Told Slant Spins Heart-wrenching Songs at the Silent Barn

Brooklyn’s Told Slant refined their bedroom indie-folk sound with a more palatable approach on their sophomore record “Going By.” Led by Felix Walworth (they/them), the group belongs to the Epoch Collective, featuring members of Eskimeaux, Bellows, and Florist.

Local punk trio The Meltaways opened the show, full of hardcore vitriol and fury, they ripped through their set relentlessly. With a heavy influence of riot grrrl and early 80s punk, the band seemed the most brash on the bill. Yet, their late addition to the bill was entirely apt as the three had collaborated with Walworth and Emily Sprague of Florist on their debut LP.

Maryn Jones’ main project All Dogs features an upbeat pop sound with masterful production craft. In Yowler, Jones works more with hazy acoustic textures and melancholia. Recently, Jones toured with Frankie Cosmos, Eskimeaux, and Anna McClellan this past Spring and occasionally has performed with other DIY acts like Aye Nako. On this particular tour with Told Slant, the singer finds a better sonic fit in between two heavier acts and speaking to a sonic kinship with Walworth who along with Gabrielle Smith of Eskimeaux joined the singer for their final track.

Painfully infectious and rightfully cathartic, SPORTS have since relocated from a small college town in Ohio to Philly recently and are the most active they’ve been in awhile. With their latest effort, “All of Something” the band takes 90s alt rock aestheticism infused into saccharine pop hooks. As a quartet, the group operates tight as a performance unit, both rhythm and lead sections playing pounding beats beneath enchanting melodies.

With the first cymbal crash of “Tall Cans, Hold Hands” shattered many of the hearts in the Silent Barn, as Walworth spun nostalgic narratives about youth. As a songwriter, their subject material often paints these natural landscapes while incorporating themes such as gender dysphoria and romantic frustration. Playing through tracks off of their latest release and their first record “Algae Bloom,” the translation from the lo-fi recordings into the live setting make the compositions more vivid and striking. Particularly, at heart-wrenching tracks like “Tsunami” which features members of the band Girlpool but instead hear the response from the audience like a choir of affirmation with “isn’t this silly and aren’t you beautiful?”

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The Meltaways

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Yowler

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