Review: SuperDark at Desperate Annie’s: A Cure for Your Case of the Mondays
All photos by Elissa Ebersold
As it turned out, this cold and rainy Monday night was no dud at all; it was a celebration. It was cold, hard proof of the power of local, independent, original music to turn even the most dreaded day of the week into a wild and carefree dance party.
A wet, rainy, chilly Monday evening in the twilight of summertime; ask any performer, and they’ll tell you that this is a recipe for disaster when it comes to drawing a crowd to a local music show.
It’s no secret that Mondays can be a real dud for shows, but there was something in the air on Caroline Street in Saratoga this particular, dreary Monday evening as one drew closer to Desperate Annie’s, something ripe with buzz and excitement for what’s become a weekly ritual of indie music consumption.
SuperDark Collective has been running these Monday night showcases for a while now, typically blending up-and-coming 518 artists with an eclectic mix of independent touring artists from all over the country (and even the world) with a level of consistency that has facilitated the organic growth of a community around this event, routinely defying conventional wisdom and packing it into Saratoga’s favorite dive bar on a night of the week that most venues avoid booking like the plague (aside from the occasional open mic).
Kicking off the festivities was Grapejuice!, the hometown heroes hailing from Saratoga Springs. They blend the best of indie, pop, and rock reminiscent of ‘90s alternative like No Doubt and Red Hot Chili Peppers, setting the tone immediately with a contagious, high-octane stage presence breathing life into the crowd which would not let up for the rest of the night. This band is pure, unadulterated fun; their performance included a special guest birthday cameo from Seth Biskind of Headless Relatives who joined the band on “Sad Songs”. Songs like “Strawberry Pie” and “Goodbyes Suck” contained earworm choruses so sweet they’ll rot the musical sweet tooth right out of your head.
Set to carry the high-energy torch was Albany punk rock outfit The Snorts, and they were up to the challenge. Supplying pop punk and emo vibes while occasionally dipping into grunge and alternative rock, their invitingly distorted grooves reeled you in until you were bobbing and weaving with the rest of the crowd like a single wave of kinetic energy. Songs like “POCKET COWBOY” (an upcoming release) wrapped you up in sincere and upbeat moodiness, and “MESSAGE ON THE MACHINE” cemented this as the quintessential punk rock dive bar set in all the best ways: with a fast, hard, in-your-face singalong. Closing their set with “HEART, ATTACK!”, a punk scream-along with the crowd, their performance packed a real punch and kept the party rocking through to the final act of the evening.
Which brings us to our closer for the night, Glens Falls’ Polar Identity. From the jump, “On and On” launched the set into the cosmic sphere with the power of otherworldly synthesizers combined with reverb-washed vocals that felt as if they were finally arriving from across distant waves. This four-piece set the stage for interstellar sonic exploration of psychedelic pop-rock, and their dreamy, droney ambience felt grand in scope as they cloaked the room in a meticulously crafted soundscape. At one point during the set, the band rotated instruments with immense versatility, showcasing the flexibility of each member on stage. Their set felt at times like one long trip through a jam, and their songs were truly worthy of being labeled “supersonics” for their ambition and provocative structure.
When the dust settled at the end of the night, one thing was abundantly clear: this was not what you would call your average Monday night… but it was your average SuperDark Monday, a diverse and irresistible sample of what the independent music scene has to offer in the 518 and beyond. As it turned out, this cold and rainy Monday night was no dud at all; it was a celebration. It was cold, hard proof of the power of local, independent, original music to turn even the most dreaded day of the week into a wild and carefree dance party.
