Cincy Transplants smut ;( Moves-in Chicagoan Ways

Tay Roebuck fronts smut in their first show as Chicago locals ;(

A few years ago, I discovered smut, a noise-pop quintet from Cincinnati via recommendations awarded to me by listening to Bully playlists on Spotify. Criminally, there wasn’t an immediate amount of information I found on the group at the time, but retroactively found my way to the group’s 2017 release of End of Sam-Soon, and this was enough for me to have it on repeat for months to come. With 2020’s Power Fantasy, and the group’s relocation to Chicago, I was able to enjoy live renditions of “Power Fantasy” and “Fan Age” at The Empty Bottle as they opened up for Bully, to close my circle of their discovery.

Acts like Lush, Vivian Girls, and Jesus and the Mary Chain, initially come to mind when taking in smut’s performance, rich with dreamy vocals and high gain guitars, tones of darkness weaved into their collective sound, but just as quickly, smut reminds us of their DIY pop core, anchored by Tay Roebuck’s earnest and unaffected vocals, Bell Cenower’s velvety bassline, and Andrew Mins’ brightly jangled riffs, creating something familiar, but ultimately something hopeful, breezier and transportive ;(

Full Gallery: smut ;( @ The Empty Bottle

Bell Cenower, driving the lower frequencies.