“Come closer and you will see: feminism is for everybody,” goes the seminal clarion call from bell hooks (the pen name of late author and activist Gloria Jean Watkins) — a sentiment conducting the electrical current for the Crocker Art Museum’s combustive multi-genre “Come Closer” concert series.
With the honor for the January installment of “Come Closer” is the ethereal Rituals of Mine, the long-running mindbender of a project from Terra Lopez. Already a barreling force of galactically fierce electronic indie pop, the latest incarnation of Rituals finds Lopez paired up with a new backing band: ever-expansive jazz/funk/soul sonic architects and omnipresent local performers LabRats. With a few shows under their belts, this new collaboration is prepping a debut album, “OTRA,” for an early 2026 release – to say we are intrigued about what they’re putting down on wax is an understatement. Wistful dreamscape-riding indie pop act Rosemother opens (7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 22. $30-$35).
The music series serves as an extension of the museum’s current exhibit, “Making Moves: A Collection of Feminisms,” a multi-artist curation likewise inspired by hooks’ writings, which “examines the evolving complexities of femininity and feminism that have inspired generations of visual artists.” Two additional “Come Closer” events are on tap before the exhibition wraps in early May. Spitfire hip-hop and spoken word artist Ruby Ibarra performs on Feb. 26, with a DJ set from Mrs. Organic, with biting synth-laden post-punk act DEFEM, alongside the aforementioned Lopez doing an opening DJ set, closing the series out on April 23 (crockerart.org/events).
A pair of tin anniversaries – that’s ten years to you – figure to make for a rowdy January at the Press Club. First up, adored indie pop-punk trio Polyorchids emerges for its first gig in several years to mark a decade since the release of the ebullient “Popgun E.P.,” with support from genre-bending Lokeigh (aka Tyler-Ferris Masteller, formerly of I Kill Cameron and Dandelion Massacre) zigzagging psych rock act Tashow and punk rock upstart Chonker (8 p.m. Sat. Jan. 10. $16.50). Later in the month, psych rock maestros Vinnie Guidera and the Dead Birds celebrate 10 years since the release of their beautifully fraught “Lows,” flanked by enigmatic folk artist High Bias and affable indie rock troupe Citizen Snips (8 p.m. Fri. Jan. 23. $16.50. pressclubsac.com/events).
A quick spin through Weakened Friends’ newest LP, “Feels Like Hell,” gives one that early sense of a proverbial “the gloves are off” record – ironic for a sludgy rock trio that didn’t seem to previously shy away from a good-natured bareknuckle romp. But dropping the gloves can feel like an exasperating last act born of desperation and hopelessness – a door that slams behind you, leaves you in the dark and seldom reopens. “Feels Like Hell” ultimately isn’t that record. It’s a striking guitar-driven grunge pop embrace of chaos, a bellowing “eff this” in a way that resets the compass and chugs luminously forward, rather than toiling in that aforementioned darkness. Vocalist Sonia Sturino’s newly adopted gender-nonconformity yields a nonconforming and strikingly honest razor-edged vocal approach that was absent (or perhaps just cautiously withheld) from the group’s previous works – raw and unencumbered in the most endearing of ways. The guttural wallop of opening salvo “Tough Luck (Bleed Me Out)” somehow makes it make perfect sense that the record wraps with an unexpectedly driving cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” – trust us, it works! Knoxey opens (7 p.m. Sun. Jan. 25 at Folsom Hotel, 703 Sutter St, Folsom. $25. folsomhotelsaloon.com/events).
It would be tough to pin down just what Jim Ward has in store for his “Live & Alone” solo tour, stopping off at Cafe Colonial this month. He’s the vocalist and co-founder of seminal rock act Sparta and former guitarist of post-hardcore cult heroes At The Drive-In, while also sporting a pair of albums as a solo artist – each a departure from his other projects but rife with the sort of jagged-edge guitar work and rumbling songwriting that one would expect. Ward is “trying a little bit different version of playing by myself” on this tour – with “pedals, guitars and amps” according to his tour promo vid. Whatever that yields, Ward remains a prodigious and workmanlike subterranean rock figure. Broken Tapes, the psych-folk offshoot of the Snares’ Izzie Gomez, opens (8 p.m. Wed. Jan. 14. 3520 Stockton Blvd. $20. cafecolonial916.com)
We’ll fully admit to enjoying a “cocktail hour” start time for a show – especially one that makes the bar order that much easier to land on (whiskey and cheap lagers feel requisite). We’re further big fans of ragtag country acts that maintain only a paper-thin partition between country and surf rock. Welcome back to Torch Club, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs. The madcap Portland, OR country cowpunk troupe are stewards of the genre’s most gilded eras – balanced helpings of glitz and grime, equal parts gala and gutter (5 p.m. Sat. Jan. 31 at Torch Club. $15; tickets at door only. torchclub.net).
We’ll end with a tip of the cap to Claimstake Brewing, which at the end of 2025 opted to shutter its homey Rancho Cordova taproom. That’s a hole in the local brewing scene and Rancho’s adored Barrel District, to be sure, but likewise a bittersweet adieu to the makeshift music venue that owner and brewer Brian Palmer had curated there. From their regular Kith & Kin music festivals to numerous midweek visits from touring folk/Americana artists, it was a special place – especially so in light of the tragic but heartwarming bond shared between Palmer and Oregon-based folk artist Austin Quattlebaum, who visited more than half a dozen times. The future of Claimstake’s brewing endeavors remains up in the air, but with the taproom dark, for now we’ll simply say thanks for the years of music and beer. What more would one need in this life?
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