- Last Tuesday's event at Teragram Ballroom felt like a coronation of sorts, not just for Lust For Youth, the Copenhagen band that's made a self-aware rise to synth-pop stardom in the past few years, but also for a loose collective of sleeper cell labels. Lust For Youth-affiliated Posh Isolation, Jealous God (run by Silent Servant, who on the night played minimal synth rarities between acts), Ascetic House and Dais Records are all outlets that feel connected in attitude despite aesthetic differences. The show sold out, partly because Lust For Youth and their direct support, noise band Marshstepper, spend a lot of time in Los Angeles. The latter in particular have played the city frequently, many of their gigs put on by Church Off York and the Highland Park record store Mount Analog, who stock tapes and records from Ascetic House and Posh Isolation, samizdat for a new generation of stylish and disaffected youth.
When I arrived, Dais Records act Drab Majesty were working their way through a solid set of downcast post-punk. But what stood out most about the duo was their look: front person Deb Demure claims a lot of his clothes come from his deceased grandmother's house in Beverly Hills, and on Tuesday both members wore long, leather trenches with white makeup, blonde scare wigs and made-up raccoon eyes, looking like Pris from Blade Runner. (The music they played could have easily been made the year that film came out, in 1982.)
There's a natural anticipation whenever Tempe freaks Marshstepper take the stage. The last time they supported Lust For Youth in LA they carried out a satanic bloodletting ritual, but this show saw them more focused, at least for the most part. The clattering delay on the drum machines and deadpan vocals reminded me of recently revived Factory America act Ike Yard, except during JS Aurelius's occasional screaming fits, which can feel like a terrifying exorcism if played right. Teragram's professional feel was an odd fit for a group that's spent a lot of time in basements, but they worked the soundsystem with aplomb, turning over simple basslines in the powerful subs.
Aesthetic is central to acts like Drab Majesty and Marshstepper, so I was surprised that the sold-out crowd weren't more stylishly turned out. I spotted only a few Posh Isolation gridded globe T-shirts and even less dangling cross earrings. Hannes Norrvide, Loke Rahbek and Malthe Fischer stepped things up from a sartorial perspective, wearing sunglasses, jackets and backpacks with a surplus of insouciant star power. The songs, especially those off 2014's International LP, held up. Cuts like "Epoetin Alfa," "Illume" and the cathartic closer "Running" are emotional yet disengaged, matching the trio's onstage presence. Norrvide bellowed sweet, Scandi-accented New Order-isms as the venue's lighting technician worked overtime, confirming the Danish trio as the new face of elegant longing.
