Miami's Best Concert of the Week: Heavy Drag at Gramps

This Friday night will be a busy one in Miami, to say the least. There are a minimum of ten shows running all throughout the city at one point or another. However, the absolute can’t miss of the bunch is Heavy Drag at Gramps inside Shirley's Theatre at 9 p.m...

By Angel Melendez

August 15, 2016

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This Friday night will be a busy one in Miami. There are a minimum of ten shows running all throughout the city at one point or another. The absolute can’t-miss of the bunch, though, is Heavy Drag at Gramps inside Shirley's Theatre at 9 p.m. alongside Wastelands, Bleeth, and Haochi.

Heavy Drag's brand of psych-grunge, which they’ve dubbed “bummer” music, borrows equally from the likes of Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Machines of Loving Grace.

The hard-rocking quartet have made some noise lately. In addition to playing III Points last year, they got a little local love from Orlando Weekly and the folks here at New Times. Heavy Drag has also been featured nationally on Sputnikmusic and Stereogum. While neither has exactly launched them to superstardom, it is worth noting that whenever a critic’s ears prick up at the sound of Heavy Drag, the end result is usually resounding praise.

A lot of hype surrounds the band's first proper full length. Heavy Drag dropped its debut LP, Sábana Ghost, on July 22, and holy hell — it’s a muscular and righteous descent into a murky, ethereal netherworld of shoegaze, ominous sludge rock, and a touch of dark surf fuzz.

So, ignore the Zika and lose yourself in the broth of beautiful and brawny mindfuckery courtesy of Heavy Drag that, ultimately, isn't such a bummer after all.

Heavy Drag. 9 p.m. Friday, August 19, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669; gramps.com. Admission is $5 at the door.

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Angel Melendez is an unabashed geek and a massive music nerd. A graduate of Florida Atlantic University and an accomplished failure at two other universities, Angel is a lush and an insufferable know-it-all, and has way better taste in music than you.

Contact: Angel Melendez

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