Gnarcissists/Torture and the Desert Spiders @ TV Eye, Queens, NY 2/11/26

 

Bill: Gnarcissists/Torture and the Desert Spiders/Licks/Opera

Venue: TV Eye, 16-47 Weirfield St., Ridgewood, Queens, NY

Date: Wednesday 2/11/26

Door: $12

11pm Gnarcissists

Active: 2017 (New York, NY)

Latest Release: Gnarcissists (BLISS, 2025)

Bandcamp  Instagram Discogs Setlist  YouTube  Spotify

10pm Torture and the Desert Spiders

Active: 2019 (Brooklyn, NY)

Latest Release: "Working On Myself" (M O O N Umlaut, 2025), "Blood On The Reef" (Torture and the Desert Spiders, 2024)

Bandcamp Facebook Instagram Discogs Setlist  Wix YouTube Spotify

Missed: Licks, Opera

Had a jam packed night last night first checking out comedian Dave Hill at the Bell House in Gowanus, where I hadn't been to in a while.   It seems like they are exclusively a comedy venue now complete with insanely uncomfortable metal folding chairs.  Mine was bent and creaking to make me think it was on the verge of collapse in a sold out space.  I was glad to get off that seat even if Dave was doing a performance along the lines of his off-Broadway Caveman In A Spaceship we saw last year.  Always good to check in with Dave.   Since this is a music blog, I don't write about comedy/theatre even though Dave walks a line.  He/the venue bans cell phone/clips anyway and I've written about his bands elsewhere in this blog.   Anyway we had a friend that knew and wanted to see Gnarcissists at TV Eye, so not only did I get a convenient shared car close to me, but then had a gig to write about.  Our friend Eric who is good for band tips was there early for the band Opera and also Licks, but unfortunately we missed them.

I had been curious about Torture and the Desert Spiders since they seem to have a permanent East Village residency either at Berlin or Baker Falls for the past year.  They apparently are UK transplants to NYC (Brooklyn on their Bandcamp).  I always get nervous about "residency" bands because they usually imply that somebody with deep pockets or industry connections wants to take a band that they have a financial interest in that nobody cares about and have them build an audience through repeated appearances in the same place.  The sort of thing I instinctively try to avoid.   But what the hell do I know, the trick worked and they got a space in my brain to be curious enough to check them out differenting themselves from an infinite amount of bands that don't register that.   However, I'm happy to report the band itself were actually pretty good.  They reminded me of a something along the lines of Hole and Amyl and the Sniffers.  Eric thought I was out of my mind and they were nothing like Amyl and the Sniffers but since all I've paid attention to their music for about 15 minutes in the past decade, I should say they remind me of someone who ASPIRES to RAISE THEMSELVES TO THE LEVEL of someone like Amyl an the Sniffers, if that makes any sense.  I'm not saying the structure is similar, or that all female led punk derivative bands with commercial aspirations sound alike.  But  like it or not they do share a space on a plane.   Torture did have a standout catchphrase song "The Grass Is Always Greener" if that was what it was titled, which is better than a lot of bands.  

Kenny couldn't tolerate Gnarcissists but I was charmed because the singer reminded me a bit of local band the Stags from a ways back except cleaner around a bit more of a shambling large line-up.  Cleanish garage punk.  I still thought they were ok and stayed through the set while Kenny lasted half a song.   I thought their material was better at the end, but I can't remember any of it and the stream of their new digital release died while I was playing it after a few songs so there you go.