Show Review: Homescreen, WAAH, Red Tank!, SORRYNOTSORRY at Arlene’s Grocery. March 17th, 2024.
----------
Got drunk off Rock and Roll on St. Patrick’s Day
March 19, 2024
We’ve been shaking our way to Manhattan’s Lower East Side a lot lately. Sunday night we were at Arlene’s Grocery to see Homescreen, WAAH, Red Tank!, and SORRYNOTSORRY put on a St. Paddy’s day showcase. We felt lucky to be there to witness the great sounds that went down. Here’s our recollection of events.
We walked into Homescreen's opening number. Labyrinthian bass lines complemented a grinding sound glacier of guitar on top of a steady beat. Sounds were other worldly, the guitarist used an expression pedal to fade in high haunting triads in a dense fog of reverb and delay. Not a single power chord was played. On the back half, the guitarist switched to a synth running on a slow LFO that gave the songs UFO vibes. Whoever scribbled down their setlist had great handwriting. That’s kind of what the music was, too. Great handwriting.
WAAH began their set with a single thunderous note. We forgot our earplugs so were wearing AirPods but the music was so massive that their noise canceling was getting fucked up, spitting farting noises into our ears. We took them out, but it was a visceral and awesome moment. Bass was thick as the chain links of a cruise ship's anchor. And it sang. If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. Their snare drum could snap through time and space. WAAH, We Are All Human.
Red Tank! was screaming, blistering punk. It was only fitting that these tunes were over as soon as they began. The floor tom got spooked during the first song, toppling over and laying limp and sideways on the stage. It couldn’t hang. Fast and loud was the formula, which is a formula that rarely fails. Kick drum sounded like a heart attack. All three guitarists sang a chorus together. They shredded their vocal chords for our pleasure and we thank them for it. In between songs they were visibly and audibly out of breath.
SORRYNOTSORRY's guitarist/frontwoman sang with a slap echo/chorus straight from the future. Her voice in this effect made it fizz delightfully in the high end, like Pop Rocks on the tongue. Handkerchiefs were draped over the drum kit. We said that Red Tank!’s percussion sounded like a heart attack. SORRYNOTSORRY must have taken note because one song ended in straight up audio cardiac arrest, with a final jarring flatline of silence. At times the bass was absolutely blown the fuck out. It rattled our senses and no apologies are needed for it.
This night was so cool, we feel sorry for the people that missed out. You may have been wearing green but were not lucky enough to have been there. The best we can do is capture a piece of the moment in writing. Connect with these bands on social media below to not miss their next show!
