“I went to a Machine Girl show and basically it was a 65,000-year-long rave in 30 minutes and I overdosed a thousand times a second until I collapsed into a tesseract and got my ass eaten out in the fourth dimension.”
The quote is a point of pride for fans of the American electronic duo Machine Girl. In fact, they can purchase a t-shirt plastered with the phrase at their merch table. In person, Machine Girl is as much an explosion of sonic intensity as it implies.
The duo flavored their set with songs from their three heaviest albums, U-Void Synthesizer, The Ugly Art, and …Because I’m Young Arrogant and Hate Everything You Stand For. However, Black Cat satisfied fans’ tastes for their other works by playing some tracks from WLFGRL and the Neon White Soundtrack before they entered the stage.
Vocalist-producer Matt Stephenson and drummer Sean Kelly are pure energy live. Stephenson made the whole club his stage, joining the crowd to scream in people’s faces and climb nearby floor speakers. At times the venue’s overblown acoustics made it difficult to discern the lyrics, causing songs to blend into one another, creating a whirlwind of sweaty joyful mayhem. The pit was wild, filled with fans ricocheting off each other to the intoxicating drumbeat. The show’s climax involved Stephenson splitting the crowd to contort himself in knots on the floor during Scroll of Sorrow. A hoard of fans swarmed to hold up his microphone cable, ensuring no interruption to his ferocious vocals. During an interlude between the tracks Batsu Forever and The Fortress, Stephenson alluded to the infamous quote, announcing that we would celebrate 65,000 birthdays and christmases together.
Although their music incorporates many digital elements, adding live drums and bass grounded their performance in the project’s punk roots. Upon entering the venue, I noticed that the crash of Kelly’s drum kit was torn nearly in half. The deliberately damaged cymbal adds another dimension to Sean Kelly’s unrestrained drum work, á la Zach Hill of Death Grips.
The show’s openers, Cabo Boing and LustSickPuppy, complemented the grimy electro-punk perfection of Machine Girl well. Cabo Boing’s act was equal parts synth pop and performance art, meanwhile, LustSickPuppy subverted the digital hardcore genre with a hip-hop flair. The crowd welcomed both performers with enthusiasm. By the end of all three sets, I felt overcome with exhaustion in the most satiating way possible. Machine Girl is a cannot-miss concert for fans of music that is unpredictable, dangerous, and full of uncontrollable energy.
Although their 2022 tour has come to a close, Matt Stephenson and Sean Kelly will be returning to Washington, D.C. alongside 100 Gecs in May 2023.
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