On Aug. 20 and 21, at the Radio Room in Greenville, two very different local bands will be celebrating the release of their new albums. On Friday (Aug. 20), the hard-rocking quartet REdEFIND will play a show to promote their new release, Images. Then, somewhat confusingly, the Upstate trio Friday Night Feature will be playing on Saturday (Aug. 21) to celebrate their debut, “Cool Evenings, Hot Feelings.”
REdEFIND
REdEFIND’s previous release, 2020’s “Let’s Party,” was a relatively straightforward nu-metal album. “Images,” on the other hand, is darker and more complex, taking the band’s metallic sound and mixing in progressive song structures reminiscent of bands like Tool. It’s a big change — and the band is aware of it.
“We’ve all been through a lot of crap, “ Caparell says. “The whole COVID thing and just life in general. It’s been bleak times, so there’s more emotion.”
“We’ve all talked about this,” says REdEFIND’s singer Jordan Caparell, “and it’s a whole new thing. It’s still REdEFIND, but it’s a lot more emotional and it’s not as fun and light as ‘Let’s Party.’”
Caparell is a vocal dynamo on “Images,” going from an eerie croon to a vicious snarl, often in the same song. The music follows suit, going through both delicate and intensely heavy music on the album’s six songs.
Perhaps one of the reasons the band’s sound has changed so dramatically is that they’ve adjusted to Caparell as their vocalist; he’s actually their second lead singer, joining guitarist Dru “Drucifer” Woodall, bassist Drew Porter and drummer Dustan Snow after original singer Branden Knapp left.
“They had written the first album with their old vocalist in mind,” he says, “so I guess with me being with them for two years now, they were writing music based more on things that I could do.”
Or maybe there’s another, more direct reason for their darker, less-friendly sound.
“We’ve all been through a lot of crap, “ Caparell says. “The whole COVID thing and just life, in general. It’s been bleak times, so there’s more emotion.”
Overall, it’s a powerful collection of pummeling heavy rock, but Caparell admits he’s more than a little nervous going into the band’s album-release show.
“I have mad anxiety about this album coming out,” he says. “We all stepped out of our comfort levels with this. We love it, of course, but I’m worried that everyone else might not feel it. I hope that people can relate to it in some way.”
FRIDAY NIGHT FEATURE
As for Friday Night Feature, if you can relate to the shimmering keyboard sound of the ‘80s and the icy guitar style of late-period Cure albums, you’ll love “Cool Evenings, Hot Feelings,” which combines both with singer/guitarist Zach Robinson’s nakedly-emotional vocals.
“We have a lot of similar musical tastes and ideas for what we wanted to create, musically,” Robinson says. “So we kind of ran with it and it’s been really fun so far.”
“We’re trying to create something that has more of an 80s vibe with the keyboards,” Robinson says, “but ultimately I do have a little bit of pop-punk in me. That Jimmie-Eat-World kind of sound resonates in our music.”
The band’s rhythm section, bassist Gavin Beamish and Robert Mullis, used to be a backing band for Robinson’s solo work, but they grew into something more after his 2018 solo album.
“Robert and I have been playing music together since 8th grade,” Robinson says. “So we have a lot of really good natural chemistry just from playing together for over a decade now. And Gavin is a really strong bassist and really knows his stuff as well, so we decided to step up and slap a label on it as more of an official band. It came really naturally to us, and we just wanted to pursue something more collaborative.”
If the five songs on “Cool Evenings, Hot Feelings” are any indication, the band has found a winning combination of punk-pop vocal hooks, tight indie-rock rhythms and throwback keyboards.
“We have a lot of similar musical tastes and ideas for what we wanted to create, musically,” Robinson says. “So we kind of ran with it and it’s been really fun so far.”
If you go:
Who: Redefind “Images” EP Release Show with A War To Win, Fractured Frames and By Design
Where: Radio Room, 110 Poinsett Hwy., Greenville
When: Friday, August 20, 8 p.m.
Admission: $10
Info: 864-609-4441, http://www.radioroomgreenville.com/
Who: Friday Night Feature Album Release Show with Ploma Drive and W4WVK
Where: Radio Room, 110 Poinsett Hwy., Greenville
When: Saturday, August 21, 8 p.m.
Admission: $8 advance, $10 door
Info: 864-609-4441, http://www.radioroomgreenville.com/
