Shabang Celebrates 10 Years
Peach Pit; Thundercat; The Walters; Kate Bollinger. From indie royalty to tech house up-and-comers, the Shabang lineup is a manifestation of the festival’s ethos–experience, quality, vibes, community, participation.
GROUND CONTROL TOURING PRESENTS: SECOND ANNUAL ABORTION ACCESS BENEFIT SERIES @ The Lodge Room [1/20/24]
Improvised, created on-the-spot EDM from Reggie Watts, synchronized hitch kicks from the “anti-rock” Faux Real, dramatized undulations from Actually Huizenga of Patriarchy as she ran her tongue over an unsuspecting mic stand. With a diverse lineup embodying the DIY, the avant garde, and the sensational, the artists of the Annual Abortion Access Benefit Series appeared to have taken Watts’ meditations to heart, utilizing their talents to directly or indirectly protest the United States government’s usurpation of women’s bodies.
Current Joys @ The Vermont Hollywood [11/05/23]
Before the show had even begun, with the likes of Lil Peep and XXXTentacion blasting throughout the cavernous Vermont Hollywood, it became clear that Nick Rattigan, under the moniker “Current Joys,” would be departing from the melancholy indie pop that dominated his early career. This inclination was reinforced by Current Joys’ latest release, the album…
Beach Fossils @ The Novo [11/02/23]
“I was thinking about the lyrics like, ‘goddamn’ can’t cry cause you gotta sing” (Dustin Payseur). Payseur, the frontman of the Indie rock band, Beach fossils, succinctly encapsulated not only the relaxed, confident mannerisms of the band itself with this statement, but also facilitated rumination on the dichotomy between Beach Fossils’ danceable, hazy productions and…
GUM @ The Lodge Room [10/26/23]
Overhead outside the Lodge Room: “I always wondered where the cool people in LA went…” Depending on your definition “cool,” he wasn’t wrong! By the time GUM, aka Jay W. Watson took the stage, the eclectic venue was packed to the brim with handlebar mustaches, overgrown haircuts, patchwork tattoos, and loafers. It was exactly the…
Slow Pulp @ The Teragram Ballroom
To experience Slow Pulp’s music is to plant oneself beneath a warm summer sun, luxuriating under thick beams of light despite an impending tornado promising to wreak havoc on an ephemeral peace. Masters of metaphor, the Chicago-based, indie band’s productions echo the emotional roller coaster that is life, bolstered by hazy shoegaze riffs and an…
Wax Motif @ The Shrine Expo Hall
From playing sets for EDC Las Vegas and the Ultra Music Festival, to dropping his first full-length album, House of Glass, 2022 proved to be a monumental year for Wax Motif. A year in which Motif’s momentum climaxed, the “build-up” cresting prior to an explosive drop that was the launch of his 2023 “House of…
Surf Curse @ The Novo [9/26/23]
“I am full of fear And contradictions Easier to hear Beautiful fiction” What sort of sentiment do these lyrics conjure? Despair; introspection; confusion? Well for Surf Curse’s crowd, packed into the standing room offered by The Novo, practically oozing an amalgamation of youthful frustration and excited tension, the answer to the question above appeared to…
Pretty Sick @ The Teragram Ballroom [5/25/23]
Ripped fishnet tights, barely-there mini skirts, distressed t-shirts, the lowest of low-rise pants hanging loose from exposed hip bones. Grunge didn’t die in the ‘90s; it’s alive in “Pretty Sick” and I’ve never felt so simultaneously out of place yet at home. It was 7:45pm; Thursday evening; and a line was already extending down Hartford…