Show Review: Grimstreaker, Namesake, Skorts at Sultan Room.
July 10th, 2024.
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We were the sultans of something
July 11th, 2024
Last night we barely dodged a rat trap in the subway to make it to Brooklyn’s Sultan Room for Grim Streaker, Namesake, and Skorts. We’d never been to Sultan Room before, it felt like a smaller version of Seattle’s Showbox Market. A tiered, circular space with a center stage. We felt like we were inside a UFO and the bands made us feel like we were getting abducted, taking us to some punk-rock planet and back. A dream come true, really. Here’s the memories the experience left us with.
Grim Streaker began the night in the sonic spaceship in heavy cruise control. Drums were often a mesmerizing flutter and stomp while bass looped through a hypnotic groove. Guitar served as a chisel, sculpting dissonant soundscapes out of their amplifier, sometimes using an entire drumstick as a slide. Enmeshed in this sound were their frontwoman’s monologued verses and shouting choruses. They ended their set with two fast and fiery songs, all jump and jam.
Namesake opened their set with a bass heavy mid tempo lurch. Their drummer hammered the kit in transition as guitarists strummed Cramps-adjectently. Their second song switched up the aura by 90 degrees. Their third song was another 90 degree turn. Again with the next one, with a galloping beat like a runaway horse. These slight variations in flavor formed a coherent shape and vibe, though, one with sharp corners. Bass could really shake the floorboards, downpicking furiously. They finished off their performance with a frenzied post-punk number.
Not only does Skorts shred the soundwaves, they fully enjoy themselves while doing it. This enthusiasm transmits to the crowd, they were picking up what Skorts was throwing down, and throwing it down themselves. They make bold statements like their intro to Bodies, playing a bass line through an octave down guitar, then doubling it with the bass guitar. Their two frontwomen traded instruments for Eat You Heart Out just for fun. At the end, the audience demanded an encore. And we got what we wanted.
We really did feel transported to some other place. Will anybody believe our abduction story? We have proof! We have evidence!! You got to believe us!!! If you don’t, connect with these bands below and be at their next show, so you can believe for yourself.
