The Heard

        
Tweet

Email

Print
Share

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Heard

Orlando promoter Bad Balloon was hyping Seattle's Supercrush, and you should've listened

Posted By Bao Le-Huu on Wed, Aug 28, 2019 at 11:27 AM

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Supercrush at Uncle Lou's

THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
Supercrush, Sad Halen, Gamma Waves and Please Be Kind, Aug. 25, Uncle Lou’s

Orlando concert promoter Josiah Wess always does his due diligence in appropriately promoting all the shows he books under the Bad Balloon banner. But there was something a little extra about the way he was hyping Seattle band Supercrush.

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Supercrush at Uncle Lou's

His online urges on the show were especially gushing, personal even. If you’ve seen enough bills organized by him, you know the guy has good taste. So here’s a street-proven pro tip: If Josiah glows about it, heed him. This Supercrush show cemented that.

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Supercrush at Uncle Lou's

In their Florida debut, Supercrush arrived as a band that’s both aesthetically good and remarkably finished as a live ensemble. Stylistically, this high-functioning quartet take the sighing melodic vastness of Teenage Fanclub and filter it through the gusting haze of My Bloody Valentine. It’s an incredibly effective synthesis of power-pop appeal and shoegaze rush, all done with loving revivalist devotion. And it’s the splendor that happens when pretty songs come with jumbo jet power.

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Supercrush at Uncle Lou's

The show also featured a strong local support cast studded with a couple bands that have really impressed over the last year or so. I’ve already sung the praises of Sad Halen a couple times so far this year, like here and here.

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Gamma Waves at Uncle Lou's

But Gamma Waves, whom I first noticed at another Bad Balloon show, have gone from good to even better in the year since I last saw them. This band’s thick and thrilling hard rock is blessed with a Nirvana-esque range where clear melodic instinct comes with mud, volume and bite. And their muscularity now has even more tone and definition. This young Orlando band is one to watch.

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Gamma Waves at Uncle Lou's

The only unfamiliar name on the bill was new local act Please Be Kind, the solo vehicle of Trina Perry. Still very much a developmental project, her simple songs are nonetheless feeling, moody and tender affairs.

click to enlarge

Please Be Kind at Uncle Lou's - JEN CRAY

Jen Cray
Please Be Kind at Uncle Lou's

click to enlarge

Jen Cray
Please Be Kind at Uncle Lou's

Follow Bao on Twitter (@baolehuu)
Email Bao: baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com

Tags: bad balloon, josiah wess, supercrush, orlando debut, sad halen, gamma waves, please be kind, this little underground, the heard, orlando music news, orlando concerts, orlando shows, orlando music, bao le-huu, jen cray, Image

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Orlando Weekly. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Orlando Weekly, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at feedback@orlandoweekly.com.

Support Local Journalism.
Join the Orlando Weekly Press Club

Local journalism is information. Information is power. And we believe everyone deserves access to accurate independent coverage of their community and state. Our readers helped us continue this coverage in 2020, and we are so grateful for the support.

Help us keep this coverage going in 2021. Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing membership pledge, your support goes to local-based reporting from our small but mighty team.

Join the Orlando Weekly Press Club for as little as $5 a month.