The Vices, an indie rock band from the Netherlands, are currently on tour in Europe. But two weeks ago, they toured the U.S., and on February 21st, they stopped at the legendary DC9 Nightclub in Washington, D.C., with guests Trophy Wife and The Montaines. 

In February, The Vices released their third album, Before It Might Be Gone. The band played a lot of their new work as well as their older songs, but not before The Montaines and Trophy Wife kicked off the show.

The night began with the D.C.-native band The Montaines and their The 1975-inspired sound. The five-piece band, who released a single in January titled “Too Much,” played a collection of original music. They did a strong job energizing the crowd for a long night of great music.

While The Montaines were only supporting The Vices for one show on their American tour, they fit in seamlessly with the style of music and style of performance that night.

DC9 is a venue that has been known to get bands and artists out on their feet and regularly features up-and-coming international acts. This was the second time that The Montaines had played DC9, and they hoped that the show on the 21st would help share their name and spread the word in the D.C. music community.   Lastly, Brooklyn-based Trophy Wife had their debut D.C. performance, rounded out this tremendous show of indie bands stepping foot on the triangular stage on 9th Street NW.

The Montaines consists of lead vocalist Alec O’Brien, his brother Jack O’Brien on lead guitar, Luke DeCresce on rhythm guitar, Charlie Christoffersen on drums, and Seamus Mulcahy on bass – although Jack Flood filled in on bass that night. Each band member seems to bring their own style to the stage, but they all work together effortlessly.

While they are fans and also have Irish heritage, Alec and Jack O’Brien want to be clear that The Montaines is not the same as the Dublin, Ireland-native band Fontaines D.C. The similarities in band names was simply coincidental. Though the more The Montaines listen to Fontaines D.C., the more they feel inspired by them. They also draw inspiration from The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, and popular ‘80s music.

However, they don’t like to pigeonhole themselves into one genre, and they find it is easier to describe their sound by putting it in terms of other existing bands. But they still hold their ground on their own, and they will just keep growing from here.

“I would say some of it is pop music, for sure,” Alec said. “Some of it is definitely rock music. It’s not pop rock.”

The Montaines were very excited to play their hometown with two bands who drew in different crowds.

“It’s always fun to get to perform our music in front of new people, especially the folks that are coming out for The Vices and Trophy Wife; now they get to see us, too,” Alec said. “I always think that’s a cool experience. They might not know anything about us, and it’s always great to see people’s reactions.”

The Montaines have a new song coming out soon, titled “We Don’t Fight,” so stay tuned for more tunes.

Following The Montaines was the four-piece band from Brooklyn, Trophy Wife, who had joined The Vices the night before at their show in New York. 

The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist McKenzie Iazzetta, Christian Pace on bass, Michael Martelli on drums, and Rowan Martin on guitar. They described their style of music as “groovy,” “noisy,” and “aggressive” alternative rock, which I believe is a thoroughly accurate description. Some of their inspirations include 1990s/2000s artists such as Liz Phair, Tori Amos, and Weezer. After listening to the first song on their album, I also detected hints of The Cranberries.

Iazzetta came up with the band name when she was 18 as a way of ironically expressing the “ugly parts of ourselves,” while getting people to listen by presenting themselves as “sexy and stupid,” Iazzetta explained.

Trophy Wife released their first full-length album last October, titled Get Ugly, fitting in with the band’s persona. The album is a collection of grungy, gritty songs that can only be described as feminine rage. It was exciting to see that feminine side of rock music that night against the backdrop of male-dominated bands.

Trophy Wife members were excited to support The Vices, and they are looking forward to playing more shows throughout the country this summer.

Finally, the Dutch headliners took the stage. Fans gathered closely to the short stage and spent the length of The Vices’ set jumping and bouncing along to the epic music. They played songs from all three of their albums, including plenty from their newest album, which is just under a month old.

The Vices formed in 2019, and the current members are Floris van Luijtelaar on lead vocals and guitar, Jonathan Kruizenga on guitar and keys, Simon Bleeker on bass, and Mathijs Louwsma on drums.  The band is no stranger to the States, having traveled across the pond twice before this tour on limited tours of America.

“What I really like is that every time you come back, the audience grows,” Kruizenga said.

When asked what he was most excited for while playing in D.C., Bleeker said, “I really, really really want a magnet for the fridge.”

Although the band is Dutch, they only write songs in English.  “A very ugly language,” Bleeker said about his mother tongue. “The biggest bands in the Netherlands, they all sing in English.

The Vices didn’t want to limit themselves to what was popular in Dutch, but they also wanted to capitalize on what was popular in English.

“The Dutch music scene in the Netherlands is either pop or hip hop,” Kruizenga elaborated. “English is such a big part of the Netherlands because everybody watches movies in English, they listen to English music… everybody speaks English, as well. It’s kind of normal to write songs in English.”

Of the three bands that performed that night, each had a different approach to writing their own music. The Montaines typically begin with a drum loop, which allows the freedom to expand upon other instruments before adding in lyrics. Iazzetta of Trophy Wife likes to start with the lyrics and then build the skeleton of the song before filling it in with other instruments. As for The Vices, their songwriting process can differ every time they write a song. They tend to think as producers first, starting with electronic music they produce on their own.

All three bands gushed about how much they loved listening to each other’s music and how excited they were to watch them all perform, especially given that they are from three different places. I think they each spoke for everyone else in the crowd, too. The audience seemed to love the show from start to finish, and their energy and enthusiasm only grew throughout the night.

We look forward to seeing each of these bands performing in the future.  Be sure to see The Montaines as they perform around the DMV and we hope to see all three bands as they continue to gain more popularity in the days ahead.