In 2023, Boston shoegazers Drop Nineteens reunited to make an album, Hard Light, their first full-length record in 30 years!
Drop Nineteens recently performed some new songs as well as some memorable numbers from their debut album, Delaware, at The Atlantis in DC. Nalinee Darmrong was there to photograph the show.
At The Atlantis on April 17, Drop Nineteens began the show with “Delaware,” perhaps their best known song — from 1992’s album of the same name. They soon transitioned into playing the live club debut appearances of songs from Hard Light, including “Gal,” “A Hitch,” and “Scapa Flow.”
Watch the official music video for “Scapa Flow” by Drop Nineteens on YouTube:
The Drop Nineteens today are Greg Ackell (vocals, guitar), Paula Kelley (vocals, guitar), Steve Zimmerman (bass), Motohiro Yasue (guitar), and Pete Koeplin (drums).
Upon Hard Light’s release, Pitchfork praised the Drop Nineteen’s third full-length album, saying, “Here, that material stays in exquisite tension, as all these memory fragments threaten to gash Hard Light’s dream-pop reverie. ‘Shallow wreck from the bottom/Better left than picked up/And remembered,’ Ackell sings on the valedictory ‘Scapa Flow,’ ‘but I remember.’ On Hard Light, time is often a hydrological function, as looming as the Nowhere wave.”
The Drop Nineteens remain on the road through to Sick New World in Las Vegas. Let’s hope they stick around for more!
Catch the Drop Nineteens on tour!
Here are some photos of the Drop Nineteens performing at The Atlantis in DC on April 17, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Nalinee Darmrong.
