Fueled by brews, brujas and blunts, Scoundrel's debut EP is coming and It. Is. Metal.

Also, venues are booking up in June and beyond. Here's a quick calendar.

Of all genres, metal might be the most difficult to navigate, given the almost infinite number of subgenres it has spawned off over the years.

Doubters can check out the Map of Metal. It’s a rabbit hole, so watch out.

Without being a connoisseur, it can to hard to suss out the differences between progressive metal or metal core, deathcore or just your standard death metal.

So, I’ll just say Scoundrel is a metal band that plays toward the contemporary (as opposed to having any retro vibes of a band like Haunt).

“Conjured October 31 2018, Scoundrel has been fueled by brews, brujas and blunts.”

That’s according to the official bio.

The band is a side project of sorts, from who known the scene. Guitarist Eric Gutierrez currently plays in Farooq. Chris Bradburd is the front man for Perception, though he handles drum duties here.

Cody Jeffers was in Summon the Harbinger and Dolores Claiborne and Steffen Clark has been in numerous bands over the last 15 years.

The band’s upcoming “Dead EP” (out June 11) is a brutally heavy four tracks “that kinda summarizes 2020 for us,” Clark says. It’s just small sampling of 16 songs the band is currently sitting on because … COVID.

These are the first new releases from the band since 2018 and the first with Jeffers handling the vocal duties. The style here is guttural scream, but somehow decipherable. It sits well with the

band’s heavy chug and melodic undercurrents.

“No one except those who have seen us live have heard him, so we’re excited to hear the feedback,” Clark says.

The band hosts an EP release August 13 (that’s a Friday) at Fulton 55. Check out the track listing and album art below.

You can follow Scoundrel on Facebook and IG for updates and more.

Fulton 55 books reopening date. Saroyan lands Foreigner.

It looks like music venues will be able to fully reopen in less than a month and already we’re seeing promoters setting schedules. Here’s a quick look at some of what’s planned.

Put these your mind calendars, or the appropriate digital or physical ones.

Fulton 55 has unleased a series of dates running through the summer and into next winter. It’s mostly local stuff, with a few notable exceptions. It kicks off June 18 with and official reopening party with the Morning Drive (which in pre-pandemic days had been known to pull a crowd).

Worth note: The Electric Six is coming in from Michigan, Aug. 31. On my official list of not-to-be-missed.

Strummer’s has been a bit slower in filling its calendar, though it just announced the Queers will play Oct. 13. As of now, the venue’s first show back is Sept. 16 with LA rock band Weathers.

Aside from Grizzlies home games, Chukchansi Park is hosting a few concerts through the summer, including rapper Snow tha Product, July 10. Tickets on sale now.

Oddly, the Saroyan Theatre has landed what will be one of the first “bigger” tours to roll through Fresno. Foreigner plays its Greatest Hits (of course) July 27. Tickets are also on sale now.

The Strikingly Originals, “Walls” + “Justice Louis Brandeis (was right)”

Note: I pull frontman duties for the Strikingly Originals, so this is total shameless self promotion.

One of the good things to come from the pandemic was an abundance of local music being released as bands recorded new music or filed through the stuff they had waiting in the wings.

For instance, The Strikingly Originals, which released a pair of new singles to coincide with the current news of the world. The tracks — “Walls” and “Justice Louis Brandeis (was right)” — were originally recorded in a session in 2019 and are available on Bandcamp and across streaming platforms.

For fans of punk and post-punk and post, post-punk, if such a thing exists.

That’s it for this week. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com