This Little Underground

Later down the street was one of the highly anticipated performances on the reunion run of Miami alternative metal band Floor (Will’s Pub). However retroactive their current celebrated status is due to the subsequent success of Torche, they are now basking in their revised status as legendary underground heroes of the Florida heavy music pantheon. Between that sweet, scalp-tingling midrange roar and an expansive, sky-streaking approach to the heavy, the seeds of Torche’s defining sound could definitely be heard on an exhilarating scale. More than anything though, this set was total validation of all of the plaudits that are now being heaped upon them. Just ask the crowd that packed out the house and went completely coconuts. Awesome.

This week’s final exemplar of the simple triumph of good songwriting is Portland’s Blind Pilot (Feb. 24, the Social). Their pop music speaks a florid folk dialect through a virtual orchestra expansive enough to encompass guitars, drums, horns, organs, bells, banjo, upright bass – the whole nine. It’s a sound that’s pleasing and supremely lush with layer upon layer of vibe. But, again, what drives all the grand pageantry is an essence of strong, sharply etched songwriting that’s likeably accessible with a Shins-esque buoyancy.

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