Razor Braids: A Dreamy Red Haze

Razor Braids kicked the night off in Atlanta with their single “Megachurch,” thus commencing the sixth show of their headlining U.S. tour. The start of the delicate, tenderhearted melody encapsulated the whole room in the band’s dreamy red haze. The group showcased their genre-bending versatility with every song on the setlist, presenting a variety of ethereal sounds, from sweet indie anthems to grungy punk rock tones.

Reigning from Brooklyn, the revolutionary Razor Braids represent a queer and female/non-binary identifying group of four individuals with a drive for creating beautiful music together. Comprising the group are the ingenious Hollye Bynum, Janie Peacock, Jillian Karande, and Hannah Nichols. The group were joined by two Atlanta-based groups, Yin and Solid State Radio, who opened up the show for this stop of the tour. 

Razor Braids’ signature intense, yet fragile noise captivated everyone in the venue as if it were a lullaby. The fast-paced intensity of “Sharp Avenue” off of their debut record, I Could Cry Right Now If You Wanted Me To, bestowed an unparalleled energy amongst the crowd. Throughout the whole set, fans never allowed there to be a moment of silence. Hollye pulled up a fan in the front row who was beaming with an unsurpassed energy the entire evening. He cheerfully encouraged the audience to come up and get close to the stage, which took the already remarkable atmosphere of the show and sent it soaring through the roof. The whole room was instantly mesmerized when the band began strumming chords from Weezer’s classic hit, “Buddy Holly,” a crowd-pleasing cover that they previously released as part of a double single this past January. The crowd fawned over the lulling, soft-rock rendition of the song, and every person in the room was intangibly fixated on the performance.

As the set drew to a close, the crowd endlessly chanted “Encore, encore!,” begging the band to come back for just one more song. Despite their usual no-encore policy, this ecstatic crowd was able to bring the group back for another round! They rounded out the show with a final bang and ended up sprawled across the stage, leaving an extremely satisfied audience with a euphoric feeling to last an eternity. The words “Razor Braids” echoed throughout the venue and everyone was riding on a high.

Be sure to catch a show as the band continues to embark on their American tour through the East Coast, Midwest, and South, in addition to their journey to Austin’s SXSW festival this March. If you have not yet had the pleasure of listening to Razor Braids… I promise you won’t want to miss out on this extraordinary group of visionaries; or as they like to call themselves, “a bunch of bing bongs.”