After a week of pleasant, warm weather, Iowa couldn’t let us be happy for too long and dropped a 20 degree, rainy, windy day on us. Walking around campus and the streets of downtown Iowa City, I saw puddle filled benches, dirty signs and skies that’ve seen better days. But that didn’t stop Gabe’s from filling up with students and community members alike ready to listen to some incredible independent music.
Collaborating with University of Iowa’s Scope Productions, The Englert Theater brought Lip Critic back to Iowa City as a part of their Track Zero series. With the band’s unique and unconventional blend of various music styles and this being their second visit to the world city, it’s no surprise that they’ve quickly gained the cult following of punks, raver’s, alt kids, hip hop heads and music lovers alike all across Iowa. Joined by local powerviolence act Recess and punk rockers Ascended Master, it was bound to be a great show.
Recess was the first opener and started the night off with some incredible energy. Lead singer Sir Anne Wrappe has dipped their toes in several forms of performance art including drag and burlesque acts which makes them a very unique but exciting hardcore front-man. This juxtaposes perfectly with Powerviolence’s usual style of fast paced, aggressive guitar solos and murky, sludgy bass riffs to make Recess really stand out amongst a sea of copy-cat metal bands. Another highlight of their performances for me was their undeniable chemistry as a group, from the consistent swap of vocalists to the way the drum fills compliment the guitarists, you can tell this is a group of highly skilled and experienced musicians. Excellent set and I can’t wait to see more from Recess, they don’t have any released music so make sure to check out a show from these rising stars in the Iowa City music scene!
Next up was Ascended Master, the “unc band” of the lineup. Due to how strong their performance was, I was surprised to find out that they’ve only been playing shows for the past few months, but it made more sense knowing how stacked the group was with music scene veterans. Namely their lead singer Oliver Weilein of City Council and BOOTCAMP fame. At one point in between songs he went around the crowd asking people what they would want to change about Iowa City and actually listening to their responses. It’s really great to see a local musician who’s so dedicated to uplifting their own community and just goes on to show why Oliver is such a local legend.
Even speaking exclusively about music, the set was such a blast, just punk bangers back to back with such a keen understanding of performance and crowd control. I think my favorite was a cover of Descendents iconic song Hope, with some really fun mic grabs and crowd pile ons throughout the track. Unfortunately they have no social media, so make sure to continue looking out for them popping up on some local flyers!
The simplest and most accurate way to describe Lip Critic’s music is experimental. The eccentric four man multi instrumentalist group combines elements of rock, hip hop, punk, electronic, and industrial music to make these incredibly produced tracks that are equally aggressive as they are danceable. This was reflected perfectly within this show’s moshpit which ebb and flowed between rave style dances and more traditional push pit moshing.
You can’t help but shake ass to the grooveable rhythms of Toxin Dodger, thrash your head to The Heart and sing your lungs out to the choruses of Milky Max and In The Wawa (Convinced I Am God). And none of this would be possible without the band’s incredible stage presence. Their lead singer Bret Kaser is an absolute maniac who will do anything to bring up the crowd’s energy whether that’s running into the pit, bringing people on stage or screaming random things between sets. With such high energy performers it’s hard to not reciprocate that energy and want to move with them, which I believe everyone in the audience (me included) felt for the whole set. If you want to hear more about specific tracks, check out my review of their latest album Hex Dealer. If you love what you hear, definitely anticipate the group’s upcoming album Theft World, out on April 30th. But for now, thank you Lip Critic, for an amazing performance.
While not available for a full interview after the show, I did get the really great opportunity to have a conversation with the lead singer at the merch booth and here’s some of what he had to say.
Tarik: Hey thanks for a great set, really loved it.
Bret: Thank you man, thanks for the energy.
Tarik: Did you actually meet your wife in Iowa? (Referring to earlier in the show when he shouted between songs that he met his wife at Gabe’s)
Bret: Nah I don’t even have a wife.
Tarik: Wait what, why’d you say that then?
Bret: I don’t know, I just thought it’d make people excited.
Tarik: Do you always make up stuff like that during shows?
Bret: Yeah, just something funny that gets people going.
Tarik: I was gonna say, cause I think last time you were here you said you were going through a divorce.
Bret: Haha yeah, did you come to our show here with White Reaper?
Tarik: Yeah no it was so fun. I didn’t know who y’all were before the concert, and I came and you guys put on such a great show I had to come see you guys again.
Bret: Do a lot of people around here just kinda like coming to shows, even if they don’t know the artists?
Tarik: Yeah, a good amount of people, we got a pretty solid music scene.
Bret: Yeah that’s sick man, we really didn’t know Iowa City was like that before our first show here, but we were really sleeping on it, you guys go crazy.
Tarik: Thanks, y’all should come back.
Bret: Yeah, we definitely will next tour.
Tarik: When’s that gonna be?
Bret: Probably around fall after we release our new album. This was kind of just a mini tour to test out new songs live and create some hype around the album.
Tarik: Well I’ll definitely show up man, see y’all next time.
Bret: Yeah thank you!
And this conversation is where I found my story. I thought back on October 4th my first time seeing Lip Critic, and what I initially thought was gonna be an average night out with some fun music, but what turned into one of my favorite live music experiences and a newfound love for an extremely talented emerging group. All resulting from me just choosing to take a chance on seeing a lineup of bands I knew next to nothing of. Like Bret stated “People here just kind of like coming to shows, even if they don’t know the artists.” Similar to how Lip Critic took a chance on playing in Iowa City for the first time and now it’s becoming a tour staple for them.
I talk to music fans on a daily basis, many of which you would almost never catch at a local show. Usually saying something along the lines of “Well how do I know if I’ll like it if I don’t know the artists?” Well my question is what if you DO love it? It’s a common trend to see online music lovers post performances from their favorite artists at the dawn of their career. Playing to small crowds at local restaurants, venues and basements. A far cry from their later critical acclaim and global success. You’ll see these comments flooded with people talking about how much they wish they could’ve been there to see these amazing acts for cheap in such an intimate environment. Well what’s stopping you from doing that now? Every city is flooded with performances from talented, hungry young artists looking to make something special and one of them might just be a new favorite of yours. I found that with Lip Critic, and you can too.
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