The Afterglows, Emotional World, Try The Pie
House Show
Philadelphia
May 5, 2026
What do you do when there’s only three mics and not enough mic stands? If your band has four singers, you improvise, moving mic stands around between songs, making it work. The bug becomes a feature when the basement show’s limitations shine a light on the simple, wonderful ways artists are continually figuring it out in real time, and it’s even cooler when the band’s already multi-tasking like crazy, everyone singing and playing. Emotional World joined us for this basement gig on their way back from last weekend’s Providence Popfest up in Rhode Island, sounding tight as hell, with rich, flawless harmonies and glide-guitar’d shoegazey pop chops. The set-closing “Little Like” is the kind of under-the-radar, left-of-the-dial should-be hit that ought to close out a festival set, not a basement show on a Tuesday less attended than the 30th birthday party on the opposite porch across the street; “Sweat tastes a little like strawberries,” Emilie Toler sang, their voice lithe and supple, the hooks juicy and propulsive. Guitarists Owen Wuerker and Cyd Birch were expert and unhinged; drummer Emma Baker was just casually singing awesome harmonies and gripping multiple shakers while laying down deep rhythms. I became an instant fan – definitely check this band out.
Local heroes The Afterglows ended the night with an all-too-rare performance; the duo, Sam Cook-Parrott and Michael Cantor, are both perhaps best known for their other bands, Radiator Hospital and The Goodbye Party, respectively. (Along with Try The Pie, who opened the show with a solo set, all have released records on the great Salinas Records label, whose catalogue includes tons of underrated gems and classics, if you don’t already know.) Cantor told me this was his first basement show since before the pandemic, and The Afterglows have learned some new tricks in that time; they sounded awesome, rocking with VU-meter-pushing drum machines and driving guitar and bass – I detected a hint of mk.gee influence in Cantor’s choice of pedals – and running on the indelible blend of their voices, Cook-Parrott’s inimitable like simple syrup, Cantor’s charmingly aching. They made great use of an old Tascam with pre-recorded sounds on tape; for one song, Cook-Parrott played the chords by turning up and down the playback on different tracks, each one of which contained a different droning chord. (This is a trick I’ve always wanted to try, borrowed from the Nine Inch Nails playbook of all places.) Their sunkissed melodies were completely intact, but they played like The Everly Brothers with Suicide’s recording gear, a potent and rough-textured sound. It was great to see and hear The Afterglows trying new things, experimenting and having fun.
