On a Wednesday evening, Philadelphia gathered at Franklin Music Hall to welcome back Belarusian post-punk, darkwave trio Молчат Дома (Molchat Doma, “Houses Are Silent” to the stage. The band is touring in support of their fantastic new album, their first in four years, entitled Belaya Polosa (“White Stripe”). The band, which has exploded in popularity in recent years, is known for its haunting melodies and nostalgic synth-driven sound that recalls the sounds of the Cure or Depeche Mode from the 80’s.
The trio Sextile kicked off the night, with an explosive and bombastic energy that really got the audience going. Vocalist Brady Keen and his bandmates Cameron and Melissa paced the stage in a frenzy, bringing their blend of industrial post-punk to life, and even raising an “Abortion Rights Now!” flag during their last song, Resist. The band played a few audience favorites from their 2023 record, “Push”, including “Contortion”, “Crash”, “Crazy Mel” and “Lost Myself Again”.
Next up, after much anticipation, Molchat Doma took the stage. The band, consisting of Egor Shkutko (vocals, guitar), Pavel Kozlov (bass, synthesizer), and Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), treated Philly with songs from their newest album like “Kolesom”, “Son” and “Ty The Ne Znaesh Kto Ya”, and songs from their back catalog, like their smash hit, due in part to TikTok, “Sudno (Boris Ryzhyi)”, which closed out the night.
If you’re a fan of anything gothic, this show was the place to be on a Wednesday night. The band’s newest album is notably more ambient sounding and haunting than their past ones, a noticeable change in direction after a 4-year hiatus in studio albums. In this time the band has relocated from their home in Minsk and resettled in Los Angeles, and you can hear in their new album how this has impacted their sound. The band’s album covers are fittingly all brutalist buildings - and this one is no different, the cold, stark, uninviting architecture of the buildings is metaphorical with the band’s sound and lyrical content.
While the American audience doesn’t quite know how to sing along to the songs - entirely in Russian - the audience was no doubt engaged with every word from Egor, who exudes the raw passion of his thunderous words with intense facial expressions and intricate dancing. Even if you don’t understand the words he’s saying, you can feel his emotions, the sadness and intensity of his words conveyed right through the language barrier. The only English Egor spoke during the show was to thank the crowd, giving a heartfelt “Спасибо!” (“Spasibo”, thank you).
Franklin Music Hall was transformed into a goth rave as the whole room, clad in black clothes, swayed their heads and danced along to the band’s rhythms. For anyone who has a chance to see them live, don't hesitate—it's an experience you won’t soon forget.
molchat Doma
Sextile
