Review: DURRY @ Paradise Rock Club 11/10
Photo Credit: Cori Miller
Review by Sophie Maloney
On Monday night at Paradise Rock Club, DURRY made their Boston stop on their Your Friend from the Real World Tour. The brother-sister duo from Minneapolis formed in the early pandemic days and saw viral success in 2021 with their first couple of singles. Their new album, “This Movie Sucks,” explores the unique hardships of stagnant adulthood with humor that comforts the listeners through a “everybody’s been there” sentiment.
Opening the night was fellow Minneapolis band Vial, a three-piece punk group that blew the roof off the place. The band headbanged their way through their opening song, “Ego Death,” in which the lyrics taunt a toxic, masculine figure, calling them a “liar, liar gaslighter. Hide behind your satire.” This theme of facing pushback as a queer, non-male band is explored in their larger body of work, including “Planet Drool,” which they also performed. The song calls out the rampant sexism that exists in the music industry. In “Planet Drool,” they mock the men who try to put them down by singing as if they possess the inferiorities projected onto them:“What do all these little knobs mean? I’m too stupid for the music scene.” Their electric and unapologetic energy captured the audience; a difficult feat for an opening act. They cemented themselves with the crowd as artists with a lot to say and the talent to back it up, showing a promising future for the band.
DURRY opened the show with “Bully,” a pop-punk song about hating the internet and the toxic culture that persists on there, but also about how heavily we contribute to this culture in a cycle of never-ending disconnection. They sing, “We just dance and we die, by the sword we rely on. We feed the machine.” The song had everyone in the crowd jumping and singing along in a release of pent up energy. Their set was complete with six TVs behind them,displaying corresponding visuals, lyrics, and even movie scenes during their song “This Movie Sucks,” ranging from “Karate Kid” to “Jurassic Park.” The images added to the visceral experience, with the movie clips matching up to the song. During the guitar heavy-grunge breakdown, the most intense scenes of the films were playing.
After a few songs, the band stopped to talk to the audience. Austin Durry, the frontman,expressed his gratitude for everyone coming out to the show by talking about their humble beginnings in Boston, noting that at the first venue they played the “capacity was 75, and we brought in 25, which was…pretty good,” he joked with the audience. Austin along with his sister Taryn Durry, explained to the audience how they could win their very own DURRY VHS. A limited number were made and hidden in record stores around the country, but they had some special editions for the tour to give to one random audience member each night. The VHS fits the theme of their tour by offering a physical piece of media devoid of the internet, an ode to simpler times. It includes all their music videos and serves as a one-of-a-kind keepsake. It’s a thoughtful way to play into the band’s branding for this album and give back to their fans.
Along with catchy upbeat songs they also played more vulnerable songs like “Polaroid,” which describes the melancholic feelings of creating New Year’s resolutions and then falling short, a relatable moment, but one that is hard to face nonetheless. In complete whiplash, the song was followed by a “Super Smash Bros.” game displayed on the TVs, in which two people from the crowd were chosen to face off. The band split the audience down the middle to determine who the crowd would cheer for. It ended up being Link versus Pikachu, and in an epic battle, Link was the victor.
DURRY ended the night with one of their older songs, “Suburban Legend,” a hopeful song in which the singer hopes that the listeners reach their potential and go on to do great things. It was a uniting moment, as everyone knew the song and sang along. It’s clear to see how they’ve cultivated such a loving fan base, their show feels like hanging out with family, complete with nostalgic movie nights, getting too competitive in “Super Smash Bros.” and talking through true grief and struggle, all in one evening.