04/23/2023 - TACITURN, TOOTHACHE, 137 WAYS TO KILL A FLY @ MOCAF

good photos courtesy of @leahh.kg on Instagram.

I think it's just routine to apologize for my busy schedule and always be late for these blog posts. I think shooting for once a week is a bit of a stretch for now, so I'm going to try to stick to biweekly (The biweekly that means once every two weeks, although that'd be really funny if I said all that just to promise to post more often). Anyway, I was absolutely ecstatic for this show. It's a given that I'm always ready to see Toothache, but finally getting to see Taciturn again was exciting. I'd also heard so much about 137 Ways to Kill a Fly without ever seeing them for myself. All in all, I was ready.

The Museum of Contemporary Arts Flagstaff is a warehouse with barren walls that still smelled like paint. Being surrounded by industrial, empty land makes it a perfect little venue.

show flyers stolen from bands' Instagrams.

It was probably the strangest time to see 137 Ways to Kill a Fly. Their bassist, Bryce was in New York, and their singer, Dazey was in Los Angeles. Still, they took the stage with a burning sense of energy. Kaden's guitar wailed with an endless static noise that comforted Ilario's beating drums like stones in a cave. The shadow casted down from the loft above them definitely added to the cave feeling.

After a few songs of noise like industrial hate, familiar face Brighton joined the duo on bass under a fog of sharp feedback. They played razor sharp power punk at painful speeds that made one slow two-step breakdown hit you right in your gut. Ilario's blasts were perfectly on point without sacrificing any of the vigor of the performance and Brighton and Kaden's feedback in between each song felt like a death ship returning to a desolate earth.

Heavy. But they didn't give up the ability to laugh off mistakes and still have fun with their performance. 137 can be tight, heavy, ambient, noisy and fun.

shitty photos courtesy of me.

In contrast to the classic shoegazer stoicism, Toothache is always energetic, smiling and interactive--which is much more fun to watch. I will forever be addicted to their masterfully-designed breakdowns like 4Chan's pre-chorus, and both Leg Squeezer and Yankee Dolly's decimating endings. I know I said this in the last blog as well, but they're really getting their tone locked down, and their identity in the scene along with it.

Bare Knuckle was their new(er) secret weapon that gives you a little piece of everything. At times it feels almost Tool-ish with its inventive yet driving and pushing rhythm curtesy of Kiva. Brighton's spoken word passages were eerie against Cheyenne's guitar which was both clanging and grinding.

If there's one image that could sum up their performance--it'd be the styrofoam head set on a concrete brick against the kick drum bouncing and thrashing around throughout until it blew out into the crowd. I always look forward to seeing them.

I could spend an eternity stewing in Taciturn's pre-show ambience. Their fog machine filled the space with a dense haze and Nate's soundboard transported all of us to another world. Bird sounds echoed off the high ceilings of the warehouse as Natasha and Nyle set up and joined in on the endless, satisfying noise like a horror movie.

They played a short set, but I'd give anything to see a set of theirs of any length. Nyle's guitar screams so satisfyingly and gutturally it always hits the spot. Their sound is somewhere in between Daughters and Slint with the added primal calling of an animal species slowly going extinct. Even in a short set like this, there was something so moving and visceral about their sound that you won't find anywhere else, especially not in Arizona. Stream Punk Death.

It's always so upsetting when such fantastic and unique bands get a small crowd--or one that disappears halfway through the lineup. Every band deserves a good audience and there's no reason to leave halfway. And if you do stay, show your support. Dancing, cheering, clapping--just not standing with your arms crossed, costs nothing. It doesn't cost to mosh.

Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to KJACK's full battle of the bands show, but I was able to catch the majority of Toothache's set after my shift and... what a fantastic set it was. The energy of the crowd was unmatched, not to mention how unbelievably packed it was--The Hive was completely sold out. And their sound was the tightest and clearest I'd ever heard. They definitely deserved that win through and through.

As with my last post, I may not have very many good photos to put in here, but I'll search the internet for good ones to steal. Thanks for reading, everyone. I'm leaving for vacation here soon for a week, but I'll catch you all at the Monette show on the 20th. Please check out these bands and any shows you can see.

- Foster

See 137 Ways to Kill a Fly with Face Pulp and Drouth on May 15th at The Legion.