The Alabama Shakes are headlining a free show in a few hours at the Jefferson. Hailing from Athens, Alabama, the Shakes claim that their brand of Southern soul is suitable for “the Matador, the Boot Knock, the Hip Dip, the Full Body Seizure, the One-Legged Fox Trot, the Thunderbird, the Cobra Snake, the Pre-Apocalyptic Strut, the Post-Apocalyptic Strut,” and the “Reverse Rain Dance.” Whatever gyrations they inspire tonight, the Shakes should do right by any rhythm-and-blues fan. Listen to their self-titled EP below.
First on the bill is Richmond’s Black Girls, a bunch of white boys whose head-turning moniker took effect last July when they opened for Wild Nothing, sparking a comments-section debate on Nailgun Media over its potentially offensive/actually offensive status. In an interview on the WRIR blog following their performance at this year’s MACRoCk, they cited influences ranging from T. Rex to R. Kelly to Steely Dan, and live, they put on a show that’s accordingly falsetto-heavy and all over the place. The fuzzed-out and furious Red Rattles are tonight’s other opener. Former Feedbacker Andrew Cedermark said it right when he wrote that frontman Luke Nutting, formerly of Six Day Bender, “sings lake a man with a condemned throat.” The Red Rattles’ latest EP, City Dogs, plays like a prison-rules religious revival. Three bands, no cover.