Sorry, “Skrew at the Jr.” isn’t the most FBI-friendly headline.
But no, Skrew. Skrew is here. A few songs in they took a break to mention how Austin was the “heart of evil” and (I’m paraphrasing here) Rick Perry is its pumping blood. Then they kicked back into the only kind of music that makes me feel exclusively 13.
Skrew (if you couldn’t have guessed by the heart of evil stuff and the name “Skrew”) is an industrial metal band that came together in the 90s with the epic ‘Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame’ (sample track title: ‘Orifice’). They disbanded in ’98, and frontman Adam Grossman went on to work a little with Ministry, but they got back together last month with a new political lean and a Scandinavian extreme metal sound, and holy sh*t, Skrew.
One of the most interesting aspects of their show is how oddly placed it seemed — The Jr and The Main stand on the bones of the old Emo’s location on Red River, so while bands like Quiet Company poured out their hearts in the Main, Skrew was pouring out bile next door. You could walk from one room to the other and feel the mood change. The voices changed, the volume changed, the girls in the front row changed clothes. A lot of hoodies turned into shaved heads in about 100 feet.
I will openly admit that I may not be Skrew’s target audience, but they certainly know what they’re doing. They didn’t Skrew up! The crowd loved them, too, and you can always tell because when they do the “we can’t hear you” bit, the wooing people speak up.
Also, ‘Orifice’ is a surprisingly emotional song.
