Since returning from hiatus a few years ago, just in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their breakout debut LP, LA post-punk revivalist/darkwave duo She Wants Revenge have been increasingly active once more. While we’re still waiting on a proper new record to drop, we’re excited to see the group return to Nashville for the first time since 2016, to headline Exit/In tonight, June 28, with likeminded LA “funeral pop” duo MxMS and retro electronic/darkwave up and comer The Guidance tapped to support. This show is a must for any fan of dark, dance-primed, goth infused, ’80s post-punk and electronic music, and tickets are available here while they last! Read on for more about the show.
SHE WANTS REVENGE
Formed in 2004 in Los Angeles by musicians and DJs Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin, post-punk revivalists She Wants Revenge (whose ’80s goth and post-punk infused style is often labeled darkwave) shot to widespread fame after some regional buzz, radio airplay, and a major label record deal gave way to their breakout, eponymous 2006 debut LP, featuring career-making tunes “Out of Control,” “These Things,” and, of course, their best-known single, “Tear You Apart.” Calling back to classics like The Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, New Order, and more, the group’s sound aligned with fellow post-punk revivalists like Interpol, making them a fixture of the mid-’00s garage and post-punk boom, before more lo-fi indie rock began to dominate the airwaves by the end of the decade. After some big-name early co-signs (Garbage Singer Shirley Manson appeared in one of their early videos, and Joaquin Phoenix notably directed their spot for “Tear You Apart”), late night television and festival appearances, and tours with acts like The Psychedelic Furs, Placebo, Bloc Party, The Kills, Echo & The Bunnymen, Pixies, and even Depeche Mode, She Wants Revenge continued to craft moody, dance-ready sound across a couple more LPs- 2007’s This Is Forever and 2011’s Valleyheart– and a string of EPs, parting ways with their label and going independent along the way. After a respectable run, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in 2012, only to reemerge a few years later, after a resurgence of interest thanks to “Tear Your Apart”‘s placement in a 2015 in American Horror Story, and just in time for the 10th anniversary of their debut. They’ve remained intermittently active after since, though their last Music City stop was nearly three years ago; so, while we anxiously await for new music to arrive, this return to Nashville is undoubtedly a must for any longtime fans or newcomers who never got to see them the first time around!
MXMS
Distinct from, though influenced by the same sort of dark, emotional, goth tinged musical scene of yesteryear, LA by partial way of New York’s Me and My Shadow, or MxMS as they’re more commonly known, are a duo of Jeremy Dawson (who rose to fame as part of his other band, Shiny Toy Guns) and Ariel Levitan, who met by chance in a studio in 2013, forming the band as a writing session blossomed into a more prolific creative partnership. Self-described as “funeral pop,” the group channel influences like Massive Attack, Tricky, Nine Inch Nails, and Garbage, crafting lush, haunting, and hypnotic tunes through broken beats, dark pianos, angry synthesizers, and Ariel’s unparalleled voice. With several years of great singles and EPs to their name, they’re a more weird and brooding complement to She Wants Revenge, sure to resonate just as strong with the same fans.
THE GUIDANCE
Boasting a sound he self-describes as both “future grunge” and “darkwave pajama pop,” The Guidance is the musical vehicle of Chicago native turned Angeleno, Stefan Pruett. Though the project, which has been releasing music for several years now, and has toured with acts like Crystal Castles, channels decidedly retro sounds and influences like the rest of the bill, he’s managed to land more in the electronic sphere than rock, bridging the gap between brooding, dance-primed post-punk and more contemporary EDM. Still, his musical aesthetic feels like a solid fit, and he should be more than capable of kicking this show off right!
She Wants Revenge, MxMS, and The Guidance will perform tonight, June 28 at Exit/In. The show is 18+, begins at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $23.
