Mark Jenkins

2 months ago | washingtonpost.com | Mark Jenkins

Songs keep forming in Valerie June’s mind, ‘from wherever they come from’ (washingtonpost.com) Songs keep forming in Valerie June’s mind, ‘from wherever they come from’ By Mark Jenkins 2025040816000100 Americana musician Valerie June is a gifted songwriter and skilled instrumentalist, but her most distinctive musical attribute is her voice.

2 months ago | washingtonpost.com | Mark Jenkins

On the Ophelias’ Bandcamp page, the indie-rock quartet lists its home as Cincinnati. That is where singer-guitarist Spencer Peppet, violinist Andrea Gutmann Fuentes and drummer Mic Adams founded the band 10 years ago as high school seniors. But all left soon after. “We had nine months in Cincinnati as a band, and then everyone went off to school, and we’ve been split up around the country since,” Peppet says in a video call from New York.

2 months ago | washingtonpost.com | Mark Jenkins

In just 250 square feet, a tiny art show goes cosmic (washingtonpost.com) In just 250 square feet, a tiny art show goes cosmic By Mark Jenkins 2025040213000000 The title of Transformer's current group show, "To Dream con los Cuerpos," is evocative yet open-ended. It's also playfully bilingual: The six participants dream, in English, with bodies, in Spanish.

2 months ago | washingtonpost.com | Mark Jenkins

Mike Andre and Amanda Huron’s current band, Sensor Ghost, has a few things in common with their previous one, Puff Pieces. Like its predecessor, Sensor Ghost is a D.C. trio with short, jagged post-punk songs written principally by Andre. But the singer-bassist doesn’t hesitate when asked to distinguish the two groups. “With Puff Pieces, the music was more repetitive,” he explains. “It was, like, one part that didn’t change. Sensor Ghost has choruses and verses.

Mar 5, 2025 | washingtonpost.com | Mark Jenkins

There was once a made-for-TV rock group that announced itself with a song that began, “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees.” Almost 60 years later, New York noise-pop trio Kassie Krut delivers a similar introduction in “Reckless,” the clanging first single from its self-titled debut EP: “If you ask me who I wanna be/ I’mma spell it out so it’s plain to see,” lilts Eve Alpert, who’s joined by bandmate Kasra Kurt to chant, “K-A-S-S-I-E K-R-U-T-T-T-T.” When the comparison is suggested to Alpert, the...