[DID NOT ATTEND: April 28, 2022] Trupa Trupa / Haldol
April 28th turned out to be a banner night of shows. There were four I was interested in seeing–three of those I was really interested in. It was very hard to choose especially since one of them was a show rescheduled to that night and I already had tickets to a different one.
Trupa Trupa is a band from Poland who I found out about through NPR music. Their music is dynamic and exciting and I understand they are amazing live.
By the time this show was announced I already had tickets for both Son Lux and Stick Men. But I was so intrigued by this one that it quickly became my number two choice (sorry Stick Men). I just wasn’t sure which one I was going to go to. I honestly don’t know how often Trupa Trupa will be able to come to the U.S. But I so very much wanted to see Son Lux, that they won out.
Haldol is a post punk band from Philly who I haven’t heard of. But this review, especially about the 4AD/120 Minutes connection is pretty spot on.
While I was lukewarm on their previous record, The Totalitarianism of Everyday Life, Negation recaptures the fire of that self-titled record by pushing past its sound rather than returning to it. While Negation still has death rock-isms like chorus on the guitar and tom-heavy drumming, the guitars are janglier, the singing more expressive, and the songwriting more pop. Once again, Haldol is ahead of the trend; while everyone else is going Christian Death, they’ve gone full 4AD, sounding more like something you’d see on 120 Minutes in the late 80s than a band on a flyer for a Madame Wong’s gig. That seems to imply a softening of Haldol’s sound, but that’s not the case at all… they play with the revved-up energy of bands like the Cult and the Jesus and Mary Chain… it’s pop music as much as it is art project, and listening to it provides all the immediate pleasure that pop music is meant to.”
This would have been a good show.
I Just Read About That... 