Microwave Celebrate New LP ‘Let’s Start Degeneracy’ with Stacked Indie Punk Lineup of Origami Angel, Heart Attack Man, & Carpool Tunnel Tonight, May 31 at Cannery Hall

While they first managed to capture broader acclaim and establish themselves as one of the indie rock and post-hardcore scene’s most indispensable up and coming talents a decade ago, with their 2014 full-length debut, Stovall, it was couple years earlier that Microwave formally came together in the suburbs of Atlanta, initially an outlet for frontman Nathan Hardy as he returned home from a Mormon missionary trip, and began to sever tires from the church and explore the world outside of it. Recruiting high school friend and drummer Tito Pittard and bassist Tyler Hill to round out the lineup (they’ve also had additional guitarists over the years, but are currently a trio), Microwave found some independent buzz with early EPs like Nowhere Feels Like Home and When the Fever Breaks Again in 2013, as well as through initial touring efforts, which frequently brought them to Nashville to play DIY haunts, and managed to put them on our radar early on as a nearby band to watch.

By Stovall, Microwave had signed to buzzy indie label SideOneDummy, amassing critical acclaim throughout the indie and punk sphere, and landing the band on the road with acts like The Wonder Years, Jimmy Eat World, Motion City Soundtrack, and many more, as well as spots at events like Warped Tour, Wrecking Ball, and Riot Fest in the following years. Funneling punk sensibilities into an indie and eclectic sound, also channeling elements of emo and post-hardcore, the band were able to capture much of the emotion and aesthetic of many memorable scene classics with their debut, powered by the gut-wrenching earnestness and confessional delivery of Hardy, who spent much of the first LP navigating the life experiences, excess, mistakes, and revelations of a world free of his religious upbringing. With 2016 followup Much Love, Microwave dialed up the angst and dark, internal conflict, moving beyond a wide-eyed view of a world anew into a jaded reflection on its reality, with Hardy finally comfortable in his journey to personal liberation, and yet still gripping with the existential implications.

Ahead of 2019’s Death Is a Warm Blanket, the band had signed with their current label home of Pure Noise, and had begun to resonate with an even wider mainstream audience beyond the emo and pop punk scene, evolving their sound to more of a sludgy, no-frills, hard-hitting yet introspective alt rock. And as with many other acts, the wait for their latest, this year’s Let’s Start Degeneracy, was prolonged somewhat by the pandemic years, marking the longest gap yet between Microwave records at five years. The LP was worth the wait though, landing as something of a return to form and a distillation of the band’s last decade, adopting a more emotionally resonate, lean, propulsive, and accessible fusion of punk and indie rock and emo and alternative, with even some elements of shoegaze and indie pop, attracting critical acclaim and a whole new wave of fans.

They’ve played Music City over the years more times than we can count- everywhere from The End to Cafe Coco to Exponent Manor to Mercy Lounge to Eastside Bowl to supporting slots at The Ryman and Marathon Music Works and fests like Warped Tour and BreakFEST- but their return tonight, May 31, in celebration of their latest, will be Microwave’s biggest Nashville headliners to date, at Mainstage at Cannery Hall! And though Microwave alone would make this a must-see, the rest of the lineup is absolutely stacked, with DC emo and indie duo Origami Angel, Cleveland punks Heart Attack Man, and San Francisco alt/indie outfit Carpool Tunnel rounding things out, and making this an incredible bill for fans of substantive, earnest, indie, punk, and emo. Tickets are still available right here, and you can preview the whole lineup and enter below.

Microwave, Origami Angel, Heart Attack Man, and Carpool Tunnel will perform tonight, May 31 at Cannery Hall’s Mainstage. The show is 18+, begins at 7 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $29.50