POV: Between indie, subgenres ending in “-core,” and other forms of necrotrap, categorizing music has become unnecessarily difficult in recent years. Learning about his music tastes involves memorizing 12 TikTok buzzwords. In this era of sub-subgenres, some artists are noticing the phenomenon of leaning into genre ambiguity rather than aligning themselves with nonconforming labels. HEALTH takes this to the extreme with playfulness. finding Their music is heavily influenced by techno and goth, so the term refers to something that falls outside the already developed subgenre of metal. This unscrupulous behavior is not unusual for Health. The band has subverted expectations for metal groups since his formation in 2005. Instead of embracing a dark, edgy, violent personality, Health was openly friendly to his fans. They claim that fans refer to bassist John Famiglietti as “Mr. John.” In “Music Health,'' Music ignored his etiquette and basic common sense by attaching Famiglietti's phone number to his videos and merchandise, and actively encouraging games of Dungeons and Dragons with fans. .
HEALTH have never fallen into metal's typical caricatures, but they have found legitimacy within the alternative scene, a development that was never more evident than with the band's recent headline performance at the Majestic Theater. It was obvious.
Despite the balmy 29 degree weather, very few people were wearing sleeved shirts in line for the show. Tributes and jokes lined up while people tried to justify hypothermia for the sake of fashion, and eventually the horde was allowed into and packed into the theater's vast general admission space. At the beginning of the show, DIY Hardcore Noise artist King Yosef performed his screamo dance mutations of his music. Being relatively new to the scene, many people were not familiar with King Joseph's sound, but their performance was a shocking first impression and naturally gained new listeners to the group. did. Between mosh songs and genuinely entertaining audience engagement, King Joseph delivered an opening act worth braving the freezing temperatures for, preparing the audience for a super-feminized goth performance from Pixel Grip.
HEALTH is a musically ambiguous band, so their shows are bound to feel like a melting pot of alternative subgenres. Goths, metalheads, emos, and punks (I even saw a few clowns in the mosh pit) find themselves dancing together as some sort of giant, congealed countercultural mess. Pixel Grip brought out his audience's queer side by overlaying his hypersexual visual components on the group's psychedelic melodies. The group explores queer identity, mental illness, and politics through an industrial goth lens, creating unique and fresh takes on standard themes in alternative music. The group's vocalist, Rita Luca, embodied her captivating persona as she led the audience through a set focused on body positivity and sexual independence in a patriarchal music scene. Pixel Grip's show was enjoyable primarily due to their great pacing, which catered to the energy of the crowd while drawing attention to both the faster and slower sides of their discography. At Majestic Theater, Pixel Grip revealed that their work is a harbinger of an alternative future.
Ironically, despite being the headliner, HEALTH didn't give the most exciting performance. The set didn't disappoint, but both openers were so great and had such unique takes on hardcore that they made the older groups seem tame by comparison.The band went through their early synth-heavy works and performed heavier songs from their latest album. rat wars And by covering Deftones, they paid homage to a pillar of the subgenre. HEALTH's energetic performance, while not as chaotic as the opener, confirmed that the band is firmly entrenched in the metal scene. The group is focused on bending the constraints of genre, which is encouraging given the repetitive and uninspiring ruts that the alternative genre tends to fall into, but the harder side of electronic still remains. It shows that you are alive and well.
Daily Arts Writer Mivick Smith can be contacted at: rmontsmi@umich.edu.
