Three bands rocked out with a packed Far Out Lounge on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Under the watchful gaze of the Far Out Stage, we nodded along to openers Carpool Tunnel and Teen Suicide. A perfect pregame for the main course, the bouts of tonal desperation from both groups set emotions high for the final blow from the headlining act.
“Free Palestine, and fuck America.”
Teen Suicide’s most memorable words to their audience. With a name misjudged since their formation, the epithet felt morbidly fitting for the week anniversary of the so-called death of democracy.
Nothing like a rock show for the end of the world.
Delta Sleep’s Blue Garden intro track, “Dawn,” eclipsed the crowd in shades of blue and tones of anger 90 minutes post-doors. Hailing from across the pond, the quartet opened their first Texas stop to a crowd of eager diehards prepped and ready for the depths rapidly approaching. Melodic air bubbles popped as Devin Yuceil’s vocals finally pushed our bobbing heads underwater, officially kicking off the next hour and a half of math rock brilliance.
Mexican mariachi introduced the next track, belting the lines “mi pequeña flor de primavera.” Yuceil told the story of the snippet during a Reddit AMA in 2022, describing the warm welcome they received upon arriving in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Recorded during a tour of the city, a song practiced by a local mariachi group nearby became the outro of “El Pastor” and eventually the introduction to “Softest Touch” on their 2024 tour. Those few Spanish words snapped heads back where they belonged: fixated on the stage.
Separated by nothing but plywood and the gaze of the Far Out stage eyes, we followed Glen Hodgson’s snaking guitar line as drummer Blake Mostyn’s engine drove the bus through thickets of overlapping eighth notes and erratic time signatures.
Complex melodic colors blended together into a smooth metal pool, while the band’s magnetism pulled the audience closer and closer. The heads in the audience moved like a wave, up and down, following their leaders on stage in complete, hypnotic admiration. Heads banged in unison, swaying together in love with the moment.
Upon personal request, cell phones lit up the stage during “Camp Adventure.” Packed in and personal, our makeshift stars burned brighter on the band than their professional ones did.
The crowd released their anger, their fear, their heartbreak and their terror as they loudly and passionately sang the lines, “Bridges built for better days / But they won’t hold our weight.”
Mostyn worked overtime throughout the night. Acting as the anchor, as most drummers do, but still maintaining a level of technical wonder sure to put any other devoted timekeepers to shame. The band followed the drum’s lead, and as complicated as Hodgson’s and Yuceil’s lines got with each song, Mostyn followed their footsteps at the same caliber. Where critics of the math rock sound often describe it as overlapping noise, “The Distance” proves the band’s works had to make space for as many melodically complex lines as their heart pleases. In fact, it seems they have found the sweet spot, the golden compromise sure to make anyone remember their first Delta Sleep show.
“Austin, you didn’t come to fuck around,” Mostyn praised.
We came to fuck shit up. God knows we deserved it.