Sound Bites: Silvertung, A Celebration of the Rolling Stones, and Faces Unturned

Silvertung Friday, July 21, 9:30 p.m. Ground Zero, 3052 Howard St., Spartanburg

Last summer, Maryland’s Silvertung released an EP called “Out Of The Box,” which packed an album’s worth of ideas into six songs. The band’s basic foundation of moody hard rock expanded to include jarring tempo and tonal changes; layered, multi-textured vocals; and jackhammer riffs that shifted shape seemingly every few seconds. As it turns out, this stylistic restlessness of the EP was a winner; the band scored three Top 5 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts and won two Maryland Music Awards, easily their best showing in a seven-year career. “It was a big turning point,” says Speed, the band’s singer, guitarist, and founder. “A lot of the gears have shifted and put us on another level. Our sound is so much bigger. We’re growing so quickly now.” In fact, the band has become so confident in their sound that, for their next project, they’re planning to unplug for the first time. “We haven’t really talked about it to anyone else, but we’re doing demos for a live acoustic album,” Speed says. “We love playing heavy stuff; that’s where our hearts are. But when you’re playing acoustic stuff, you really start to test yourself and your capability as a musician.”