05.18.23 – By Macie Rasmussen

“We’re going to start off sad,” Colleen Dow said before jumping into the song “How Many Slugs Can We Throw Against the Wall Until We Question Our Own Morality” and singing, “Anxiety is killing me/I don’t know what to think.” As the lead vocalist for the Minneapolis band Thank You, I’m Sorry, Dow (they/them) claimed to have an excessive amount of dry shampoo in their hair after a two week tour around the midwest and southern United States. At The Treasury on Thursday evening, a crowd celebrated the band’s homecoming.

Prior to Dow declaring the Twin Cities as the first music scene that felt like home, other rising local acts opened the show.

Fend’s set began with a solo track from lead vocalist/guitarist, Josie Villano. When joined by bandmates who showcased a breath of unreleased material – including an exciting shoegaze-adjacent track – Villano’s eyes bulged with energy. With musicians who all play with other bands, Fend is a mini-super group: Abe Anderson (Niiice, Thank you, I’m Sorry), Kate Malanaphy (Keep for Cheap), Josie Villano (Early Eyes), and John O’Brien (Early Eyes, prathloons).

Next, before belting esoteric tracks from her recent album, “Western Amphibians”, Anita Bauer asked, “Does anyone else like the song ‘Lemonade’ by Gucci Mane?” Bauer, who performs as Anita Velveeta, and who up until recently was the lead singer of the band Alien Book Club, usually bends genres, but stuck with her more alt-rock and punk tracks. She requested that people move closer to the stage before beginning the new song “Finger Puppet.” “It’s really quiet” she said, then promptly spun 180 degrees and pounded guitar riffs to hit listeners with a heavy wall of sound.

In front of the six-inch-high stage, people began by bouncing lightly on their toes, and the energy gradually increased until the set ended with them banging their heads. Bauer joined the crowd to initiate a small circle of people moshing during the song “dissociating in the back room of a starbucks.” 

Bauer bantered with playful humor while tuning her guitar between songs, sharing stories about being cursed by the devil in Portland, Oregon, and the fear of growing older. An aura of gratitude surfaced as she attributed the strength of the Twin Cities music scene to the production, mixing, and simple presence of Abe Anderson, who would later take the stage with the headlining band.

Thank You, I’m Sorry accurately describe themselves as “too indie to be an emo band but too emo to be an indie band.” The group – including Dow (lead vocals), Bethunni Schreiner (bass), Sage Livergood (drums), and Abe Anderson (guitar) – carries a catalog that’s perfectly suited for a coming of age movie or a quarter life crisis soundtrack. The live grunge, pop-punk sound couldn’t be ignored, especially when Dow’s shoelace came untied after aggressively yelling, “Stay the hell away from me” – words Livergood mouthed as they knocked their cymbals off of the drum set, twice.

The band’s music is lyrically defined by themes encompassing the mid-20’s life experience at the present moment. Their 2020 album, “I’m Glad We’re Friends”, details social media fatigue, like the petty act of the following and unfollowing of profiles. The newest singles, “Parliaments” and “Chronically Online” follow suit, emphasizing disdain for screens. On the former, Dow sang, “Watch my thoughts sink into carpet/It’s better than staring at my phone,” and on the latter, the vocalist’s arms flailed and eyes rolled as they sang, “Locked my phone and threw it away/I don’t want to be online today.” 

Fixated on the struggles stemming from our current technological environment, it’s difficult to predict how these songs will age. Perhaps they’ll be regarded as musical documentation of the early 2020’s. Or maybe, the words will feel cryptic to a younger generation. Only time will tell. 

By the end of the evening, the band seemed thankful to return to the Twin Cities, and sorry that fans will have to wait until September to hear their new record.