[ATTENDED: September 22, 2025] Pool Kids
This was my third time seeing Pool Kids. I really like their mix of punky alt rock and really cool guitar shredding (so much finger tapping). I saw them headline at a small place in Philly and they blew the roof off (with singer Christine Goodwyne crowd surfing at the end).
Since I last saw them the put out a new album. And they played 8 (of 11) songs from it. They opened with a new song and then immediately jumped back to their previous album
The opening riff to That’s Physic Baby is a mastercalss in cool guitar riffage–sounding like an old school metal intro. Both Goodwyne and second guitarist Andy Anaya shred impressively with lots of fingertapping. Anaya seems to add a few extra flourishes while Goodwyne gets back to singing. The end is a dramatic moment where the chorus telling you what I, telling you what I need, is repeated but at the end the song drops off and she screams (and we all scream along) NEED!
Vocalist/guitarist Christine Goodwyne was fun with a powerful voice that held high notes and also screamed with rage. She and second guitarist played some great harmony solos together too.
A group chat with goddamn 21 people I wish I was joking but I’m not.
They played one song from their debut (the wonderfully named $5 Subtweet) which has a total progressive rock vibe with a fast riff opening and some complicated intertwining moments.
The new album has a lot more going on–synths, quieter moments, even an AutoTune on the first song). But there’s still plenty of Pool Kids sound–loud vocals and gorgeous guitar work on Last Word. But they moved back to another of my favorite songs of their “I Hope You’re Right” with the chorus “You wanna start a fight” which is super fun to sing along to.
I also need to mention bassist Nicolette Alvarez who plays some amazingly complicated parts and adds a lot of backing vocals (which I don’t think she did on the previous album). Drummer Caden Clinton makes a lot of noise on a fairly small drum kit. He plays interesting rhythms and different parts of the kit to bring a really full (and dare I say kind of proggy component) to the songs.
After playing most of their bigger songs, they played three new songs. Sorry Not Sorry is a slower song (where Alvarez’ backing vocals really shone). Easier Said Than Done is also slower (with soft backing vocals from Anaya). These songs are all a bit more conventional. but they retain a lot of makes Pool Kids interesting.
Then we were encouraged to sing along to the next song because we all knew it. Conscious Uncoupling is the first song I heard by them and I loved everything about it–the soft to loud vocals, the cool guitar sounds and the big explosive chorus.
For one of the ending songs, Goodwyne put down her guitar and jumped into the crowd. The guy next to me had been singing along all night and she ran up to him and they sang a line together. Later from on the stage she called him over to shout a line with her and he was clearly thrilled. There wasn’t a large crowd–I felt bad for them, although it was a Monday night–and there was even a small “pit” available because I was standing a little back from the people up front (the sound isn’t very good when you’re right on the stage). She bounced around and then some short person slammed into her really hard. She bounced off and seemed game for more. So they bounced off each other a few more times and then she climbed back on stage.
They ended and it was still about 9:45 (I assuming 10PM curfew). On their other nights they had been adding an encore and when they left the stage they put their guitars down on the stage in the “we’ll be right back” gesture. But then the house music came on and it seemed like they weren’t coming back. But the crowd started a “one more song” chant (again, what happened to encore), and after a few minutes, they came back. Goodwyne apologized to the sound guy saying they weren’t planning on coming back out. It may be the first genuinely earned encore I’ve ever been a part of.
They played Swallow, a great song with lots of finger tapping guitar–it’s really fun when Goodwyne and Ayana face each other in a little guitar battle. It was a great and cathartic end to the show and they were done by 10!
The show was great and I was in for a surprise at the end of the show. As I was heading up the stairs, two young women were walking down and said my name. I looked up confused until they revealed that they were the daughters of one of my college friends. I hadn’t seen them in about five or six years and I don’t know how they recognized me (something about knowing I liked this band and they asked their parents what I looked like to see if I was there).
Turns out they are huge fans of the band and drove 3 hours to see them! They may also drive down to Philly on Thursday to see them again. It was great to see them and I immediately texted their mom–it had been too long–and we caught up.
| House of Independents 2025 | Ukie Club 2023 | Rooftop 2023 (open for PUP) |
|---|---|---|
| Tinted Windows € | Swallow ¶ | Swallow ¶ |
| Arm’s Length ¶ | That’s Physics, Baby¶ | That’s Physics, Baby ¶ |
| That’s Physics, Baby ¶ | Erso ⊗ | $5 Subtweet ⊗ |
| $5 Subtweet⊗ | $5 Subtweet⊗ | Arm’s Length ¶ |
| Which is Worse? € | Further ¶ | I Hope You’re Right ¶ |
| Last Word € | Comes in Waves ¶ | Conscious Uncoupling ¶ |
| I Hope You’re Right¶ | I Hope You’re Right¶ | Talk Too Much ¶ |
| Sorry Not Sorry € | Pathetic ¶ | |
| Bad Bruise € | Arm’s Length ¶ | |
| Easier Said Than Done € | Conscious Uncoupling ¶ | |
| Conscious Uncoupling¶ | Talk Too Much ¶ | |
| Leona Street € | encore | |
| Talk Too Much ¶ | Borerline ⊗ | |
| Exit Plan € | ||
| encore | ||
| Swallow ¶ |
€ Easier Said Than Done (2025)
¶ Pool Kids (2022)
⊗ Music to Practice Safe Sex To (2018)
I Just Read About That... 