Momentum is a cherished quality in the world of music. It's what led hype-monster and Internet meme Lana Del Ray to a notably uncomfortable, Brian Williams-baiting performance on Saturday Night Live with only three songs to her lazily made-up name. It's what caused Radiohead to slam on the brakes and reinvent their sound, effectively creating a massively smaller but exponentially more devoted audience. It's what Tacoma's the Variety Hour has lacked over the past year, as the band has taken what more or less amounted to a hiatus, wherein the band regrouped, recast, and recorded their follow-up to their eponymous debut EP.

To read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature, click here.

[Hell's Kitchen, The Variety Hour CD release show with the Dignitaries, Deathtrap America, Sources in Code, Friday, Feb. 10, $5, 9 p.m., 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]