Tone

***Few instrumental bands loom as large as Washington, DC’s TONE. Anchored by drummer GREGG HUDSON and guitarist NORM VEENSTRA, its lineup of burly dudes always brews an impressive bombast; music that’s mammoth and masculine. Their heavy rock pulse is righteous in a dark club, but also nimble enough to fuel dance performance on the Kennedy Center stage. The group is consistently versatile; it’s music persistently vital. Atmosphere and apex—key post-rock requirements—are ever-present, naturally. But Tone also offers something seemingly novel for the genre: real songs. Tone also has proven itself an enduring underdog among its hometown pack of storied punks, many of whom have filtered through the group’s ranks over the years. The band at one time or another has included members of Government Issue, Teen Idles, Unrest, Edsel, Pitchblende, and Thud, just to name a few. Initially a shimmering “guitar ensemble” with a Glenn Branca bent, the band has since scaled back its six-string staff by half, finding itself leaner and meaner as a rock quintet. Tone’s seventh album, Antares, finds the group fit for duty 25 years after it first formed. Tone’s core on the new album is rounded out by 20-plus year veteran JIM WILLIAMSON (guitar), and newcomers CHARLES ANDREWS (bass) and GUSTAVO VARGAS (guitar). Three superstar producers—Converge’s KURT BALLOU, WILL BENOIT of Constants, and J. ROBBINS from Jawbox—were enlisted to oversee recent studio sessions. A co-release between Dischord and Tone’s proprietary imprint, TminusOneMusic.