Give the Punk Drummer Some
Where were you when you heard about emo revival?
In 2009, I was asked to appear on a panel about the "future of radio" at MACROCK in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Back then, I was 26, just a few years into my public radio career, but likely pretended I was some hotshot who knew what was what. (I did not.) But the panel procured me a ticket to the festival where I saw Black Tusk, Eternal Summers and an early version of Inter Arma (and apparently missed sets by Des Ark, Ô Paon and Pygmy Lush). (And, absolutely not for nothing, MACROCK is where my now-wife and I danced together for the first time.)
Mostly, I just walked into venues to be surprised. I loved the vibe (and chai) at the Artful Dodger, a coffeehouse straight out of a '90s alterna-romcom, so I spent a lot of time there over the weekend. There was a band on Saturday afternoon, called Pirouette, that caught my ear: noodly, twinkly stuff with a little pep in their step. (There's a blog that offers working Mediafire links to the whole Pirouette catalog.) Then Algernon Cadwallader came on and upped the noodly ante with riffs that felt like Cap'n Jazz rips. What was going on??!! Everything sounded like the scrappy Midwest emo that I grew up on in the '90s; at the time, I didn't think anyone made that kind of music anymore.
At the same showcase, it turns out I had just missed Monument, a new band from Washington, D.C. But in researching all that I could about this burgeoning scene — I don't think we called it "emo revival," quite yet — I quickly fell for the spring-loaded 3 Song 7", a yelpy, mathy and goofy set of songs that had all of the structural switchbacks of Braid and the pop of Promise Ring, but with a distinctly skate punk underpinning that kept everything moving. The band existed from 2008-2013, releasing music on Tiny Engines, Keep It Together and Count Your Lucky Stars. Monument self-released a posthumous record in 2014 called Bros Canoeing! that I always thought deserved more shine — still the same band, but with hints of outward expansion. Horns! Strings! Weird synth squiggles! Dynamic production techniques! A song called "Krauty With a Chance of Meatballs" that, yes, does have a krautrock-y intro!
Somewhere during Monument's existence, I met Brandon Korch through friends here in D.C. Like most drummers, he's played in a silly amount of bands. When he plays the drums, he smiles; it's really nice. He co-hosts an annual chili cookoff with his partner (I won this year!). He's the kind of person who shares this update online: Hi friends, Brandon here. Recently, I've started referring to eating spicy salsa as "riding the spicy dragon." Wholesome, but a bit silly and absurd. A good friend to have.
Not long after Monument broke up, I asked Brandon if he wanted to be in a Jimmy Eat World cover band for Halloween. In the decade since, together we've taken on the Smashing Pumpkins, Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls and The Weakerthans — a great excuse to play music with the same group of friends, adding a couple new faces here and there. The Halloween cover show is one of my favorite things to do every year and I'm a tiny bit bummed when we can't make it happen.
The Halloween set that I still hear about, six years later, is when we covered Carly Rae Jepsen as Gnarly Rae Jepsen. The show was rowdy! Nobody onstage could hear anything, but the crowd was yelling all of the words at us anyway.
So when Brandon asked me last fall if I wanted to get Gnarly Rae Jepsen back together for his 40th birthday, I believe my answer was, "100,000 per cent!!!" So an epic group chat and scattered rehearsals later, we're headlining Korchfest, in which Brandon will play 5 STRAIGHT SETS with bands past and present… including Monument! A glutton for good times, that guy!
KORCHFEST
Aug. 23 (tickets!)
Black Cat
Washington, D.C.
Gnarly Rae Jepsen: The best Carly Rae Jepsen cover band in the Mid-Atlantic region! Technically, a reunion! Brandon runs away with drums.
Monument: OG emo revivalists! Reunion! Brandon straight up jacks them drums!
Hobis: Screamy post-hardcore trio originally started as a high school punk band! Reunion! Brandon is the man of steel (of drums)!
Pilau: Fast, grindy, buzzsaw hardcore! Brandon decimates the drums!
The Armors: Cheap Trick-y rock and roll… plain and simple! Brandon comin' in hot on drums!
If you live in the DMV, this party's for everyone! (Did I mention tickets?) There will be show-only merch! Here's a Korchfest mixtape via BNDCMPR not only featuring my favorite Monument and Pilau tracks, but also bands across Brandon's discography.