Photos: Lovelorn, Arch of Love, Hairdo at the Ice House

Tape Swap Radio’s concert series returned to the Ice House in Bethlehem on Friday, January 31, 2020 for a night of synth-driven music. Philadelphia duos Lovelorn and Arch of Love performed along with new Kutztown three-piece Hairdo. Check out some photos below.

Kutztown’s Hairdo perform at the Ice House. (Shamus McGroggan/TAPE SWAP RADIO)

Performing first was Hairdo from Kutztown. This was the trio’s first ever show, but the band came ready with a 30 - 40 minute set of synth-driven music that dipped into elements of classic punk, post-punk, and some delightful avant-garde weirdness.

Hairdo is made up of Lisa on synth/keys, Martha on bass, and Sydney on drums. The band has its roots in Lehigh Valley Girls Rock where Lisa was a volunteer and Martha participated in the Let’s Rock Camp for adults. Delivering the percussion for the group is Sydney Howells of Kutztown’s Rattail Records, who you may recognize as the drummer for Poor Luther’s Bones during our 2017 Shards Session.

Hairdo has yet to release any music, either in physical formats or online, so you best chance to hear them in the near future is to catch them live. They will be performing a B-52s cover set on February 15th at the Soft Guts Prom at National Sokols in Bethlehem. Your next chance to see them play an original set of their own music is on February 16th at Gnome Hutch in Reading.

Arch of Love perform at the Ice House. (Shamus McGroggan/TAPE SWAP RADIO)

Arch of Love performed second. This duo from Philadelphia is made up of partners Chelsea Brennan and Chris Schackerman, who is probably most well known as a former touring member of ‘00s/’10s indie pop staples the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. To Tape Swap Radio, he has a longer history, playing in Literature who performed one of our first Shards Sessions in 2013 as well as the short-lived Mercury Girls who performed in our concert series at the Ice House in 2016.

Arch of Love’s set did not disappoint, drawing from '80s new wave and more modern synth pop sounds. The duo is signed to Richmond, Virginia label 6131 Records but has yet to release a full-length album. What the band has been turning out is a steady stream of singles in 2019. They performed some of those songs in their set like “Light in Your Eyes” and “Say”.

Arch of Love’s next live show will be on February 19th at Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia with Annie Hart (of Au Revoir Simone).

Lovelorn perform at the Ice House. (Shamus McGroggan/TAPE SWAP RADIO)

Finishing out the night was fellow Philadelphia duo Lovelorn. Husband and wife team Patrick and Anna Troxell pick up with Lovelorn after the break-up of their former band Creepoid. With Lovelorn, Patrick and Anna have taken a decidedly sharp turn away from Creepoid’s psych punk sound, instead immersing themselves in electronic beats and dreamy vocals, a style they’ve dubbed drug pop.

Speaking of drug pop, the time when Lovelorn amasses an army of 20-somethings on molly crowding their shows seems not too far away. Their infectious sounds had the crowd moving during their whole set as they transitioned from the Western-sounding slow-draw whistle of “Black Cash”, to the big chorus and high energy set closer “Around You”. The band also included a number of new songs in their set that Patrick told us he is excited to release in a proper format.

The next chance people have to catch Lovelorn is February 29th at Ortlieb’s in Philadelphia. After that, the band embarks on a month-long tour leading up to SXSW dates.

We want to thank everyone who came out on a miserable rainy January night for some incredible music.

We’ll be back for the next show in Tape Swap’s concert series on Sunday, March 15th at National Sokols in Bethlehem when we welcome back indie punks Well Wisher from Asbury Park, NJ. We haven’t seen them since early 2019 when they played the Ice House, so we’re psyched to see what they have in store for the Valley this time around. Look for more line-up information as the date gets closer. See you then!