Squid at Fine Line (02-19-2024)

It was a quiet night in downtown Minneapolis, quieter than most. Perhaps it was due to people fleeing to a warmer climate during the three-day weekend. About the only place that was filled to capacity on a cold Monday was the Fine Line with a band from England making its Twin Cities debut.

Water from Your Eyes opened the evening. The Brooklyn band consists of Rachel Brown on vocals and Nate Amos on electric guitar. They were joined on stage by a drummer and bassist, but I didn’t catch their names for Brown’s mic seemed to be mixed with the volume down low. After a while it became apparent that the choice was an aesthetic one instead of a mishap by the sound engineer. Still, it didn’t prevent a guy behind me from shouting, “Turn up the vocals!” which brought a slight smile and little jig from Brown.

Brown and Amos were going to do what they wanted to do and their style of dance electronica crashing into guitar screeds was well received by the gathering crowd. They have also received quite a bit of critical love, even landing their latest album Everyone’s Crushed at #27 in Pitchforks Fifty Best Albums of 2023.

Squid had quite a successful 2023. Their sophomore album, O Monolith, was well received and one of their songs “Blades” won a United Kingdom Music Video Award for Best Rock Video.

The band consists of Ollie Judge on drums and lead vocals, Louis Borlase and Anton Pearson on guitar, Laurie Nankivell on bass and Arthur Leadbetter on keys. They met at Brighton University and had an understanding that the band would not only be egalitarian but also not defined.

Fans and critics like labels and most put Squid as Post Punk, but that’s only a starting point. As Pitchfork writes in their review of O Monolith: “Squid fires off in a lot of directions.” After all, how many punk bands have synthesizers, samplers and modulators; play gongs, cowbells and tambourines; (Leadbetter plays a mean triangle) and prominently feature trumpet and cornet solos? (Nankivell)

Like the opening act Squid is not concerned about appealing to conformed musical ideas. They were locked in and looked like they would be just as happy playing to an empty room. But there was a packed crowd at the Fine Line, and they knew the songs as the floor burst into a spontaneous mosh pit for “Paddling,” then singing along (mostly shouting) to “Pamphlets.”

At one point the crowd burst into clapping, providing an extra layer of percussion. It wasn’t instructed, but spontaneous, as if the audience wanted to be part of whatever this band with its multi-instruments, dynamic energy, and a wildly symphonic sound was leading them towards.

Remaining tour dates: