One Step Closer and Angel Du$t
Growlers // Memphis, TN // October 5, 2022
Photos by Kendra Petersen Kamp // Review by Jordan Petersen Kamp
Angel Du$t, who wrapped up a tour at Growlers in Memphis, TN on October 5, 2022, has one artist-created playlist on their official Spotify page and it’s titled “Eveything That’s Ever Rocked.” So far, it includes a grab-bag of punk, hardcore, and indie rock coming from all over, but is most heaviy concentrated in the east side of the United States in places like New York, Philadelphia, or that band’s hometown of Baltimore. If one were to break out a corkboard, tacks, and some thread to discern patterns and reveal the mystery at the core of all that has rocked, like, ever, it would quickly be revealed that Angel Du$t—who is, in fact included in “Everything That’s Ever Rocked”—fits smack-dab in the middle.
One Step Closer
Sure, that could be because the rotating cast of members in Angel Du$t are also prominent members of many of the bands included on the playlist (Turnstile, COLD MEGA, Webbed Wing, etc.). But it also feels like “Everything That’s Ever Rocked” is the broad mission that keeps the band going and best captures the myriad, squint-and-you-can-find-it influences found in their sound. Hardcore? Duh. Surf rock? Absolutely? Billy Idol? Sure—I mean, did you hear the bass line in “No Vacancy?” Kinda sounds like “White Wedding,” right?
Angel Du$t
The band tore through their hour-long set in Memphis, pulling from each of the band’s four studio albums dating back to 2014’s AD. Whether they were leaning into the hardcore sound from their early material or the more new-wave inspired YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs from 2021, the set functioned as party music for an enthusiastic and participatory crowd. The set culminated with “Set Me Up,” a barely minute-long ripper from their first album that the band played at the request of the audience who were also granted lead vocal duties by frontman Justice Tripp.
The set was fast, loud, tight, fun, and freeing. And it surely rocked.
