Resilient | photo by Rachel Del Sordo for WXPN | racheldelsordophotography.com
The Key Studio Sessions: Resilient
Philly rock outfit Resilient hit The Key’s radar this winter with a powerful and superfun music video about problematic creeper dudebos, and it was definitely a moment of realization. A moment, more bluntly, of “Good lord, how the heck have I slept on this band??” So apologies to Erin Fox on vocals and guitar, Katie Fox on drums and Alicia Dickerson on bass for being late to the party. That said, the part of me that grew up on rugged minor key riffs and distortion pedal rock of Jane’s Addiction and Babes in Toyland is super pumped that I made the discovery all the same.
The power trio at the core of Resilient is joined by guitarist Buckminster Kellorgg — currently on hiatus and hiking the Appalachian Trail — and the band last year released its debut, Imagining Things, on Bandcamp and CD. A tidy project that falls in the longer-than-an-EP, shorter-than-a-full-length zone, the record comes out swinging with raw modern rock riffs, powerful rhythms and catchy, anthemic hooks over the course of seven jam-packed jams. The band is instrumentally complex — you’ll hear no three-chord bruisers in this set — but never overly so, flexing its skill while keeping catchiness and accessibility in its sights. Fox has the charisma and dynamism of classic frontpersons like Joan Jett and Billie Joe Armstrong, and her elastic and impressive vocal range hits me in Thom-Yorke-by-way-of-Jeff-Buckley feels.
For Resilient’s Key Sessions performance, we get revved up performances of “On To You” — the aformentioned rager that caught our ears and eyes — as well as the brilliant title track to Imagining Things; two unreleased songs make their debuts in this set as well.
Watch Resilient throw in studio in our video of the new “Medication” below — this track killed during their set at the International Women’s Day benefit at Underground Arts earlier in the month. You can also listen to its performance in its entirety in the player and grab a download over at Soundcloud. The band has a pair of benefit gigs coming up this spring: the Reach Out and Cook Out benefit for Germantown shelter Women’s Space, happening May 6th at Rigby Manor, and BrainFest, a benefit for the American Brain Tumor Association, happening May 20th and 21st at The Ukie Club in Northern Liberties. Tickets and information on both shows can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.
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