The general public’s thoughts and perceptions of modern dance music have become utterly misconstrued. With the booming popularity of EDM, acts like Skrillex, Deadmau5 and Kaskade have become the forerunners in what we think of as “electronic” music. Ecstasy, visuals and bass drops are the three main ingredients for any dance tent or extravagant electronic set, but just like in any genre, there’s an underground. And in the Electronic Dance Music world, that’s an exceptionally deep, dark place.

On Sunday night, Part Time Punks took over Echo Park’s lauded club, The Echo, to showcase the grittier side of electro and celebrate Los Angeles’ own duo Soft Metals’ sophomore album release. Despite some technical difficulties that pushed the show back almost an hour, the crowd was overly enthusiastic for a late, Sunday night set. And rightfully so. When Ian Hicks and Patricia Hall took the stage around midnight, their fans’ eyes lit up with anticipation to hear new songs. Draped in a cotton maxi dress resembling a seductive evening gown, Hall took her place behind the keyboard as Hicks sauntered to his table of gadgets. Keyboards, samplers, drum machines, knobs and buttons spread the distance of the elongated surface, and though to the untrained eye they looked strewn about, every piece was strategically placed for Hicks to precisely twist and turn, creating beats in real time rather than simply pressing “play” on a laptop.

Hall’s ghostly, reverb laden vocals pierced through Hicks’ haunting, analog-produced soundscapes, and the result was bone-chilling, gothic-tinged electronic music. This was not something you would hear at Paradiso or Coachella’s dance tent; this was something you would hear in a New York basement club in the early ‘80s. Bands like Soft Metals don’t distract their listeners with climactic bass drops and jaw-dropping visuals, they entrance their fans with real-time, robotic analog beats and introspective lyrics. This isn’t something to rave to at a massive festival, it’s something to absorb in your own personal way in an intimate setting. Though their set did not elicit a dance party, it was clear that the crowd was entranced by Soft Metals. People sang along when they knew the words, and some danced vigorously while others opted to keep to themselves, but everyone had a good time. 

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