Erase Everything & Swallow The Rat – Whammy Bar: March 27, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review)
A formidable smorgasbord of Aotearoa Alt-Music beckoned this tonight, a night stacked with post-punk, post hardcore and noise. Erase Everything frontman – Angelo Munro is fronting the door, a quick chat, we know each other. He used to listen to me on 95bFM, and I attended his Bleeders gigs. It’s quiet, and he reflects “Why do I do this to myself?” His old school punk ethos had him opening the doors at 8pm!
Unfortunately Kirikiriroa act Boilermaker have had to pull out due to illness, so four has become three. I bump into Swallow The Rat’s guitarist Brian Purington, already yawning, he’s just got back from Texas on Ratu (Tuesday) night, defending the Alamo or similar.
Whammy starts to fill, a mixture of hardcore luminaries, fans and youthful intrigue. And not too far past the official start time, a new band, a band I’m seeing for the first time, starts
Nailfile
A five piece, the (rhythm) guitarist sporting a Black Flag tshirt, with his fellow guitarist/vocalist Milon Williams (exCobra Khan) are creating a roaring gothic undertow. It inferences the sound of Pornography (The Cure) and Bauhaus, and several songs in the cleanly fragmented songs, are shining heavy and light, a kind of Goth melded with Hardcore.
Beyond the undertow, Williams vocals are gruff, but clear vocals, as they harmonic in phrasing over the dark noise. Beyond the guitars, the drumming ranges across heavy beats to tribal goth rhythms, whilst the bass grooves at times, also flashing glimpses of Pornograhy. The energy and angularity of the band members past are present, but Nailfile have cleverly intertwined a part-parceled sound into the songs, creating a shimmer that could stand them out in the noise of Tamaki Makaurau.
Erase Everything
Whammy is comfortably full. Tonight, another first time, fate has fulfilled its promise, and at last I’m finally able to see Erase Everything live. Familiar with their 2025 Bandcamp EP Glass Souls (which i really like), I’ve come armed, but concurrently with expectations. Tonight the five piece features a new member on bass Amber Beaton, a renowned underground filmmaker, a musician in her own right.
There is a hardcore effervescence in the air tonight, as Erase Everything start, their recorded melodic delivery, as the twin guitars rarely battle, but mostly compliment (I’m am enamored by the Guitarist/Keyboardist Pig Destroyer tshirt) It’s obvious the band is heavily on a post-punk pathway, though with shoegaze snapping at the heels.
The melodic mannerism is voraciously signposted, the elements of post-hardcore, of dark-metal stream out on the song Glass Souls, as Munro sings of angst and anguish tonight. There are the slower, quiet introspective songs, which denotes the mindset shift in the band from past foci of being evident and unmistakeable.
Their last song is a new song, keyboards features, as the anthemic song shows direction expanding direction by the band. Tonight, live, some songs work better than others, unsurprisingly the quiet ones all. Bbut if I may, in the studio Munro’s vocals are captured with subtlety, tonight, live they seem a little lost. Maybe it was the mix, but perhaps also a next step, a detail for the doing.
Swallow The Rat
Warned in advance that their set tonight will feature new songs, as future recording is imminent. The three finesse their instruments, as a booming post-punk bassline from Jimmy Coldham hits the roof, I’m loving it. The new songs sound fresh, and constructed, Brian Purington guitarwork as effusive as ever, and an element of blended aggression arises in one of the compositions.
Watching Hayden Fritchley on his drumkit, and juggling the majority of the vocals duties is impressive, the way in which he manages the flow, ensures that neither sound becomes stilted. Then again when Coldham takes over the singing duties, momentarily, a diverting element comes forth. Watching from the side, I wonder, if time, and hands allowed, having Fritchley’s kit upfront on the stage, between the other two, would add more ergonomic energy, visuality to Swallow The Rat’s shows imho.
The last third of their set comprises a few classic songs. Like hanging out with friends, the familiarity ferments conviviality, as the groove within so many of their songs, their bass and drums symbiosis, leaves the audience in a resplendent place.
A delicious Three-Piece pack tonight.
Simon Coffey
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk:
Erase Everything:
Swallow The Rat:
Nailfile:
