Snapshots: Softcult w/ She’s Green @ Black Cat — 6/18/25

June 26, 2025

I’ve been a fan of the band Softcult for a little while now. They’ve got this dreamy, grungy sound. It’s almost like Lush meets Failure. So when I saw that they were playing Black Cat, I jumped on the opportunity to cover the show. Black Cat is always a great place to see a show. It’s intimate, so you get a chance to get up close and personal with the bands.

The evening opened with the Minneapolis-based band She’s Green at Black Cat on June 18. They hearken back to a time when music was gauzy and guitarists stared intently at their footwear. But what I like about this new crop of shoegazers like She’s Green is their ability to introduce some really heavy elements into the genre. I hadn’t heard She’s Green prior to the show. They won me over very quickly.

Softcult emerged on stage to a pretty diverse crowd. The show in DC was one of the final stops on this tour. The core of the band are twin sisters Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn from Ontario, Canada. Phoenix plays the drums and sings while Mercedes plays the guitar and handles most lead vocals. They’ve recently released a new single called “Pill to Swallow,” which you can check out here.

Watch the official music video for “Pill to Swallow” by Softcult on YouTube:

The live band is rounded out by Phil Hirst on bass and Brent McSwiggan on guitar. Mercedes thanked everyone for coming and tore right into their set. They kicked the whole thing off with a personal favorite, “Drain.”

Once the show started, it didn’t stop. Unlike the shoegaze bands of yesteryear, Softcult was very active on stage. I don’t think I saw anyone staring at their effects pedals the entire set. Not only did they get their steps in, they treated the gig like a punk show. Mercedes, Phil, and Brent all ran around, jumping and playing off of each other.

Softcult barely took a breath the entire set. There were some occasional breaks to thank everyone for coming out but nothing deeper than that until the encore when Mercedes came out on her own and talked about their upcoming full-length album, personal struggles she’s had, and how that influenced the music as well as her own radicalization.

She introduced a new song called “When a Flower Doesn’t Grow” and played it solo before calling back the rest of the band to wrap up the show with BWBB. It was great seeing and hearing some new life being breathed into shoegaze.