I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 6, 2026] YHWH Nailgun [rescheduled from February 1, 2026]

I hadn’t heard of YHWH Nailgun (pronounced Yahweh Nailgun) before this tour.  They are a noise/experimental band from New York who originated in Philly.  I’m not sure if they were especially excited to play Philly since no one said anything before during or after the set.

Zack Borzone came out to the mic and made some noises–coos or barks or some such.  And he only got stranger from there.  Once the music started, he flapped his arms, he squatted down and stomped his feet.  He danced and swung his arms around and looked like he might fall over any second.  But he never did–controlled chaos.  Were there words?  I assume so.  Were they understandable? No.  Was it mesmerizing?  Absolutely.  He was also content to stare out at the crowd, making eye contact with everyone.  Unsettling.

Since I didn’t know anythig about them I didn’t know if the songs were as short as they seemed (they are–the longest song on their new album is 1 minute and 20 seconds.  And most of the time when the songs ended abruptly after 75 seconds with no indication that they were ending, there was a pause before everyone applauded.

Sam Pickard on drums was fantastic.  His drumming is unusual, focusing more on toms and roto toms than snares.  Almost every song has a unique drum pattern.  A song like Burns is almost entirely interesting drums.  And To the Devil opens with a fast, wild drum intro.  When they played an older song like Charger, the drums were somehow even more intense.

But equally as fascinating was guitarist Saguiv Rosenstock.  He played chords, sure, but the chords were not chords I had seen before.  And most of the time the sounds were just waves of noise and chaos.  I had to watch what he was doing on every song because it was so interesting.

The only person who is underappreciated is Jack Tobias on synths because I really don’t know what he was contributing.  On some songs, like Magazine there were clear synth hits and loops and sounds that the guitar wasn’t making, but it was really hard to tell what he was doing, especially since he was so far from me.  I have to assume the songs would sound emptier without him.