Billy Allen + The Pollies, Zoofunkyou, Vacant Church

Doors 7PM / Show 8PM

$12ADV / $15DOS

There is a ferocious Southern engine inside of Billy Allen + The Pollies’ debut album Black Noise. It thrums to life atop a classic rock chassis and expertly weaves in and out of gospel, grunge, funk and soul along its eleven-song journey. From the explosive top of the album (a liberating anthem of self-worth called “All of Me”) to the spiritually haunting final track (the wurlitzer fueled “Go on Without Them”) Black Noise is a genre-defiant haymaker that lands.

The band is a hybrid of four piece rock outfit The Pollies and fellow Alabamian, and frontman, Billy Allen. The story of what fused Allen and The Pollies is one that begins in a bar 8 years ago. This particular bar was on Allen’s gig circuit and it just so happens to be where Jay Burgess (founder of The Pollies) was having a drink that evening. While there was intrigue and potential in that first chance meeting, the two would remain ships in the night, each building their own careers, until years later when the stars would align at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals. As the story goes, both Allen and The Pollies, who were all occasional session musicians at Fame, were finally in the room together and the track on deck was Little Richard’s “Greenwood, MS”. To hear Allen retell this part of the story is to hear a man talk about the beginnings of a priceless friendship. “There was an immediate romantic musical connection,” Allen said. “This is my band.” To hear Burgess tell it, the feeling was mutual. Over the subsequent year, the two groups rehearsed, toured, wrote, and gelled together under the moniker Billy Allen + The Pollies. The joining of Billy and Jay (along with the other charter members of The Pollies: Spencer Duncan, Jon Davis & Clint Chandler) was like the clicking of a dislocated bone back into true.

Named after a theoretical sound bomb with the power to destroy whole cities, Black Noise was written almost entirely during the pandemic, beginning as voice memos between Burgess and Allen. With the lockdown in full swing, the musicians became each other’s micro-community, and voice memos progressed to writing sessions in Jay’s garage, and continued to full band rehearsals at Jay’s Greenhill, Alabama, sanctuary Studio 144. When the time to cut the record arrived, they tapped long-time friend and Grammy winning musician Ben Tanner to produce and engineer. Tanner (co-owner of SingleLock Records and former Alabama Shakes keys player) brought the band to Sun Drop Sound in Florence where the bulk of the recording was done. The band was so deeply meshed that the album they captured between April and November of 2021, other than a small overdub section, was recorded fully live, without a click, and 3 takes or less per song.

Listening to Black Noise feels like walking on the alien terrain of a new genre. It sounds like garage grunge by way of Jackie Wilson. The very same kerchief Billy Allen uses to wipe sweat from his brow on stage could be carrying DNA from Wilson Pickett, Joe Cocker, D’Angelo, Ziggy Stardust, or any of the Spiders from Mars. Theirs is a gritty and trailblazing sound. They are a band full of smiling time travelers, able to visit and draw from a multitude of eras and styles. Black Noise is an album that devastates you to the point of remembering why you love music. This is the type of band you root for. You can’t help it. They're that damn good.

Zoofunkyouis a genre-bending blues-funk phenomenon who have brought their quick-witted sonic expressionism and meaningful melodic lyrics to audiences all around the country. Based in Chicago, Zoofunkyou’s gumbo of finely crafted musical elements is a recipe that they’ve been working to perfect since 2013 with different ingredients and instrumentalists interspersed along the way. Zoofunkyou (or “Zoofü”) is dedicated to spreading love through music and creating inclusive events where people from all walks of life can feel safe and bring the emotional gratitude the band exudes from the stage home with them. In the current iteration, founder Derek Dare, Matthew Coglianese, and Jake Hennessy lead an epic ensemble consisting of a total of 5-9 members depending on the performance. As of late, they are typically joined by James Kries on Keys, and Nathan Reider on Alto Saxophone, and when they go for the “full band sound” they are joined by Connor Bernhard on Trumpet, Matt Kowalski on Trombone and Alex Santilli on Percussion. With a wide repertoire of both gripping original music and tasteful covers, their live shows have proven time and time again to enthrall, grow and inspire a vibrant fan base affectionately known as the Zoofü Crew.

"While Stabilizer brings to mind 20th century Americana classics, it is clearly of this century. One is reminded of many artists who have gone before; Nick Drake, The Flaming Lips, Beck, The Velvet Underground. Each of these artists marked a shift in the style of basic songs, and Vacant Church pulls off the same futuristic feel while firmly rooting the songs in the tradition." - Ropeadope