Glitterer, Glixen, Gollylagging played Crystal Ballroom – 3/7

A triple-G lineup featuring Title Fight offshoot Glitterer, AZ shoegazers Glixen and locals Gollylagging headed to the Ballroom last Thursday.

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The last time I saw Glitterer (opening a Ceremony show back in 2019), ex-Title Fight bassist Ned Russin was emphatically selling his emo-power-punk with nothing more than a backing track to accompany him on stage. It was aerobic – and pretty impressive – but a few years and a few records on, Russin undoubtedly looks more at home with a bass in hand and a three-piece band roaring behind him. Taking cues from the melodic post-hardcore heyday and shoegaze-y latter period of Russin’s prior band, Glitterer also throws more synths, hooks and sugar-rush flourishes into the mix that give the project its own distinctive identity. February’s Rationale is the best-yet distillation of all that, and folks have definitely caught on – Thursday’s crowd was a sizable and spirited one.

Buzz-y Phoenix quartet Glixen played the direct support slot, and despite having only an EP and a handful of singles to their name, seemed to have a pull of their own. The rising shoegazers played in the grand tradition of the genre’s forefathers, which is to say Very Loudly, and commanded the room for their time. Any band can harness volume, but it takes a thoughtful sculpting of tone to accomplish the sense-obliterating, vortex-of-sound effect that Glixen had going on around the classically soft-spoken vocals of singer/guitarist Aislinn Ritchie. The songs are worth your time on their own, but truly a band that soars live.

Gollylagging opened the evening with a short blast of their knotty post-hardcore, sporting an effectively expanded lineup from the last time I caught them (and stirring up a little moshers v. shoegazers tiff in the first couple rows). Photos from all three bands below.