3 Reasons You Should See The Dutch Kills Live

Last month rock four piece The Dutch Kills headlined The Deli Mag’s 20th anniversary show at Arlene’s Grocery, and on a night that coincided with SantaCon, filling the city with thousands of people dressed as Santa Claus, it was the Brooklyn-based band that delivered the goods.

The Dutch Kills are comprised of Julia Von Dutch (vocals, guitar), Alec Berry (guitar), Maxine McCormick (bass), and Heather Jensen (drums). The foursome are all in their early 20s, and the band was formed less than two years ago, but you’d never know any of that based on their sound, or performance, both of which would lead one to believe they’re well-established veterans of the scene.

It didn’t take long for me to become a fan of The Dutch Kills when I saw them at Arlene’s. Here are three reasons you should join me in the crowd the next time they have a show, and see them live.

They play some seriously kick ass rock music 

Whether it’s their slightly more grunge influenced fare like “Molly Screams,” and “The Rot” – both of which are so good they sound like they could be long lost Hole songs – or the blistering punk rock of “Are You Kidding Me?,” The Dutch Kills’ entire set is high energy, in your face, take no prisoners rock music.

Letting it all out on stage, there’s a lot of raw emotion in their songs, and their performance is a thrill to watch, hear, and feel.

Julia Von Dutch has all the potential to be one of rock’s great frontwomen 

There’s a wonderful well-worn raspiness to Julia Von Dutch’s voice that belies her age. It’s Juliet Simms (aka Lilith Czar), meets Taylor Momsen, meets Courtney Love, and her delivery lets you know she’s lived her lyrics. That’s a heck of a quality for someone to have in their early 20s!

When you combine her voice with the fact that she has the stage presence of a veteran, a performance attitude that can swing from sweet to savage whenever she deems it necessary, and a unique look all her own, it’s easy to imagine this could be the start of something big.

(Warning – video has flashing lights)

They laugh in the face of technical difficulties 

After the first song of their set Alec Berry experienced one of the nightmares of every guitarist – one of his strings broke.

In the world of major label artists, a guitar tech would just hand the guitar player a backup. In the indie world, however, there’s no such thing as a backup guitar.

Unfazed by the situation, Julia asked if any of the previous bands were still in the house, and could a guitar possibly make its way to the stage.

Within about 30 seconds the guitar player from Opera handed her instrument to Alec, and, thankfully, the band played on.

Also thankfully, no other guitar strings were harmed during their set.

For more of The Dutch Kills, and to see when they’ll be coming to your area, check out thedutchkills.com, and follow the band on Instagram.

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