THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
At the top of the bill for a showcase by Orlando indie label Retro Neon Records (Jan. 5, Will’s Pub) was consistently fresh beat maestro Grant and future-now rapper Tedd.gif. But this was my first show of 2017, and the only way to start a new year is by seeing some young local acts for the first time.
Local band RV are indeed very young – as in still in high school, at least according to the Facebook event page. What I can verify firsthand is that there were lots of black X’s on their hands. Most importantly, I can also verify that this quartet is a distinctive new voice around here and well worth keeping an eye on. Skeletal but soft and warped, the dreamy economy of their reverb-soaked sound could pass for the Ocean Blue on sedatives, playing like a perfect little jangle-pop record underwater. As a band that’s both new and young, they’re rudimentary still. But purity shrouded in a little mystique like this is a combination that’s always bewitching. And with songs like these, practice and clarity will only burnish their radiance. Their three-song demo is here for free.
Shania Pain, the duo of Andrea Knight and Jason Kimmins, is a group that’s been wagging tongues in the Orlando underground lately and one that’s been buzzing on my radar for a while. Like that great moniker, their music is a thing of intrigue, one that apparently is evolving rapidly. Their spare electronic sound conjures the spirit of dark wave and pre-dance industrial music, with a demo last summer that was harrowing and impenetrable yet strangely beckoning. This performance, however, revealed some deep and elemental acid-house throb, like the bleakest after-party ever. At the core of it all, though, is an atmospheric minimalism that’s pregnant, purposeful, theatrical.
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This Little Underground is Orlando Weekly's music column providing perspective, live reviews and news on the city's music scene.

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