SANNHET AT BARRACUDA IN AUSTIN, TX

Halfway through their full US co-headlining tour and directly in the middle of a week long trek between their Atlanta and Los Angeles stops, Brooklyn’s Sannhet and Upstate New York’s Self Defense (Family) made a Friday night stop at Barracuda in Austin, TX.

After local band Cold Wives finished up, Self Defense took the stage with their unique blend of post punk and indie rock. Throughout their set, lead singer Patrick Kindlon regaled the crowd with his self deprecating humor between songs from the band’s past few years of their discography mixed with others from their forthcoming LP on Run For Cover Records, “Have You Considered Punk Music.” Immediately after showcasing one of their new songs, Patrick addressed his unsureness of how it sounded live, prompting a crowd member to loudly compare it to Future Islands, to which the band’s leader responded essentially that “that’s the end of that song then” and they’re “never playing it again.”

Sannhet quickly set up after Self Defense finished, lining the back of the stage with amps and placing themselves directly at the forefront. After 2017’s acclaimed “So Numb” came out on Profound Lore Records, members John Refano (guitar and loopers), Christopher Todd (drums and samples) and AJ Annunziata (bass and visuals) have continued to take their live show to a higher and tighter level. While projections filled the dark room, Sannhet raged through their emotion-laden instrumental metal set with occasional bursts of strobes and bright flooding lights to fully accentuate the despair in every song. Following an extremely cathartic set, you’d be hard pressed to find any attendee not completely drained and emotionally bare.

Until you get the chance to catch either band in the upcoming months, take the opportunity to pre-order Self Defense’s new album HERE and the latest Sannhet album HERE.