Live Review: Teenage Wrist @ Mary’s Underground, Sydney

A lot was “underground” about Teenage Wrist’s first Sydney show. For starters, The gig was at a venue that was literally called Mary’s Underground, with a small but enthusiastic crowd descending below the streets of the CBD to watch a band continue the distinctly underground legacy of shoegaze and punk rock.

On what was by their own admission an unexpected Australian tour, the LA duo (flanked by two additional session musicians) were clinical in their delivery – yet one couldn’t help but feel certain limitations faced by artists in this setting.

Local five-piece Futureheaven kicked things off with their classic brand of shoegaze before Brooklyn Comic delivered a dynamic set fusing indie, emo, and sad screamo for an enjoyable main support.

The crowd swelled near the front of Mary’s stage as the American headliners came out, with a digital band logo flanking them the only hint that this was a show in the 2020s, not 1998. After a rather awkward tuning interlude to begin (the perils of no walk-on tracks), Teenage Wrist kicked into a one-two of Sunshine and Dark Sky, the opening duo of last year's LP Still Love.

Most of the set wisely came from that album – the most dynamic and musically well-rounded of their career – with heavier staples Humbug, Cigarette Two-Step, and emo power-ballad highlight Something Good all aired. However, it was old favourites Dweeb and Stoned Alone that saw the biggest reaction from the crowd, with their undeniable combination of hooks and sludgy riffs proving a winner.

Like any old-school rock show, the band weren’t able to avoid the occasional gremlin, with frontman Marshall Gallagher’s guitar cutting out in Yellowbelly, causing a re-start and the frontman to jokingly tell a front-row punter they had “lost their front-of-stage privileges”.

All in all, though, the band delivered 15 cuts of emo rock ’n' roll with tightness and professionalism, closing proceedings with an excellent rendition of Earth Is A Black Hole, proceeded by the warning that “there’s no way we’re going to pretend this is the end, only for us to come out and play again – this is it”.

This was a good rock show, played by a good, road-seasoned rock band.

So what’s the problem?

It might be tempting to walk away comparing a show like this to tours by buzz acts like Turnstile or Knocked Loose, and berate the band for not being exciting, or forward-thinking enough. After all, with more technology to play with than ever before, why remain wedded to a genre harkening back to a golden age thirty years ago?

To do so would overlook the fact that Teenage Wrist has chosen its musical lane and become one of the most skilled operators within it, resulting in international acclaim on both sides of the equator – an admirable position to be in, regardless of the scale. However, one couldn’t shake the sense that, as good as they were, they were also banging up against a self-imposed commercial ceiling.

To travel across the world to play to 150 people is an admirable thing to do – especially when performing grungy shoegaze in 2024, a genre that’s never going to pull the numbers to fill a theatre. While the band and crowd alike were on form, even Gallagher conceded before the final song that they had reached the end of “a very long, difficult world tour”.

What this means for the next Teenage Wrist album cycle remains to be seen. For now, the ones that were in the know to catch Teenage Wrist’s first (and hopefully not last) trip Down Under will be thankful they made the effort on a cold evening.

Punk rock truly has retreated to the underground. The question is how long the artists themselves can afford to stay there.