamic yet intimate sonic live show. Blending elements of fuzz rock, folk, and slow-core, their sound is inspired by artists like Big Thief and Crumb.
The band garnered attention for their 2022 single “Cole St.,” which has surpassed 1 million streams on Spotify. Following that success, the band would go on to sign with Lauren Records, and release their debut EP “The Knife” on February 23, 2024. Contrasting some of their earlier works, the 4-song release introduces heavy guitars and moody synth lines, juxtaposed with moments of intimate vocal melodies over subtle textural soundscapes. The record sonically moves in an arc — each song tied to the next through lyrical themes of wound-like loss, traumas, and internal shifts. Recorded at Big Nice Studio in the fall of 2023, “The Knife” was engineered and mixed by Chaimes Parker and mastered by Brad Krieger.
ANOTHER MICHAEL (Philadelphia, PA / Run For Cover Records)
Something very special happens in the moment when a listener truly connects to a song. It’s an intangible reaction that bridges science and emotion, turning firing synapses into something cosmically beautiful. Another Michael exists for that moment: when a song transforms the setting of a long walk home, or speaks to a past experience while simultaneously making a new one, or taps into something universal by relating details so specific and personal that they could only be revealed in music. In 2023 the band released Wishes To Fulfill, the first in a pair of albums dedicated to their love of song, and now they’re back already with the experimental next chapter, Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down. Together, the dual LPs create and pay tribute to the power of transcendent musical moments.
Wishes To Fulfill and Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down are contrasting but complimentary albums: musical siblings that are undeniably different entities but still share key sonic DNA. They each offer a plethora of dynamics, feelings, and moods to soundtrack the richness of life, and form Another Michael’s finest work to date. Where Wishes To Fulfill was a lean 29-minute set of single-worthy tracks, Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down is more expansive, patiently unfolding to reveal an exploratory side that brings new hues into the band’s vibrant sound.
On Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down, Another Michael’s core sound–ultra-catchy melodies delivered through inventive chord progressions, lush arrangements, and vocalist/guitarist Michael Doherty’s distinctive voice–is still present, but the record features new ingredients that push the music into unexpected directions. The songs often take the knack for hooks that defined Wishes To Fulfill and apply it to left turns like the hypnotic quasi-krautrock of “I’ve Come Around To That,” the sparse balladry of the title track, or the pulsating synth explorations of “The Diner’s Spoon.” The album’s world is weirder and more improvisational, like in the twisting ends of “Hub of Dreams” or the spontaneous performances of “Like I Won A Car”–but Doherty’s warm singing and conversational lyricism always keep things grounded.
Another Michael’s adoration for music allows for simple sonic satisfaction, but it also taps into something deeper, something connective. “Music is a medium of communication,” says bassist Nick Sebastiano, “It’s not a purposeful decision to talk about music in our songs but it just inherently means so much to us. If something makes your heart sing, the audience is going to hear it.” On Wishes To Fulfill and Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down, the band didn’t set out to capture the all encompassing, existential value of music, but they did contribute to it offering more songs to the world, and with them, chances to create one of those moments.