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Spotlight

Bands to Watch: Vendetta Red

WHO: Seattle screamo quintet led by mic-twirling Roger Daltrey doppelgänger Zachary Davidson.

SOUND LIKE: Arena-size attitude meets emo intimacy. The band’s instrument-trashing live shows play as much to the back rows as the mosh pit. Vendetta Red’s major-label debut, Between the Never and the Now, balances teeth-rattling crunch with unapologetic melodicism, particularly on the whisper-to-a-screech single “Shatterday.”

THE KIDS WEREN’T ALL RIGHT: Prior to relocating to Seattle, Davidson, guitarist Justin Cronk, and drummer Joseph Lee Childres grew up together near Bakersfield, California, where, Davidson claims, “they have the worst air pollution in the country.” More troubling was the child abuse that Davidson endured. He revisits the trauma on “Stay Home,” which he hopes will comfort other victims. “I’m not going to let [abuse] be an excuse for me being a junkie or blowing my head off.”

GETTING THEIR FREAK ON–LITERALLY: Davidson may, however, want to consult a relationship therapist, given his apparent views on romance. “Accident Sex” explores the erotic appeal of car wrecks, while newer songs bear the titles “The Great Castration” and “Erik Chapman Cried Rape on His Date With Destiny.” Admits Davidson, “I can’t write love songs.”