Recording: New Fries

Artist: New Fries

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at MOCA (Not Dead Yet Presents), June 29, 2019.

New Fries - unknown

There was a bit of physical/emotional dislocation and relocation at this show, sorting through the realities and ironies of our gentrifying city. Recently a sort of semi-abandoned zone where off-the-grid culture flourished (and just over from where some cool DIY loft spaces used to be) and in a formerly-abandoned building (where audiences and musicians like the ones at hand used to sneak in and explore and smoke a joint, looking out over the city) this show took place in the new Museum of Contemporary Art, now refinished with a sort of austere/pricey minimalism and filled with Expensive Things. From the back of the long, rectangular space, held up by large circular concrete pillars, it looked not unlike a show taking place underneath a highway overpass — and by virtue of the space, it sounded more than a little like one too. Is this a simulacrum of independent culture, selling us back our nostalgia for a recently-departed past at a bespoke markup? Or is it just a matter of trying to find any sort of space in a city where space for the DIY spirit is getting crowded out?

The second time seeing this new trio re-incarnation of New Fries found the space rendering their sound a bit more harsh and apocalyptic than the previous go-round, but that takes away nothing from the menacing minimalist groove power underpinning the music.

[New Fries will be playing with Frigs and Piper Maru at the Velvet Underground on Saturday, December 14th.]

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!