Mumblecore at Manning: A $UICIDEBOY$ Review

Within the last year, Soundcloud and mumblecore rap has taken on an almost mythical status, inspiring the creation of Facebook meme pages and subcultural references that outside onlookers shocked, confused and mentally violated, to say the least. Its emergence has sent the music-blogsphere into think-piece overdrive, attempting to trace the roots of a genre that seems to bastardize so many others.

$uicideboy$ could easily pass for the screen name of 2007 Myspace profile plastered with The Devil Wears Prada Lyrics. With an aesthetic that screams Nu Metal meets Jared Leto’s Suicide Squad Joker and merch that’d send church authorities into a moral panic, there was a reason campus security was out in full force.

The crowd, a mixture of ex-scene kids, current members of the Australian hardcore scene, and dedicated wearers of vintage Nautica and Adidas, descended upon Manning Bar – a venue more accustomed to trivia nights and the Polo Shirts and boat shoes of USU societies.

From the opening track it’s clear the $uicideboy$ fanbase is deeply involved with all things underground, as ‘U.L.T.’ from Denzel Curry, emerging king of the nu-underground, sends the crowd into a complete meltdown as the lights dim for the sudden entrance of Ruby Da Cherry and $lick $loth.

Ripping immediately into their set that covered a vast back catalogue of G59 Records releases, the duo owned the stage as though Sydney was a homecoming occasion. Every explosive beat of Kill Yourself (Part IV ) was exacerbated by non-stop moshing, reverberating off the walls of Manning and quite possibly across the road into the usually quiet Brennan MacCallum Learning Hub. The mind numbing beat and aggressively grimy bass of ‘Fuckthepopulation’ translated theatrically to the live setting, inciting the repeated chanting of ‘FTP’ (so….#edgy).

Ruby Da Cherry and $lick $loth’s between song banter could literally rival that of Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza’s, only adding to the total WTF-ness of the night’s atmosphere:

“Isn’t Tame Impala from out here?”

Ruby Cherry

‘You’re Now Tuning Into 66.6 FM With DJ Rapture (The Hottest Hour Of The Evening)’, a title longer than anything ever conjured by Fall Out Boy, was received as though an enduring classic, although only released in April. ‘South Side Suicide (feat. Pouya)’ elicited the night’s most chaotic mosh pit, one that’d put the antics of Download Festival to shame, and the duo’s most dissonant and defining track ‘Paris’ was yelled with every fibre of enthusiasm the hypnotized crowd could muster.

Admittedly, like any iteration of emo music, a certain level of irony and self awareness needs to go into fully appreciating its blatant attempt to appeal to the most disaffected of youths. $uicideboy$ may not have cracked the mainstream consciousness yet, but, if their cult following is anything to go by, don’t be surprised when Justin Bieber’s next merch line rips them off.

Get more from $UICIDEBOY$ on their website, YouTube, or Tumblr.