Nuclear Daisies, SRSQ and Lovelorn spike The 13th Floor with noisy, moody show

By John Melendez

Doors opened to the dim hallway of The 13th Floor on Red River last Thursday night, October 17, to reveal a three-act show laced with dark, atmospheric melodies. Synth-punk couple Lovelorn, darkwave solo artist SRSQ and fierce shoegaze closers, Nuclear Daisies were the origin point.

Lovelorn, a self-described drug pop duo consisting of Anna and Patrick Troxwell, delivered a whirring 21-minute, 6-song performance to the floor’s 20-person crowd that was equal parts industrial and celestial.

Opener “Fight or Flight” gave way to stomping percussion and electronic excess that persisted throughout. Most lyrics were lost in the engulfing, hard-hitting buzz of the set, but the show remained shadowy and danceable.

Serious solo musician Kennedy Ashlyn, SRSQ, embarked on an impassioned 8-song set that felt like one long, 49-minute, synthy, guitar-riff-laden ballad.

During the shimmering drama of the set, the Santa Cruz singer often abandoned the mic in lieu of air drums or sensual sways while the backing vocal track served as a set of floaties. Aggressive finisher “Only One” completed the plunge into the icy depths of 80s-esque heartbreak and yearning.

Seven-piece, Austin-bred shoegaze group Nuclear Daisies began their 28-minute final act with a crowd of about 40 and left it to vocalist focal points Rob Glynn and Alex Gehring to create the spark. Dominant drummer Daniel Coborn was a key member of the night’s most palpable presence as he hammered down the beginning of their 7-song set with “Honey in the Wound.”

Staticky visuals made the performance feel like a psychoactive TV station. The crashing drums, punctuated with heavy guitar riffs, and winding electronic overlays still left plenty of danceable breakbeat moments.

As the band’s heart-thumping finisher “Heaven in Your Head” concluded, the dark, ethereal tunnel of post-punk that attendees had just raced through left them primed for electrostatic discharge.