FRIDAY 10/18

VEX, VATS, SO PITTED, FREAK VIBE

Any show that lauds its lineup as a "new era of new bands in the PNW" prompts some heady speculation. But in this case, the scene bristling forth from Olympia around hardcore bands like White Wards and in Seattle with labels like Iron Lung Records is defining something new for punk in the Pacific Northwest. You're in for a ferocious aural assault with new Olympia band Vex, whose distilled rage is embodied by aggressive female vocals and adrenalized riffs lacking in meat-driven slow-mo/Tad-in-the-Woods-iness. Vex have a vinyl release in the works, but for now, their frenetic live shows will have to suffice. Also, save some earplugs for So Pitted, one of Seattle's most raucous and sludge-centric fuzz-punk bands. Freak Vibe, as you'd expect from members of Nudes and Sioux City Pete and the Beggars, will conjure nauseating vibes. The pure intestines on the background of their Bandcamp page hint at their stumbling, morass-tastic, and distinctively gross aesthetic. With Nick Cave–like monster cries and the swampiest bass you'll hear all week, the decadent drudgery on their frothy, snarling single "Jesus in the Kitchen" seems designed to displace organs (or your lunch). With Vats, another new local band rumored to be "dance-y funk-punk." Black Lodge, 9 pm.

SATURDAY 10/19

GAYTHEIST, AUTHOR & PUNISHER, MAKING FUCK

Enter a punishing realm of heavy rock tonight with Portland's resoundingly queer metal-punk band Gaytheist. Fresh off the release of their latest, Hold Me... but Not So Tight, their dissonant metal obliterates with a sense of melody that sparkles in surprising ways. On tour from Salt Lake City, Making Fuck may also inspire an expansion in your threshold for gristled brutality. San Diego–based industrial-drone/dub-metal act Author & Punisher should probably be soundtracking competitive cyberpunk sports, like folks wearing black PVC using spiked maces to bash skulls into baskets made of lasers. This music is legitimately bizarre, with a doomy post-goth atmosphere at odds with the ultimately wobbly, wonky dubstep now best known for filling arenas with 50 shades of neon. Black Lodge, 9 pm.