New Misphoria, a two-piece band from Tucson, Ariz., performed at Termminal West on Sept. 16. They walked off the stage, as if leaving us intoxicatingly elated with music was another casual weekday evening.
Last Monday I packed my camera, a couple note pads and a phone charger in my car before heading for ATL. Beside my friend Oliver, I dozed by the box office line, unknowing of the jaw dropping pot of gold I was about to see on stage, something I’ve looked for all my life and never gotten until that day.
You see, I was there to see The Buttertones, the headlining band, live for the first time. I did not expect New Misphoria to take my heart from inside my throat and compose rhapsodies with it, but alas.
It was a slow night as we strolled inside the venue, a couple people humming by the bar, some glued to the barricade like many of us have been before. The merchandise tables to the side were filled with the usuals, t-shirts and posters, but if you looked closer, anyone could appreciate how the Arizonians had come locked and loaded.
When I said it took all I had in me not to buy New Misphoria’s whole stock, I do mean all of me. There were lighters in every color, handcrafted buttons, obscene bumper stickers, assorted doodled patches, even a guest book for fans to sign! It was everything a young punk in the tucked corners of South Carolina would have wanted.
The two-piece band appeared under the lights not long after, one of them shy in sweet smiles, the other inducing thrilling paranoia with the whites of her eyes. It is fair to say both, Bella on the drums and Lee on the lead vocals and guitar, bring more energy to the stage than some veteran 5-piece bands I’ve seen around. Their music is piercing, somewhere among Alanis Morrisette, Amy Whinehouse and My Bloody Valentine.
“For writing, all my influences are country artists,” said Lee when talking about the band’s recent releases, “It’s a style that I think is very personal to me, mixed with all the story telling of old-school country.”
The band also cited Keith Moon, Karen Carpenter and Mac Demarco as early influences in a statement taken after their performance. Now more than ever, country’s influences can be heard in music development today. New Misphoria is not only on the train, but on the driver’s seat. It is southern liberation in an unexpected new wave, shoegaze format.
Right now, the band has six singles out on streaming platforms, but after a bit of rest after their tour with The Buttertones, a bigger project will be in the works.
“We will be working on releasing some music in the next coming month or two,” confirmed Lee, “EP first, and then an album soon enough.”
I can’t wait to see how the pair grows into new horizons, taking their listeners on a rollercoaster of emotions with every step of the way. I know I’ll be listening.
Gender euphoria, fluorescent disturbia, New Misphoria.
