Jockstrap's experimental pop turns 7th St. Entry into a mercurial space
by Macie Rasmussen and Sara Fish
November 28, 2022
Jockstrap’s visit at the 7th St. Entry — part of the band’s completely sold-out, first North American tour — was hypnotizing from start to finish on Sunday night. The English experimental pop duo delivered the entirety of their 2022 album, I Love You Jennifer B, plus a few songs from previous EPs.
Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye have a variety of musical endeavors outside of Jockstrap. Ellery is a violinist and vocalist in the band Black Country, New Road, and Skye produces solo work. These influences certainly permeate Jockstrap’s sound, which whisks together another genre entirely.
Jockstrap’s 60-minute set seemed to contain several concerts in one. Unpredictable patterns and arrangements kept the audience on their toes all evening. If someone didn’t take a sneak peek at the setlist, they would have no idea what show they would be propelled into until the next song began.
One of the spaces that Jockstrap seemed to occupy was a jazz club. As the audience sang along to “Greatest Hits,” one could imagine sitting in a lavish room while sipping a cocktail. They also featured the jazz-infused “Acid” from their EP, Wicked City. Slightly adjacent was the broadway musical ambiance that emerged when Ellery danced with theatrical animations on “Angst.”
A few tracks from the night felt fitting for a religious ceremony. “Concrete Over Water” was a heartfelt ballad with subtle organs, that is, until Skye laid the techno beats. It was then a dance party, that is, until Ellery pulled out her violin. That cycle repeated. The following song, “The City,” took us back inside a cathedral as Ellery gazed at the ceiling with hands floating above her head to haunting piano work. A sly look crossed Skye’s face right before he began distorting her voice and infusing glitches. All of a sudden, sounds began chafing against each other. It was an electronic storm that sounded like a machine ready to blow up at any moment.
It was difficult for eyes to stray from Ellery’s movement, but slightly to the left of her, Skye and his tables of gear occupied half of the stage. Hunched over his electronics most of the show, Skye would occasionally lift his eyes to gaze over the audience stoically. A few smirks popped up during intense tempo changes, but he seemed concentrated on ensuring precise programming.
Skye’s throbbing electro-pop arrangements were slightly less needed when the show gave off the atmosphere of a quiet bar in the countryside. While playing “What’s It All About?” on her acoustic guitar, Ellery innocently asked the infinite question that’s valid in every facet of life. The acoustic instrument was also in hand to strum softly to the crowd sing-along, “Glasgow.”
The scene of Ellery strumming her guitar instantly vanished from memory as the vocalist flipped the script upside down and turned the room into a rave during “Robert.” Under red lights, her digitized voice declared in a demonic fashion, “You’re provoking me Robert / I want to be your playmate.” The song is a collaboration with Injury Reserve, so Ellery stepped back from the mic to sensually dance as the rap verses played on the backing track. She descended to her knees to sing her own verse: “Guerrilla war homosexual / Sex extolled the devil / Carcass of an angel,” then closed the dungeon-esque song with, “Be the bitch, be the masochist / Be a cool, extreme / Motherf*cker.”
Of course there was an EDM scene. The duo closed with “50/50.” To the dubstep beat, Skye emptied a water bottle on the heads of those jumping up and down. The night concluded with people singing along to the repetitious, glitchy but animalistic bridge: “Ahh, ayy, ooh, eee, ahh.”
During this voyage across sonic landscapes, a smile flashed across Ellery’s face the whole night. She appeared genuinely joyful to bring I Love You Jennifer B to the Entry.
The New York City-based artist ernest rareberrg entertained the room before the Jockstrap journey began. If an opening act’s duty is to warm up a crowd, rareberrg succeeded. With a DJ behind him and a vocal processor to alter the pitch of his voice, the artist sang and rapped over tracks that had the early arrivers moshing. A few songs in, rareberrg left the stage and returned with a lightbulb to place upon a stand. He welcomed a crowd member on stage, and instructed him to turn it on and then jump to the floor together. For no stated reason, the artist then passed around a journal in the crowd, asking people to sign it. He exited the stage, taking the light bulb with him.
rareberrg and Ellery promised the same thing before departing their respective sets: “We’ll be back.”
Setlist:
Neon
Jennifer B
Acid
Robert
Greatest Hits
What’s It All About?
Glasgow
Debra
Lancaster Court
Angst
Concrete Over Water
The City
I Want Another Affair
50/50