Chameleons Performing the Album: Strange Times + The Veldt + Violet Silhouette – West Palm Beach – 10/28/24

’80s post-punk take note, Chameleons will be touring in 2024. This marks a reunion between The Chameleons frontman Mark Burgess and guitarist Reg Smithies, who had not toured together under Chameleons name in nearly two decades until 2023’s tour with The Mission UK. The band formed in Greater Manchester UK and is known as one of the genre’s greatest bands.

As bass player, singer and songwriter in iconic post-punk outfit The Chameleons, Mark Burgess can lay claim to having influenced a multitude of artists worldwide. Previously cited by the likes of Interpol, Editors and The National, The Chameleons might not have enjoyed the same levels of commercial success as some of their peers but the band’s legacy lives on.

Having formed in 1981 only to split in 1987 before briefly reforming in 2000, the Mancunian four-piece left behind a flawless back catalogue including three of the most pioneering long players of the post-punk era in Script Of The Bridge, What Does Anything Mean? Basically and Strange Times.

The Veldt
Website: https://theveldt.supertape.site
Instagram: https://instagram.com/_Theveldt
Facebook: https://facebook.com/VeldtThe
Bandcamp: https://theveldtmusic.bandcamp.com

Identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis originally hail from Raleigh/ Chapel Hill, North Carolina programmer Hayato Nakao, originally from Japan, hooked up with the Chavis brothers while living in New York. Along with Drummer Dale Miller, Micah Gaugh Keyboardist/Saxophone, Bassist Alex Cox and guitarist Martin Newman make up the current line up.

Lifting their band’s name from a Ray Bradbury science fiction story, their own life stories have also been quite fantastic. After signing to Capitol Records in 1989, The Veldt were soon in the studio with dream-gaze guru Robin Guthrie working on their initial recordings, playing American concert halls with Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and recording ‘Marigolds’ with Lincoln Fong (Moose). Not long after, they would record their classic ‘Afrodisiac’ (1994), produced by Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, Sugarcubes) and released via Mercury Records.

They have also collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def and Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), and shared the stage with The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Colour, and Schooly D.

This past year has also been pretty monumental, with highlights including sold-out tours with Phantogram and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, a European tour, two separate Canadian tours, appearance at some of North America’s and Europe’s hottest psych fests, a spotlight feature on Time Warner Cable TV and being named as east coast support for Modern English. Performing since they were children, the Chavis brothers’ musical roots lead back to the church and southern juke-joints, and listening to music that included gospel, Motown and Pink Floyd. The Veldt formed in the late 80’s in Raleigh amongst the royalty of the legendary North Carolina music scene, including bands such as Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, The Connells, Dillon Fence, The dBs, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Ryan Adams. Pitchfork recently included their album ‘Afrodisiac’ in the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released. Their sound also inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.

This latest EP sees the band returning to their roots, albeit with plenty of distortion, programmed beats and pedal effects. They’ve also involved A.R.Kane, who produced ‘And It’s You’. Borrowing the title ‘The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur’ from an E.E. Cummings poem, this EP includes five tracks with a raging sound influenced equally by the emotional soul of Marvin Gaye, free jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders, various Drake hip-hop tracks, long-term musical kin Cocteau Twins, and their own fertile electric imagination.

Violet Silhouette
Instagram: https://instagram.com/violetsilhouetteofficial
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/violetsilhouetteofficial
Bandcamp: https://violetsilhouette.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/violetsilhouetteofficial

What happens when you mix brooding existentialism with a love of synthesizers and noise-rock? — Violet Silhouette may have an answer, in fact, it has all of them. Born from a tropical depression, Violet Silhouette is an American musical duo or group that may or may not sound like how dusk feels but with more reverb. Their live shows have been called “very good” and exist with the intent of giving the viewer and performer a shared catharsis.The first EP titled SEMIPERMANENTDEREALIZATION has been considered appropriate for all mood levels, intimate settings, and night driving.

“…the dance-punk/postwave triumvirate embarks on a fresh voyage, diving deep into the multifaceted realm of “Neuromanticism.” This exotic medley of sensory experimentation, paired with our recurrently perilous quest for the quintessence of truth and love, pushes boundaries in the genre-bending musical landscape. Imbued with kaleidoscopic undertones and a brooding romanticism, their sound provokes thought, smears the lines, and adds a new dimension to the continually evolving realms of alternative music.” Alice Teeple (Post-punk.com)

Violet Silhouette is:

• Zaii Valdes [vox•guitars•synthesizer•drum programming]
• Dan Potvin [synthesizer•guitar•vox•sequencing]
• Justin Gianoutsos [bass]