A new monthly, themed and curated Hip Hop night at Northside's The Comet, presented by local artist Abiyah, kicks off this week. Plus, The Tempers and Shiny and the Spoon celebrate new releases, the free Northside Music Fest returns this weekend and Kelly Thomas takes on an Everly Brothers classic with Switchblade Syndicate.  

Northern Kentucky-based Switchblade Syndicate has been playing together since May, having risen from the ashes of vocalist Veronica Grim and guitarist Jimmy "El Rey" Nielsen's former group, De Los Muertos. They have flourishes of Country, Punk, Rockabilly, Honky Tonk, Surf, Psychobilly, Sleaze and seemingly every other major genre you can think of — it simply takes too much time to describe their complete sound.  

Rock & Roll is a cliche. The radio is filled with countless songs about love and loss, sin and redemption and sex and drugs, most written by one-hit wonders. But what if the songs were actually memorable? What if the music put vice clamps on your grey matter and didn't let go? What if the lyrics stuck with you well after last call? It's those kinds of songs that have made Switchblade Syndicate one of Cincinnati's brightest young acts.