noise rock

Live Review: Health @ 9:30 Club — 12/18/19

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Health @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC, 12/18/2019
Health performs at 9:30 Club on Dec. 18, 2019. (Photos by Paivi Salonen; Words by Mickey McCarter)

When you see Los Angeles noise rockers HEALTH, you are both lifted up and smashed down. First, you hear the soaring, light vocals of frontman Jake Duzsik, who elevates your spirit, and then you see the massive, crushing synths of John Famiglietti, who beats you down in the very best way with a flip of his hair.

Drummer BJ Miller added melodic crashes that would alternatively knock you over or dissolve into ether, and thus HEALTH rumbled through a very good show at 9:30 Club recently.

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Live Review: Daughters @ 9:30 Club — 12/18/19

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Daughters @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC, 12/18/2019
Alexis Marshall fronts Daughters at 9:30 Club on Dec. 18, 2019. (Photos by Paivi Salonen; Words by Mickey McCarter)

Opening with “The Reason They Hate Me” from a new album at 9:30 Club recently, Daughters’ frontman Alexis Marshall slowly began to reveal why he occasionally draws comparisons to Nick Cave. The slim singer swayed to the front of the stage in a suit to conjure energy from an audience ready to dance.

Although the vocals of that opening number were rather growling in a way sympathetic to hardcore, Alexis quickly became much more measured and select with his words and pacing by the time of “City Song,” the third number in the set.

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Snapshots: The Legendary Pink Dots @ Metro Gallery — 10/13/19

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The Legendary Pink Dots perform at Metro Gallery in Baltimore on Oct. 13, 2019. (Photo by Katherine Gaines/ ambienteye.com)

The Legendary Pink Dots are touring to celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary, and the experimental rock outfit recently appeared at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore. Katherine Gaines show the show!

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Live Review: Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation @ 9:30 Club — 8/16/19

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Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley performs at Grauzone Festival on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Rene Passet)

Marking the 30th anniversary of Sonic Youth’s landmark album Daydream Nation, drummer Steve Shelley appeared in a panel discussion with the band’s archivist, Aaron Mullan, and Fugazi percussionist Brendan Canty at 9:30 Club recently.

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Preview: Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation @ 9:30 Club, 8/16/19

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Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)

Sonic Youth released their sixth album, Daydream Nation, on Oct. 18, 1988. The album was an immediate critical success. In celebration of the album’s 30th anniversary, Sonic Youth bandmember Steve Shelley presents a screening of the concert film, Daydream Nation, and a panel discussion at 9:30 Club on Friday, Aug. 16.

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Snapshots: The Twilight Sad @ U Street Music Hall — 5/12/19

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The Twilight Sad performs at U Street Music Hall on May 12, 2019. (Photo by Jason Nicholson)

The Twilight Sad made a brief appearance at U Street Music Hall recently, but the post-punk quintet, fronted by James Graham, stopped the show sort when the vocalist was too ill to continue.

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