Ego Death Machine, The Cult of Chunk, Moderneverything, Jackson Fig

With their Bandcamp page devoted to an absurdist deconstruction of an answering machine message, NYC’s Cult of Chunk promise artsy weirdness in the vein of giant eyeball-sporting goofball terrorists The Residents. Charlotte’s stripped-down proto grunge trio Jackson Fig summons the elemental force of an earlier era, when indie was forming and not yet classified. Two more Charlotte outfits — post-rock noise trio Ego Death Machine and spiky new wave-accented rockers Moderneverything — fill the bill.