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“I am really excited about this year’s musical lineup, as well as to compete in the watermelon-eating contest, build a sand castle, and do some paddleboarding in the surf,” says Sol Driven Train frontman Joel Timmons.

The festival starts Fri. July 19 and runs through Sat. Full weekend passes are $35, but you can still get tickets for individual shows. A portion of the proceeds will go directly to the Rainforest Action Network in memory of Rebecca Tarbotton, the organization’s former executive director and a close friend of Sol Driven Train.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit soldriventrain.com/solslam.

A little while back, Beverly and the rest of his New York-based band, French Camp, scheduled a recording session at Josh Kaler and Jay Clifford's downtown studio, Hello Telescope. The end result: Odd Particle, a haunting collection of ethereal dream pop.

"We were going for spookiness on a lot of the songs. Even on the sunnier tracks, there is a sort of eeriness that comes through," Beverly says. "I think records tend to develop their own personalities. The finished product can seem very cohesive and deliberate, but at least in this case we were discovering and rediscovering the sound every step of the way."

From the melancholy opener "Way to Your Heart," which conjures up Spoon bare-bones pop, to the doomsday flamenco of "Day of Dead" and "Albatross," a delicate ballad that sounds like a lonely life raft adrift on the sea, Odd Particle is a testament to Beverly's ever-growing skills as a songwriter and Kahler's emergence as a producer with a signature sound, one that he has developed over the years as a member of Slow Runner, his collaboration with Michael Flynn.

"We are all big fans of Slow Runner and their albums," Beverly says. "I really think Kaler is hitting his stride as a producer and engineer."

Beverly and his French camp mates — Benji Lee, Andrew Doherty, Edward Barton — hope to tour the Southeast this summer, but so far, no dates have been confirmed.

• Megan Elder

Johnnie Matthews’ self-described slacker-rock, nostalgic-pop band Elim Bolt has the same kind of hauntingly vintage vibe as a soundtrack to a David Lynch movie, or better yet Twin Peaks, but without all the doom and gloom. In fact, Matthews’ forlorn warble seems particularly fit for the world of Lynch. Not that Elim Bolt needs a helping hand from the beautifully weird director. They’re doing just a little bit of all right on their own. Last fall, Elim Bolt — Matthews, Jordan Hicks, Christian Chidester, Dan McCurry, and Wolfgang Zimmerman — released their debut album Nude South on the local Hearts and Plugs label, recorded a Daytrotter session while on tour with Brave Baby, and played shows across the Southeast. Meanwhile, Creative Loafing Charlotte had some kind words to say when Elim Bolt played Winston-Salem’s Phuzz Phest. “Judging by the emphatic gyrations of the appreciative crowd,” Jordan Lawrence wrote, “the set — by far the weekend’s most fun offering — also earned the band an excited pack of Triad fans.” On Saturday, Elim Bolt will be joined by Winston-Salem indie pop band Estrangers and Johnny Delaware’s Black Top Desert, which will be releasing its debut album Secret Wave on the Hearts and Plug this fall. —Susan Cohen SATURDAY

• David Allen Glenn

Modern Man’s Eyes No is a doomsday combo pack of Sonic Youth, Godspeed, and Comets on Fire that traps the listener in a tunnel of shadowy echoes and whispered warnings, all of which make it one of the strangest releases to come out of the Holy City in some time. “The only way I can explain what inspired this record are the roles that media, religion, family, sex, love, government, etc., play in our lives,” says David Allen Glenn, singer, guitarist, and Modern Man bandleader. “The vocals represent the layers of one voice shouting into the void of everyday nonsense that a person might get trapped in without even realizing what’s going on, which is nothing.” Fortunately, there’s a helluva lot of something happening on Eyes No as Modern Man — Glenn, drummer Nikki Calvert, guitarist Brian Draper, and bassist Jose Davila — explore the outer realms of noise rock, a place where abstract melodies reward the daring. Glenn himself is particular consumed by one quest. “How do we create a sound that doesn’t sound like the instrument normally would sound, and is it possible without colliding tones and overplaying?” He adds, “Right now, I’m really into classical compositions and the use of silence to create giant, impacting sounds.” —Chris Haire FRIDAY

• Provided

Thanks to soul’s resurgence, 72-year-old Charles Walker is enjoying more success today than he did in his ’60s heyday when he opened for James Brown and sang alongside Bettye LaVette. A big part of Walker’s not-so-sudden popularity is due to his partnership with the members of his stellar backing band, the Dynamites, led by guitarist/composer/producer Bill Elder. Inspired by Gabe Roth, the mastermind behind Sharon Jones & the Daptones, Elder connected with Walker in 2005, and together they recruited a crack team of musicians to join them. In April, they released their third album, Love is Only Everything. Walker’s latest is more ballad-centric than his previous efforts, but the record sizzles on the dark and funky “I Just Want To Know,” pops on his soulful duet with LaVette “Yours and Mine,” and grooves to the big-band production of “Please Open Your Door,” where the senior soul singer channels the late, great Otis Redding. Overall, Love is Only Everything is Charles Walker and the Dynamites’ smoothest, tightest set to date. —Chris Parker FRIDAY

• Provided

Last week, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong shocked the music world when he emerged from his 12-step cocoon and proclaimed that South Korean pop star Psy was “the herpes of music.” Ouch. Fortunately, someone was there to defend Psy’s honor. “It’s pretty obvious that Billie Joe Armstrong is the HIV of music,” says Swank Sinatra drummer Randy Garcia. “That dude never goes away and is controlled by a cocktail of medications.” Burn, Billie, burn. This week, Garcia and his Swank Sinatra cohorts — Bob Place and Brandon Pittman — will be in town to deliver a blast of full-throttle snark ‘n’ roll. “I think modern rock takes itself too seriously and doesn’t party as hard as it used to. We’re out to fix that,” Garcia says. Swank Sinatra is touring in support of their 2012 EP, Pretty Shoes, a blast of Sabbathy sludge, Kiss-y riffs, and lots of snot-rock swagger. In June, they’re heading back into the studio to record a new LP, Sober Cobra. “It’s a much headier mix of tunes than anything we’ve done previously,” Garcia says. “Sort of like prog-garage, if such a thing exists.” Call us intrigued. —Chris Haire FRIDAY

“The only way I can explain what inspired this record are the roles that media, religion, family, sex, love, government, etc., play in our lives,” says David Allen Glenn, singer, guitarist, and Modern Man bandleader. “The vocals represent the layers of one voice shouting into the void of everyday nonsense that a person might get trapped in without even realizing what’s going on, which is nothing.”

Fortunately, there’s a helluva lot of something happening on Eyes No as Modern Man — Glenn, drummer Nikki Calvert, guitarist Brian Draper, and bassist Jose Davila — explore the outer realms of noise rock, a place where abstract melodies reward the daring.

Glenn himself is particular consumed by one quest. “How do we create a sound that doesn’t sound like the instrument normally would sound, and is it possible without colliding tones and overplaying?”

He adds, “Right now, I’m really into classical compositions and the use of silence to create giant, impacting sounds.”

Last week, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong shocked the music world when emerged from his 12-step cocoon and proclaimed that South Korean pop star Psy was “the herpes of music.” Ouch.

Fortunately, someone was there to defend Psy’s honor. “It’s pretty obvious that Billy Joe Armstrong is the HIV of music,” says Swank Sinatra drummer Randy Garcia. “That dude never goes away and is controlled by a cocktail of medications.” Burn, Billie, burn.

Swank Sinatra is touring in support of their 2012 EP, Pretty Shoes, a blast of Sabbathy sludge, Kiss-y riffs, and lots of snot-rock swagger. In June, they’re heading back into the studio to record a new LP, Sober Cobra.

“It’s a much headier mix of tunes than anything we’ve done previously,” Garcia says. “Sort of like prog-garage, if such a thing exists.”

Call us intrigued.