LIVE REVIEW: U.S. Girls in Somerville, MA (06.26.25)
U.S. Girls’ hypnotic show at the Rockwell in Somerville sought to rewrite the rules of performance: between artist and audience, voice and body, and across band dynamics. U.S. Girls, which is an experimental pop-project consisting solely of lead singer Meg Remy, was joined by a band that featured Dillon Watson on guitar, Jack Lawrence on bass, Domo Donoho on drums, and Will Mann on the keys. The former three also played with Remy on the project’s most recent album Scratch It, which was released at the end of June. The tracks of this album comprised a majority of the songs performed during Thursday night’s show.
The Rockwell’s underground black box theatre hosted an intimate crowd that filtered into the three walls of seats level with the stage. Amps and instruments sat idle under purple and red lights, but only until opener Kass Richards stepped behind the mic. Her set was understated and vulnerable, her introspective and cryptic lyrics carried by a voice that flowed smooth like water until hardened into ice, breaking in all the right places. Toward the end of her set, she revealed herself as Remy’s older sister, a fact that imbued her introduction of U.S. Girls with that much more meaning. Later in the show, she would join Remy and the band for a moving duet of “Rage of Plastics,” singing face to face amidst the audience.
The band opened sans-Remy with a rendition of “Statehouse.” In addition to playing their respective instruments, the band all sang into mics, transforming Remy’s warbling vocals on the original track into Beatles-esque harmonies that turned psychedelic alongside the droning synth. These harmonies exhibited the individuality and unique tone of each voice, a strength which continued throughout the performance and created a breadth of vocal interest and layering unachievable by most live bands.
In the wake of “Statehouse,” Remy glided onto the stage, barefoot and wearing a long black dress. She began with “Jack” before transitioning into “Like James Said,” the opening track on Scratch It, during which she stepped down into the crowd. As she sang the lyrics, “James said you gotta dance ‘til you feel better,” Remy danced, moving her body in unpredictable motions to the rhythm of the song.
Remy’s corporeal relationship with the music continued to manifest throughout the show, from her pantomiming of blood flowing from a uterus in “28 Days” to her affected dance to the keyboard and guitar solo of “The Clearing.” Most memorable was her physical performance in “Bookends,” the 12 minute long climax track of both the new album and the show. Her movements echoed the intensity of the emotion in her voice, as she once again stepped down from the stage, intimately sang into the shoulder of an audience member, and then crawled around the floor. At the peak of the song, she wove through the crowd until the mic’s cord grew taut, at which point she unplugged it and sat in a seat at the back of the venue, band still playing. This all felt so erratic and uncontrolled, but it was also powerful, like the music possessed her and she wasn’t afraid to let it.
“Have you ever thought about how Jesus was probably super into sex?” Remy asked before the band launched into the synth-soul groove of “Walking Song.” Such off-beat commentary pervaded the air time between songs, contributing to Remy’s eccentric stage presence. Though she frequently interacted with the audience – asking questions, making eye contact, involving us in her movements – there was something inaccessible about Remy that made her intriguing. Her persona had a strange, almost otherworldly quality; when she looked at me, blue eyes piercing, it was like she was seeing something I couldn’t. And that made me listen closer.
Another strength was the placement of the last four songs of the set, which carried the show’s energy until the last moment. “L-Over” with its distorted melodies and wailing guitar created a full sonic atmosphere that built into the rock-adjacent “No Fruit.” “U.S. Girls is hardcore music,” asserted Remy as an introduction to the song, and then she and the band sought to prove it with heavy instrumentation and belted lyrics. The band closed with a danceable medley of “4 American Dollars” and “M.A.H.,” a surging victory lap.
The U.S. Girls show at the Rockwell abandoned some of the expectations of a concert, blurring traditional lines and boundaries, teetering between chaos and control. Meg Remy’s vulnerable and unpredictable stage presence alongside the dynamic versatility of the band transformed the venue into a hotspot of musical experimentation. Beyond a listening experience, in this show, music became a channel for accessing feelings that would be otherwise inexplicable. The emotional authenticity behind U.S. Girl’s raspy vocals and colorful harmonies resonated within concert-goers and lingered far beyond the last note.
Featured image courtesy of 4AD
