Live Shows: Slow Crush, Faetooth, Flooding, and Women in Peril, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 9/6/25

European bands don't always come to the States often, or at all. (And, really, who could blame them currently?) When Belgium's Slow Crush played Sonia back in 2022, I missed it and thought that might have been my only chance. As soon as they announced a return to Boston this past Saturday night, I knew I couldn't miss this one.

Heavy shoegaze is currently having a moment, and Slow Crush might be the finest of the genre. The quartet took the stage and completely owned it for over an hour. Their sound not only adds a heavy darkness to the shoegaze genre, but also kind of a pop sensibility. They're about as catchy as you can get in this style of music while still adding in the nearly metal level of heavy. Plus, even though shoegaze bands aren't exactly known for energy to the point that it's literally in the name of the genre, Slow Crush brought a crushing energy to their live show. Saturday night was kind of a crazy night for entertainment choices in Boston with it being the first weekend all the college kids were back, and if you were at The Sinclair, you made the right one.

Los Angeles' Faetooth played before Slow Crush. While they do have shoegaze elements to their musical style, they're more of a doom or sludge band, and call their style "fairy doom." Their set was absolutely punishing in the best possible way. It was loud and heavy, and inspired more than a little headbanging in the crowd. They were the most metal band of the night, and I got the impression they were just as much of a draw as Slow Crush. As someone who doesn't delve into metal too often, Faetooth were a revelation and might have helped reignite my love of the heavier side of music. 

Normally I check out opening bands before a show, but I kind of forgot to for Saturday night's show. I went in completely blind for Flooding's set, and was completely floored by them. The Kansas City trio plays a style of heavy shoegaze meets slowcore, and the last time an opener blew me away this much was when I saw Mogwai open for Pavement back in 1997. For a band that formed in 2021, they have a confidence and tightness that defies their time as a band. Part of that is vocalist Rose Brown, who is one of the most engaging frontpeople I've seen in years. I don't think anyone in the audience was able to take their eyes off Brown for more than a minute or so for their entire set. Flooding is a band that is going to be huge much sooner than later.

Boston's own Women in Peril opened the show, and while I unfortunately missed part of their set, what I saw was great. They're more on the emo side of things, but much more along the lines of Midwest emo than Top 40 emo. Plus, they're far heavier than you can imagine emo or pop punk being. They were the most fun band of the night, and were a perfect way to ease the crowd into an evening of loud, heavy, and dark music.