Live Shows: Consumer, Tysk Tysk Task, Vivid Bloom, and Little Fuss, Deep Cuts, Medford, MA 3/22/24

Sometimes shows are announced that you know you can't miss. The venue is one of your new favorites. Two bands are playing that you've wanted to see for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet. One of your local favorites is playing. And the fourth is a band that you've never heard of before but is oddly buzzy. Everything came together Friday night for Consumer, Tysk Tysk Task, Vivid Bloom, and Little Fuss at Deep Cuts in Medford.

Little Fuss opened the show, and are one of the bands I've been meaning to see for a while. I wasn't well versed in their music, but last year they seemed to be everywhere, so I wanted to check them out. They play a 90's inspired version of indie pop. Their songs have all the fuzz of the 90's with a more modern sense of pop music. (It's the kind of sound that we never would have admitted was pop back then because we were all too snobby.) Little Fuss is just a fun live show and brought in some absolute die hard fans that had infectious energy. This is one of those bands that feels destined for much bigger things, so check them out now and impress your nieces and nephews once they're playing the huge stages in town.

Playing next was Vivid Bloom, who I've been dying to see ever since hearing their three song EP/single late last year. Live they play this intense and sludgy version of shoegaze that just slammed the entire audience in the face in an unrelenting display. It was the style of performance that you could tell everyone in the room was having their minds blown at the exact same time in the exact same way. It was like Vivid Bloom sent out a sonic tractor beam and locked in the audience by sheer physical force. It reminded me of seeing Mogwai opening for Pavement in the 90's by how they made die-hard fans out of an entire room Friday night.

After seeing two bands for the first time and having my mind blown by each, it was time for Tysk Tysk Task, who are a band I've seen an embarrassing number of times in the past two years. It never gets boring as they keep evolving themselves and their songs each time I see them. "Contagion" has turned into an even more explosive live version, while "Ocean Now" has morphed into a grunge power ballad. The band also played a song called "Like a Triumph" for the second time ever. It's their most pop focused song yet, and I truly can't wait to hear this one evolve over time. What's great about seeing a band like Tysk Tysk Task so many times over a few months is watching how the current like up is gelling with each performance. 

Consumer closed out the night, and despite the fact that I had never heard of them until the show was announced, them playing Friday night seemed like a Big Deal. Despite that, I almost bailed on the show before they started playing since I was exhausted and the weather forecast was not great for Friday into Saturday. I stayed, and I'm glad I did. They were the heaviest band on the night, and played a wonderfully strange version of punk and metal crashed together. It was screamy, it was hardcore, and it just fucking rocked. I'm still not completely certain it was for me, and I may never be, but it was great and I'd go see them again next time I have the chance.