RGBdatamoshchaosinformercialblownouttattooparanoiacontentawaredistortpopupad band Lip Critic of New York returns to Iowa City at Gabe’s this Thursday, February 19th, as part of The Englert’s Track Zero x SCOPE collaboration. They are supported by “iowa city powerviolence” band Recess and “Cincy Melodeath Thrash” Ascended Master.
Some of us KRUIers saw Lip Critic back in October, when they opened for White Reaper at Gabe’s, after a brief discussion, our prestigious council reached the unanimous conclusion that they were by far the best part of the show. Their music is somewhere in between electronic and hardcore, full of samples and electronic crunches, a divorced(?) eccentric vocalist, and best of all, not one, not three, but two drum sets! Our friend Tarik says it perfectly, “The infectious riffs, the manic yet catchy lyrics, the insane vocals combining with intense electronic production and live drumming create such a fun and powerful song that was both amazing live and amazing to listen too at home.” (Tarik©, 2025). Explosive energy drives tracks that slip into bizarre time signature changes leaving the crowd jumping more and more off-beat, reaching higher and higher.
Recess is a newer band out of the Iowa City punk scene but have been playing shows across Iowa City the past few months, and traveling to Omaha soon. With tomorrow night’s lineup spanning across hardcore, punk, metal, and electronic, they’re gonna be a great piece of the set. Their current Instagram story reads “GO TO A SHOW GODDAMNIT,” and I’m a good boy so I’ll be there. I must advise all others to comply with these vicious commands as well.
Ascended Master just rocks. I’m picky with metal, but these guys take what’s cool about metal and do it well. They’re a melodic death metal group, so their music’s full of all those guitar runs and fun squeals. Don’t worry, they all have the prog-rock-slash-death-metal long hair look down, so they must be legit. Wikipedia’s telling me that melodeath has originates from Sweden, and really what better way to celebrate the U.S. kicking those godless Swedes out of the mens Olympic hockey tournament than by appropriating their music into something way cooler and way more Ohioan, hosted here in our very own Iowa City.
This will be a good show as Lip Critic’s first show of the year and the first of a mini-Midwest tour. I mean come on, “standing in a Wawa convinced I’m a god, so I’m gonna get any sandwich I want,” who else gets it like Lip Critic does? Even if you hate hardcore, or metal, or having fun with funky noises, I’m sure they’ll be delivering plenty of these poetic lessons, teachings that could deliver the unknowable visions of the second world into your consciousness. Just maybe, even someone like you could be the god in the Wawa…..only one way to find out!
Earplugs advised. Please. Doors at 8pm, more information can be found here. <3.
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