(Don't) Stop the Music

Check out some of our favorite recent releases from Virginia artists. Your playlist will thank you.

Avers

Omega/Whatever (Egghunt)

Three intriguing songwriting voices and an urgent and inviting sound separate this Richmond indie-rock band from the rest of clubland’s guitar pack. Avers is steeped in classic garage and psychedelia, but their music never degenerates into pastiche. It’s just one cool tune after another, expertly played by people who sound like they mean it. Pick hit: “Evil.” AversMusic.com

Avers: “Evil”

Pain in the Yeahs

That Which You Most Resist/PITY EP (Pushed Too Far Records)

Even as this Chesapeake band’s atmospheric “gloom rock” is compared to that of the Cure or Depeche Mode, leader James Wagner continues to be his own man, as interested in exploring creepy soundscapes as he is investigating his navel. He’s prolific, too, releasing this new full-length album along with an equally-strong EP. Pick hit: “Helter Skelter.” PainInTheYeahs.Bandcamp.com

Pain in the Yeahs: “Helter Skelter”

The Sally Rose Band

Gotta Be Gold (self)

Girl power, indeed. This spunky Charlottesville chanteuse and her band—which includes multi-instrumentalist mom Cathy Monnes—fuse the smiling optimism of bubblegum rock with the hard riffs of punky power pop. Rendered at Richmond’s Sound of Music, this is a disc of bouncy originals that defies your head not to bop along. Pick hit: “Banshee.” TheSallyRoseBand.com