If, in Microsoft Word, one is to right click on the word rumble looking for synonyms, suggestions would include roar, growl, boom, thunder and crash. Additionally, substitutes for the word beauty contain gorgeousness, magnificence and splendor. Perhaps some combination of these might come close to capturing the unequivocal elegance and magnitude of Spotlights as they brought their grandeur of grind to Metro Gallery on Thursday night. For the fifty or so Baltimore fans who now may have internal organ damage, it may have been the best night of their lives.
Appropriately, Spotlights is signed to Ipecac Recordings which is renowned for releasing genre demolishing music for over twenty years. On the strength of their EP, Seismic, they got the attention of Greg Werckman and Mike Patton who signed them to the non-industry standard of a one-record deal. “Which is really smart. It’s really the way it should be.” Says Sarah Quintero, co-founder with husband Mario. Meaning; no signed band is locked into a label hoping for a breakout, Nirvana-like, ascendance. Rather, it is an almost handshake-level agreement that the label will support the band and the band will not have undue expectations. It is a label for working musicians, not rock stars. And Spotlights couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. In fact, after opening for the much anticipated reunion of Patton’s Mr. Bungle, drummer Chris Enriquez said, “Mike came up to me after the show and said he just didn’t get our music.” Which, for fans of this human, musical encyclopedia, is the highest of compliments. The relationship with Ipecac seems as about as perfect as it can get.
At Metro Gallery, the band humbly unlocked the floodgates from the first song and the whole set was like watching immense waves, in slow motion, as they exquisitely wallop the beach, only to be followed by another and another and another surge. A good half of the fans had their eyes closed for most of the show. They let themselves be pummeled because this music is not something in which one would find an opportunity to head bang, mosh or, God forbid, crowd surf. This music, with its oppressive tension, is accompanied with lilting vocals that offer something to which one is best to just submit. The crowd knew this and let it happen. It is a communal masochism.
The latest record, Love and Decay, is something that amicably lives up to that agreement between artist and listener and, perhaps, this comes from a collaborative feeling between Sarah and Mario. “It’s having the right people in the unit, too… having people you can work with.” Says Mario. “If I’m writing something, [Sarah] doesn’t even have to be in the room. I can see her reaction in my head whether it’s good or not.” This, of course, comes from years of partnership in writing. On this record, it is clear the synergy is in full effect.
After the show, Sarah and Mario dutifully manned the merchandise table and greeted well-wishers with genuine affection and gratitude. It was a nice reminder that, fifty people at a time, a band can connect with fans in a club as small as a laundry mat with the sound as large as the ocean. One merely needs to arrive at the beach and listen to the waves crash or smash or crunch or any other synonym that works.
Enjoy these photos of Spotlights performing at Metro Gallery in Baltimore on February 13, 2020. All photos copyright and courtesy of Jimmy Monack.
