Tag: kustradio

Joywave, iDKHOW Take on Minneapolis for “Helvetica” Tour

Joywave, iDKHOW Take on Minneapolis for “Helvetica” Tour

The New-York based band Joywave came to Minneapolis as part of the “Welcome to Helvetica” tour, alongside the musical duo I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (iDKHOW), at the Fillmore on August 26.

The concert—which was the second stop on the “Welcome to Helvetica” tour—featured stunning visuals, an incredible atmosphere, and great acoustics that kept the music powerful yet still clear.

Savannah Conley opened the night with a half-hour set that felt like it could have been the main act. Her acoustic, raw performance contrasted with Joywave’s high production sound but offered an incredible primer for the rest of the night.

Joywave performed first, with a grungy set featuring songs off the new album “Cleanse”, and old favorites. Joywave broke into the Alt-rock scene in 2013, after being featured in “Dangerous”, a song by fellow New York state based Big Data. The band opened with “Tongues”, which introduced the jam-packed set.

The Fillmore provided ample space for the crowd to dance along to the music in general admission, or sit back and enjoy the show in the upper levels.

After Joywave finished with a gritty, punchy encore featuring the song “Destruction”, iDKHOW took the stage and closed out the night with an electric performance that kept the crowd energized and ready for more.

All-in-all, the performance was certainly one for ages.

Joywave, iDKHOW, and Savannah Conley will preform next on Saturday, August 27 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu.

Slotface – “Try Not To Freak Out”

By: Ryan Smith

Norwegian based pop-punk band, Sløtface deliver their debut LP Try Not To Freak Out, with just about everything you could want from a 2017 pop-punk album. Warm reverb, a strong bassline, guitars with a comfortable edge to em and, smooth vocals with a solid range delivering personal lyrics about dating and early adulthood Try Not To Freak Out offers you nothing you haven’t heard before but instead really focuses on its common sound to realize its strengths. I don’t know that I’d say this is an essential listen for anyone looking to keep up with 2017 but if you’re a fan of pop-punk at all I can definitely recommend giving it a listen, all the songs are strong listens (particularly Slumber, it’s the most interesting song on the album to me because it draws inspiration from post rock/emo in its structure) and the instrumentation is strong, varied and well produced. If I had any criticism for the album it’d be that it doesn’t really grip me enough to make itself distinct from the figurative bassline that it’s genre expects of it but there’s really nothing bad I can say about this album as a standalone project, its solid in all aspects and I’ll be giving it further listens while looking forward to what Sløtface come out with next.

For fans of:
Paramore, Wavves, Best Coast, DIIV or Wolf Alice
If you enjoy check out:
Sunflower Bean, The Smith Street Band, The Spirit of the Beehive

Hollywood Undead – “Five”

By: Ryan Smith

Starting up Hollywood Undead’s “Five” is the infectious “California Dreaming”. The fun sounding pop influenced track tackles not only both sides of California (glitz and glamour vs dreaded reality), but also tackles both of the aspects of stardom. In a similar track name to 10 Year’s latest release, “Ghost Beach” takes an R&B influenced jingle to sing about the changes in life that we watch pass us by. If the sound you want to hear is some of that gritty, darker hip-hop influence, turn to “Black Cadillac”, whose featured artist B-Real get real about being a musician with fame and fortune. Bringing up a riot of a song shortly after is “Riot” itself, where electronica and hip-hop find a powerful combination to get everyone and their friends up and moving. This intense motley of sounds throughout the album produces an extreme level of sound and music that will have anyone getting hyped up, no matter where they are. Check out Hollywood Undead when they come to the Myth on 11/12!

10 Years – “(how to live) AS GHOSTS”

By: Ryan Smith

Being around almost 20 years means that you’ll go through changes as a musician- whether its sound, subject, or even genre. With 10 Years “(how to live) AS GHOSTS”, the group digs down to their roots while at the same time recreating a new sound. Having previous members Brian Vodinh and Matt Wantland return for the album brings in the old energy of the group, and a new energy that is shown throughout the album, starting right off the bat with “The Messenger”. Lead single and second track “Novacaine” continues this trend, touching on the dark subject of losing that childhood spark as your time goes on. Powerful drums and a dark booming bass hit the listener at the halfway point of the album with “Ghosts”-as front man Jesse Hasek says that the song can “set your soul free”. Sweeping strings and more powerful lyrics about the dark parts of life are the common theme throughout the album, but don’t think that’s overplayed- 10 Years has built a powerful lyrical and musical masterpiece- be sure to see them when they come to the Palace Theatre on 12/14.