Qlowski at The Lexington

24 October, 2022

I saw Qlowski at the end of the 2019. They were support for LIFE and although initially unimpressed, by the end of their set, I was really enjoying their performance. With an album planned and a trip pencilled in to SXSW 2020, I thought they might pick up some momentum. Obviously, 2020 didn’t work out they way we expected and like many bands, they had to reset their career. Tonight was my first chance to catch them since lockdown.

Opening the evening were punk band Press Release (a bit of a stupid name – as it’s pretty ungoogable). They are a three piece with the singer on drums. While she did a fine job of both. I think you need to perform punk. It needs to be in your face.

To illustrate this point, London punk band, Rifle were all performance. Every song weighing in under 3 minutes with the lead singer bounding around the stage, shouting into the faces of everyone at the front. It was simple, but effective. Haven’t a clue what he was saying. But it was a very effective performance.

Qlowski are four piece with two vocalists. Michelle Tellarini takes lead on the majority of tracks, Cecilia, takes lead on a few songs, which add an extra dimension to their sound. The band play gothy synth post punk but they aren’t afraid to add in layers of guitar feedback as the drums and synth drive songs forward. They remind me a bit of early Cure. This is mainly down to Michelle’s vocals that remind me of early Robert Smith vocals.

The set was a mainly songs off their excellent 2021 album, Quade Futuro? There seemed to be a lot of support in the audience from friends who were receptive to the few new songs in the set. It was a really enjoyable performance. It was good to confirm my initial impressions and that the band are worth my time. I will definitely catch them again. Sadly, I suspect they might have missed their opportunity to break into the mainstream, as I sense a shift aware for the dark end of post-punk with a quite a few bands hitting the scene rocking a New Romantics vibe. Maybe it is what we need after being locked away for two years. But I hope they do get some recognition. They are a very good band.