Bumblefest is essentially a real world music discovery platform. A gallery of sorts where you’re given the opportunity to sample works of art that you normally wouldn’t get to experience — in this case — live music — sounds and bands that wouldn’t ordinarily make the trip. Bumblefest is South Florida’s annual cultural experience which allows us to break out of our regular routines and sample something fresh with an open mind. An exploration of sound without leaving town!
WORLD DESTROYERS’ PLEASURE CLUB
(ex Dead Meadow, ex Black Angels, Los Angeles)
RIYL: Talking Heads, The Fall, Peter Gabriel, Wire, Fela Kuti, Psychic TV, Night Flights era Walker Brothers
You probably won’t hear anything in 2024 quite like the self-titled debut album of World Destroyers’ Pleasure Club. Featuring former members of Black Angels, Dead Meadow, Death Valley Girls and Grooms it vacillates positively between alien and accessible, a world-music vibe dosed with post-punk and free jazz while sometimes hinting at an alternate-reality Talking Heads. You can experience this unique sound in person when the Los Angeles quintet makes its South Florida debut headlining Bumblefest… Read more in PureHoney
DION LUNADON (ex A Place to Bury Strangers, New York City)
That chain Lunadon rattles on the cover of 2023’s Systems Edge isn’t just a photo prop, and it’s just one key to Lunadon’s solo output. Think overdriven amps, sinks of reverb and a ton of swagger. Think Link Wray, black leather and bad-moon-rising vibes. It’s a parallel world to the one Lunadon occupied as singer-guitarist in The D4 and former bassist in A Place to Bury Strangers, though all share that unbridled, soulful, undefinable spark… Read more in PureHoney
PSYCHIC DEATH (Atlanta)
Atlanta’s Psychic Death straddle death rock, post-punk and darkwave, although they’re a bit too upbeat to be considered goth. Live, they are tight, terse and thrumming with an intensity that feels explosive. On record they sound like Joy Division and Rozz Williams-era Christian Death squaring up for a knife fight under a full moon. Jangle guitars, new wave synths, and blown-out reverb rattle your skull enough to loosen your fillings… Read more in PureHoney
STARCLEANER REUNION (Lightheaded, New York City)
RIYL: Broadcast, feeble little horse, Yo La Tengo
In the decades since Stereolab emerged, there haven’t been many acts that you could say are reminiscent of their distinctly airy yet intricate style of Europop. That all changes when you hear the beautiful work of Starcleaner Reunion, who will be making their Florida debut as Bumblefest headliners. Five New Jersey high school friends who moved to New York City, Starcleaner Reunion have a bit of Stereolab’s multilingual streak, although Spanish, not French, is their second language on tracks like the trippy “Que Dices.” But the Francophone influence is there… Read more in PureHoney
FIONA MOONCHILD (Scott Yoder, Sonny & the Sunsets, Seattle)
RIYL: Stereolab, Gang Of Four, Orange Juice
Seattle-based Fiona Moonchild is touring, at last, in support of a debut album that came out in late 2021 and has, for reasons too numerous to mention, not gotten the extensive live workout it deserves. “It’s been a strange go-around for this release,” the Bumblefest headliner told PureHoney in a missive sent in July from the South of France, where Fiona was working on new music and trying out a recently acquired bass clarinet that had become a new obsession. Her summer schedule included a rock ’n’ roll sailing tour on Spain’s Cantabrian Sea playing drums with Sonny and the Sunsets… Read more in PureHoney
DREAM PHASES (Los Angeles)
RIYL: Spiritualized, Beach Boys, Deerhunter, the Byrds
No one can accuse the Los Angeles band Dream Phases of false advertising. These Bumblefest headliners play psychedelic-influenced rock that can indeed be dreamy and suffused with melodic harmonies, but they’re not afraid to startle you out of your reverie with buzzy guitar solos… Read more in PureHoney
LO FIVES (Philadelphia)
RIYL: Mission Of Burma, Wire, Wounded Lion
“Just like when you’re on acid, for a few minutes, you feel almost sober, and then it hits you again—that’s a typical Lo Fives tune. The pleasant stuff is a little creepy, the freaked out parts oddly pleasant.”
SHEHEHE (Athens)
RIYL: A Ramones, Cheap Trick and Bikini Kill fusion.
Shehehe’s sonic onslaught fuses the ferocity of punk with the unrelenting drive of hard rock, creating a sound that’s as infectious as it is irresistible.
FORCEGHOST (Augusta)
RIYL: Animal Collective, Oneohtrix Point Never, Figurine
An electronic indie-psych duo with syrupy guitars, soaring synths, sharp drums, and hauntingly beautiful vocals that culminate into a sound both piercingly focused and kaleidoscopic in scope and texture.
AMERICAN DREAM SURVIVORS (Gainesville)
“Dark folk punk dream team”
RUDE TELEVISION (West Palm Beach)
RIYL: Egg Punk
Rude Television encapsulates the pleasant feeling of being mugged by way of getting beaten senseless with a fender jazzmaster. Drum driven rock n roll with a barrage of guitar in the passenger seat and synth in the back. – Painscale Records
KENNY MOE (Fort Lauderdale)
RIYL: Mazzy Star, Bright Eyes
Soft folk rock with an acoustic and gentle heart.
JUSTIN DEPTH (Tampa)
RIYL: Khotin, Terekke, Alien House, Black Dice
Ethereal ambient and abstract IDM experimentations from Tampa Bay. (1/2 of Alien House)
SEVERED+SAID (Jacksonville)
RIYL: Cabaret Voltaire, S U R V I V E , Bitchin Bajas, Alesandro Cortini, Tim Hecker, Throbbing Gristle, Super Metroid OST
Ritual synthesist, John Touchton conjures sinkholes of low-end, darkened room drones, strobing percussion and spidery rhythms of witching hour electronics best set to low lit rooms or speeding dark highways.
NIGHT FOUNDATION (Fort Lauderdale)
RIYL: Tangerine Dream, Wire, Steve Reich
The electronic solo project of visual/sound artist Richard Vergez and the founder of the label – Noir Age, explores existential soundscapes, utilizing analogue hardware including vintage synthesizers, found percussion, tape effects, and manipulated wind instruments.
SIICHAQ (Jacksonville)
RIYL: Cherry Glazerr, Breeders, Ovlov, Le Tigre, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tanukichan
“Siichaq is moody and perfectly saturated. Like a worn film or your favorite cassette. It’s wonderfully poppy shoegaze to feel something to.” – JME
ZIPPUR (Fort Lauderdale)
RIYL: Faust, OSEES, Uranium Club, Devo.
With a frantic mix of blistering riffs and interstellar melody’s Zippur moves the listener through diverse soundscapes while maintaining focus on a central theme.
BEBE DELUXE (Jacksonville)
RIYL: Chappell Roan, The White Stripes, Le Tigre
The most exciting thing to come out of North Florida since boiled peanuts, indie rock multi-hyphenate BeBe Deluxe and her band of badasses are coming to Bumblefest!
ISYA (St. Augustine)
RIYL: Skinny Puppy, The Locust, Genghis Tron, Dan Deacon, Big Black
AKASHA SYSTEM (Tampa)
RIYL: Foans, Body-San, Citizen Maze, Soela, Khotin, Tornado Wallace, Aphex Twin, Lone
MR ENTERTAINMENT & THE POOKIESMACKERS (Hollywood)
RAIN OR SHINE. NO REFUNDS.
