Model/Actriz – increasing the voltage; one seat at a time.

Model/Actriz in session at Maida Vale for New Music Fix at BBC 6 Music, recorded on November 19th.

Since it is Friday night and since it is the end of the week and since it no doubt has been a scream looking for a mouth – why not add a soundtrack to it?

Model/Actriz fits the bill quite nicely – a combination of Angry Arts/Queer Rage and high voltage abandon – this is a side of music I am hearing more of lately, coming from a lot of different places. I suspect there’s a common vibe going on here and it would only seem natural BBC 6 Music would spotlight it. It’s angry, aggressive and therapeutic, all in one package. Like we could all use a good scream or a fist slamming a wall from time to time.

And as an indication my hunch may not be too far off, word has it their latest release, Pirouette is gathering positive buzz from both sides of the Atlantic.

A little bit of background on Model/Actriz in case you’re just hearing about them:

Model/Actriz formed in 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The group consists of drummer Ruben Radlauer, guitarist Jack Wetmore, vocalist Cole Haden, and bassist Aaron Shapiro.

The band’s music has been described as post-punk and noise rock. Frontman Haden often incorporates queer sexual themes in his lyrics “as a gay person working in a genre that’s not very outwardly gay.” Their debut album Dogsbody was released in 2023, followed by their second album Pirouette in 2025.

In 2016 Boston Hassle wrote that guitarist Wetmore and drummer Radlauer “remarkably capture a wide scope of dissonance and noise with live belligerence, with control and spontaneity.”  Vocalist Haden has been praised by multiple publications for his onstage charisma.  In 2022, Fatty Strap stated, “[Haden’s] presence is so big that it literally arrives before him and leaves days after he has left.”  Rolling Stone wrote, “Every time they perform, it’s an explosion of outrageous noise, raw physicality, and communal joy.” The Primavera Sound festival praised them as “pioneers in bringing homoerotic references into a genre as un-homoerotic as post-punk.”

Okay – enough print, listen to the sound – press play and get ready for the weekend.