I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 5, 2018] +HIRS+

+HIRS+ (pronounced “heers”) is a collective. According to their website: “We are infinite and never ending. A collective of freaks and faggots that will never stop existing.” But mainly the band is made up of two semi-anonymous individuals, best friends JP on vocals and beats and Esem on guitar.

And their slogan is “LOOKS LIKE HELL. SOUNDS LIKE SHIT. QUEER AS FUCK.”

Incidentally, the band just released their first full length, which is currently streaming on NPR.  It is 14 minutes long–20 songs–and features guest contributions from Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!), Shirley Manson (Garbage), Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females), Alice Bag and more.

Vice describes their set so aptly:

A quick listen to one of their songs – and it will be quick, as most of their tracks don’t stretch for longer than 30 seconds – will definitely do the trick: Sample from a movie. Heavy blastbeats. Fast and pounding guitar riffs. Screamed, mostly unintelligible vocals. Repeat. If you’re seeing them live, the typical +HIRS+ set will last maybe ten intensely chaotic, fun minutes.

That’s a lot of talk for a set that lasted no more than 15 minutes.  But their set was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen.

I have never enjoyed getting a headache so much.  This is not to say that the set was enjoyable exactly.  It was brutal and loud and chaotic.  But it was also affirming and strangely sweet.

When I walked into the room, there was a large stack of amplifiers in the center of the stage.  The singer came out.  The guitarist came out.  They turned on their gear and the hum was ominously loud.  The beats began (from the singer’s ipod or phone) and the guitarist played a loud pummeling wall of fast heavy punk. The singer screamed unintelligible lyrics.  And the two of them stomped around the stage in an almost childlike cathartic approximation of two people in a mosh pit.  They crashed into each other.  The singer seemed like they might fall over or off the stage.

And 30 seconds later it was over.

Then they did it again.  And they were both in perfect sync–stopping abruptly each time right as the song ended.

In between blasts there were samples from movies and even from other songs.  They set up the iPod and started playing a dance song.  The singer apologized and said it was a Spotify playlist.  But when the song started again seconds later, that sample, Major Lazer’s “Bubble Butt” played for about ten second before it gave way to more pummeling.

In between songs the singer spoke.  Their voice was quiet and much higher pitched than the screams would suggest.  They invited trans men and women, people of color and other oppressed groups–the short– to come up front.  That space was for them.

Half way through the set the guitarist took some time to tune the guitar. I was somewhat surprised that the guitar was going to be tuned since it was mostly just really loud, but it took a bit longer than anyone expected.  Which allowed the singer to tell a joke.

And then they did a few more songs.  This time a song opened with a sample from Robin’s “Do It Again” before “seuing into whatever the next block of noise was.

For the last song, the singer said that this song and all of their songs were dedicated to trans women.

It opened with the quote

This is about women who you decided aren’t women and you are wrong.  I don’t give a shit what you think.  But when you or any of you do anything to put the lives of trans women at risk.  I will fight you.

The quote ended, the drum machine started and one minute later they were done.  This song, “Outnumbered” closes their album as well.

If not for the guitar tuning, the show would have been under 15 minutes.  It was thought-provoking, confounding and really left an impression.

Anything more than 15 minutes would have been overkill.  It is not for everyone, but everyone should experience it.

To read more about the band, here’s the rest of that Vice article.