BLACKSTARKIDS Brings Ultra-Upbeat Energy and a Fusion of Hip-Hop and Alternative Rock to the MOTR Pub September 17, 2021 Live Music Near Me Cincinnati
Photo: Jake Kelly
As Gen Z continue to flood the workforce while battling the existential fear of adulthood, a thirst for early 2000s nostalgia has entered the cultural zenith. While the silicone bombshell of Hyperpop music has managed to reframe those formative years into a fantasy of cybernetic fashion and genre-bending, the Pop Punk revival camp, Missouri-based trio BLACKSTARKIDS offer a keepsake. more intimate and pastel from the past. Specializing in lo-fi composition and ultra-upbeat energy, they sound like a garage band from a coming-of-age movie or Degraded the episode comes to life – in the best possible way.
2020s SURF, the band’s second album, is the perfect soundtrack to chill out on summer days. The group merges Hip Hop and Alt-Rock in a way that sounds decidedly less cynical than many of their similarly aiming peers, stringing adorably Autotuned choruses through jangly guitar riffs and scintillating Synth Pop chord progressions. You can trace a path from the laid-back vocal performance of BLACKSTARKIDS to the two assignments of indie rock band Beat Happening, but comparisons to conscious’ 90s rap collective Arrested Development seem just as fitting.
NO MATTER MEC, released later last year, marked the group’s debut with UK label Dirty Hit, which is also home to The 1975. While the overall sound hasn’t changed much, their Pop songwriting skills have refined each other, resulting in two excellent celebrity-obsessed singles: “FRANKIE MUNIZ” and “BRITNEY, BITCH.” While BLACKSTARKIDS may not yet be pop stars, we can still dream about their big time. sides.
BLACKSTARKIDS will perform at 10 p.m. on Friday, September 17 at the MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine). Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test from the previous 72 hours is required.
More info: motrpub.com.
Watch “BRITNEY, BITCH” below:
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