New Desires feat. Johnny Dynamite, TortureTwinn, and Spiral Path
Published 9.2.26
On August 22nd, I had the pleasure of seeing Johnny Dynamite play his first headlining show ever at PhilaMOCA. The event was hosted by New Desires and Johnny was supported by Torturetwinn from Virginia and local icons Spiral Path!
Spiral Path debuted their new song Pyrocene off their upcoming album: Abyss. They were as good as always! It was a well performed set (though I was a bit late, the show started right on time). I like the new track, it's got me excited for their upcoming release. Pyrocene is colder and darker than songs they've released in the past. The intro has a frightening groan(?) sample in it that piques my interest. Definitely check it out here. If you want to read more about Spiral Path, check out my review of their set at Danny's from April.
Torturetwinn was up next. Honestly, this set was ridiculous, but entertaining none the less. I was laughing a lot. The problem is that I don't think that's the desired response. (There were some fans of him in the crowd, so don't take anything I have to say too seriously, there's somebody for everybody.) There are genuinely so many guys whose dream it is to literally become Bruce Springsteen. Unfortunately for all of them, there's no duplicating the Boss. The name he's chosen doesn't fit the vibe of his project at all. "Torturetwinn" sounds like the name of a copy-paste darkwave band from LA, he should call himself Jesse Chrysler or some shit. Maybe it's intentional though because on his bandcamp he's describing his stuff as "New Wave". Just because you fall under the 80s revival label doesn't mean you make New Wave, words do still mean things. The term you are looking for is Rock Music™.
Sonically, I think the music is there. On that level the songs were of a decent quality in my opinion. I can't say the same for the lyrics unfortunately. I find that lyrics and vocals are often neglected (though the latter was good in this case). Lyrically, I found his set to be ridiculous in a particularly bro-y way. Dude was on stage asking the audience about sex tapes and shit. He also said he was a "married man" but wasn't wearing a ring 0//-//0 and at the end of his set he confessed that he was missing his wife's birthday to play this gig. That's not an indictment of his music by any means but it intrigued me! The project is self-serious rather than self aware, that's my impression anyway. The guy is selling signed headshot posters for 25 dollars by the way, if anyone's interested. For better or worse, I was blown away. There are some very strange things happening down in Virginia.
This was my first time seeing Johnny since his latest release. I like the new stuff, but you can tell Trey Frey was heavily involved in the production; the new Album has a very Korine-like sound. Don't get me wrong, Trey's a talented guy and Korine is a great band, but I feel some Johnny has been lost along the way :( . I hope that as he continues to produce for others, there'll be more differentiation in sound from artist to artist.
Johnny's set was great. He and Clair always have so much fun on stage. As an audience member at Johnny's shows, I always feel included in that fun. It's so interesting seeing him perform right after Torturetwinn because the two are similar in a lot of ways, but my opinions on one is opposite to the other. Both rely pretty heavily on a persona and both personas share many of their references: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, James Dean, and the like. I think what's different about Johnny is that his music and his persona are unpretentious and straightforward. Of course the project has a lot of performative elements, but somehow he still manages to create music that feels true and down to earth. Though he's playing to a character, his music doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't. He reminds me of Tom Petty in that his lyrics are quite simple but that simplicity allows for a directness that can really resonate with people.
Johnny's music is unapologetically referential. Sometimes that language and concepts he works with are silly and there's no effort to obscure or apologize for that either. Going on stage and laying it all out there has a way of getting you on board, that's how I've always felt about it anyway.
This was a fun show overall. I've never been to a proper New Desires and this was my first time at a show booked under that moniker. Ultimately, the AI stuff puts me off. I think Paul is a decent DJ, not that he was necessarily put to the test on this one. The bands were quite efficient between sets, the show wrapped up before 11pm. As far as the bill goes, Johnny Dynamite and Torturetwinn make a lot of sense together, but Spiral Path felt a little bit out of place there (though I love them, obviously). I suppose the rationale there is that goth music within the darkwave/postpunk area is 80s enough to fit with two acts that border on 80s revival, but I think we can do better. Honestly I think Sunday Evening Drive should have played this gig.