January 8-14, 2004

musicpicks

Breaking Pangaea/Kill Verona/Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer

Rock/pop

R5's Sean Agnew spent 2003 proving ambition ain't a dirty word, battling corporate giants (imaginary or real) and getting national exposure (Fader Magazine, Harper's) that would make any indie outfit wince. Much of the attention comes from his mining of local emo-punk fields (Aston, Lansdale, Cherry Hill) for hometown sensations like Breaking Pangaea, whose vicious Phoenix EP came out on Equal Vision in 2003. On hiatus since several members joined Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run, Pangaea will reunite on Friday with original bassist Clint and Kill Verona, the Fairmount-area unit whose Trauma full-length on Livewire Records should prove them to be as hopeful and yearning ("South Broad") as they are grave ("Danger Boy"). I'm equally excited by the Langhorne area's sarcastic new wave-y Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer and its second CD, Jalopy Go Far. Producer/singer/musician Rachel Minton and her partner Vincent Ratti are raw, hard fun in its purest form -- far removed from the "e" in emo, but with equal passion.

Fri., Jan. 9, 7 p.m., $8, all ages, with Kill Verona, Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer, Breaking Pangaea, Orange Island and Phil Moore Browne, First Unitarian Church, 22nd and Chestnut sts., 1-800-594-TIXX.

—A.D. Amorosi

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