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| photo courtesy of Matt the Moon Man (stolen from Instagram). |
It was finally time to see tokillafly in full force, alongside some of their friends and Flag favorites, Toothache and Monette. Already, this was a forecast for a serene night of noise that I was definitely looking forward to.
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| flyers stolen from band's Instagrams. |
As a generally anxious person, it's nice to hide behind this blog as a form of communication, especially when it comes to bringing light to some of these talented and well-deserving bands. Somehow, I didn't get any pictures and I don't think there were any photographers at the event, so photo accompaniment is going to be a little sparse for this one--stolen mostly from other shows or Instagram pages.
Rio hailed in their stoney anchor of sound as tokillafly took the stage--a crunch of bubbly drumming as Kaden and Bryce's mountainous expanse of noise rock blasted on through. Dazey's vocals can at times be a soft oasis juxtaposed to the horror sounds beneath, and at others an endlessly tortured screaming that violates those deepest parts from within us. Watching every one of them, you just know that they love what they're doing.
Between the sounds of every instrument screaming into the night in a black metal-ish fleet, the little escapes of quiet were louder than the rest. Somehow, within the confines of feedback-drenched noise-within-noise and blasts of hardcore sounds, they managed to surprised at every turn.
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| also stolen from Instagram... |
Their last song, especially, started like a driving force sent off into a barren desert--vibing into oblivion between heavy blasts of hatred and finally ending in an endless and thick storm of sound. Bryce killed his bass with a drum stick as Kaden blasted a noisy but controlled feedback onto the crowd. Dazey fell to the floor, screaming and pleading into the high ceilings in a way that reminded me of nu-metal album endings like Korn's Daddy.
I think something I love most about the local scene here is the fashion. Especially this show--every band was dressed so superbly and it does add to the fun factor when watching them. The audience, as well, knew how to dress and typically does for these shows.
Never an exception to this rule, Toothache prepared for their set underneath the wavy, red and purple atmosphere on stage. It really felt, this show more than ever, that they were unafraid to use the full extent of their addictive sound to force all ears onto them--a load-bearing totem of the scene. Kiva's drums felt incredibly succinct and precise this performance. Their arsenal of shows in the previous months have definitely paid off.
As I told Brighton, I feel like I have nothing left to say about Toothache that I haven't already. They continue to grow and get better and more comfortable with themselves and own sound every time I see them. Songs like 4Chan, that've been cycling around in their setlist for a while, are now so fine-tuned and even bigger than where they started.
Their newest song, Darling--a self-declaration as Flagstaff's darling, is their most gazey yet. The pinnacle of modern shoegaze. To me, it feels like the ending of a movie. The emotion and the wall is undoubtably there. Dazey lost her boot in the mosh pit. It fucks.
Adi's instantly recognizable bass crunch, the pale scream of Bremer's guitar, and Bryce's hatefully snappy and bubbling drumming combine to make the beckoning call of Monette--ushering audience's eyes into viewing them and only them. There's a certain sense of yearning to their sound, not just in the vocals, but in the instruments themselves. It feels like they are calling out for a response.
They debuted their new song, Blow, with a ferocity that screamed out into the universe with both primality and endlessness. It exhibited their ability to play with their own rhythm and style, venturing into a twisted style of hardcore math rock that could still be so devastatingly heavy even when completely clean.
In general, this was just a great fucking set for them. Kink was the perfect opener and the best way to snap every neck in the joint into the same sudden rhythm. They ended with MK--ask anyone and they'll probably tell you this is their favorite Monette song. It's their nastiest breakdown and is wrought with a gummy, thick, and noisy tone literally no other band could replicate. What ties it all together, though, more than anything, is the storytelling in every song. They are masters of conveying stories, scenes, and emotions in the niche of their music. Stream Scraps.
I think I told a few different people that this would be out on Friday... I'm sorry it's been a very busy week. Thanks everyone for reading, this was a really great show. Hope to see you all on the Monette tour.
- Foster
If you wanted to hear for yourself some awesome performances that I've covered here, Dead Mothers Collective has been putting together some awesome live recordings of different performances. See Taciturn and Cenöbite's performance from 02/26/2023 on their YouTube now. Blog the accompanying here.
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