Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features jazz by Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet and Elden Kelly, metalcore by Loss of Life, hyperpop by Scoops Lively, emo-punk by Normal Park, and live jams by Pajamas.

Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet and Elden Kelly, Catalyst: The Music of Gregg Hill
I was surprised to see the Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet as the latest Michigan ensemble to tackle the music of Gregg Hill, the prolific East Lansing jazz composer who writes great tunes and then usually works with area artists to record them. It's not because I didn't think the Ann Arbor quartet couldn't handle the music on Catalyst; Igor Houwat (oud), Henrik Karapetyan (violinist), Mike List (percussion), and Sharp (bass) are top-notch musicians and improvisers. But Hill's music is primarily in the jazz idiom, whereas the Worlds Quartet, as the name says, digs into exploratory music from around the globe, primarily Eastern European, Arabic, African, and Latin in origin. But guitarist Elden Kelly, who has been Hill's transcriptionist for a decade and has guested with Sharp & Co. for almost as long, arranged these pieces especially for the Worlds Quartet. Together, the quintet remakes Hill's compositions into their own, and it might be my favorite Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet release to date. Kelly wrote liner notes for the album that describe the music and process far better than I ever could. (Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet minus Kelly plays Rancho Tranquilico in Dexter on Sunday, June 1.)

Loss of Life, Heavy Burdens EP
Ypsi's Loss of Life is a four-piece metalcore-ish hardcore band whose debut EP, Heavy Burdens, is an absolute ripper. Vocalist Matty Taylor ping-pongs between death-metal growls and unhinged shrieks—and engages in spoken-word poetry during some verses of "Exempted." The enraged opener, "Whiskey Breath," will make you want to run through a wall, and the powerful LGBTQ+ protest anthem, "Pride Was a Riot," closes the record. Loss of Life's type of political mosh-core doesn't pop up nearly enough in Washtenaw County—despite a plethora of things to scream about. RIYL Hatebreed and breaking things. Loss of Life celebrates the EP's release on Friday, May 16, at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor with Dollie Rot and plays Ziggy's in Ypsilanti on Sunday, May 18, with four other bands.

Scoops Lively, Frank Film 
Scoops Lively, Fear Is a Hat (Frank Film Instrumentals) 
I'm not sure there's actually a Frank film that Ann Arbor's Scoops Lively is scoring—perhaps more a theater of the mind situation—but if it exists, it must look like the old video game Wipeout 64: crammed to the gills with eye-crossing low-res graphics sped up to nauseating speeds. Ol' Scoops creates synth-driven, hyperpop zaniness that speaks to our ADHD times.

Normal Park, "TCI"
Singer-guitarist Jordan Mosley seems to be the only remaining member of Ypsi's Normal Park. But "TCI," the first song to feature bassist Ian Berk and drummer Jake Rees, continues the trio's excellent track record of soaring emo-ish Midwest punk that mixes melodies and hooks with dynamic shifts. The tune is part of the Far From Home label's fifth annual benefit comp for the Ocean Conservancy.

Pajamas, Homes Campus 04/19/2025
Ann Arbor jam band Pajamas released one studio recording, 2018's Onesie, but since September 24, 2024, the group has released six live albums, including this one recorded at Homes Campus on Jackson Road. Concerts are probably where Pajamas shine anyway since the band gets to stretch out, and several of these bluesy, rootsy, rock songs clock in past the 10-minute mark.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.