Say "Indie Sleaze" One More Time, I Dare You
The vibe is shifting didn't you hear? Plus, more parties + blind items
a shot of parties from the Cobrasnake
How do you do, fellow kids?
I’m Mo, your guide to the queer underground, and this(!) is The Deviant Dispatch. I keep a faggoty ear to the ground, delivering you the latest news on NYC’s greatest underground parties, rock shows, and ACTUAL raves- every fuckin’ week. Plus you’ll get it-girl gossip, cultural speculation, snark, typos, and lots of Charli XCX updates. To throw me some much-needed support, become a paying subscriber, share this with someone, or hit the heart button at the top of the post so I know someone is out there.
Here are the big news items
Julia Fox broke up with Kanye, and while their love is through it’s unclear if Lucien will ever be the same.
Bossa Nova Civic club is still fighting to raise the funds to return after a fire in the building, and Resident Advisor published a fab deep dive explaining why so many people care about the club.
The drag king collective The Cake Boys have announced a new weekly show at the Hell’s Kitchen hellhole Club Q. The group had a splashy debut at the Glam Awards (AKA NYC gay nightlife oscars) and have been selling out most of their shows at other venues. Hopefully they can ride this momentum and make this weekly gig a success.
The party MORE revealed it’s secret location for their Manhattan incarnation: a warehouse in Brooklyn. Not sure what happened here, but wonder if next time they actually can pull off a Manhattan caper. It’s still the party to attend.
PC Music Star and Hyperpop foremother Hannah Diamond is releasing a comeback single “Staring at the Ceiling” Thursday.
Alice Glass, formerly of the late 2000s band Crystal Castles, released her first solo album PREY/IV today.
Str8 to DVD is brining semi-viral star Little Piece to Brooklyn for their march party.
The monthly drag variety show Sylvester uploaded the show they had planned before the Omicron wave ruined our December. You can watch on Youtube, and I’d do so if you like funk and a dadaist sense of humor.
Everyone lost their shit over a article in the Cut about a “Vibe Shift” that basically was just the 2000s are back, and older people will fall out of fashion if they don’t get on board with the new “vibe.”
The last news item really has given me something to chew on. I agree with Gawker and say the indie sleaze revival seems a bit surface level. With The early 2000s, or McBling as it’s now known, signifiers have been popping up from music to fashion before it became fully known. “Indie Sleaze” on the other hand, seems to be born almost entirely from online fashion users who are addicted to mining cycles of nostalgia for engagement. Then people who are on salary at a publication or trying to eek out a living freelance writing then write about this “trend” for places like Vouge or ID. (If you are an editor reading this, I would be more than happy to become that person for you. Please email me!) While everyone pontificates, the trendy girls are still wearing the flares of the early 2000s, not the skinny jeans of the so-called Indie Sleaze era.
The poster child for this supposed new vibe, splashed on the cover of The Cut piece without being mentioned in the article? That’s Meg Superstar Princess, who I’ll be doing a deep dive / explainer for my paying subs later this week. I’ll go in on who she is, why she’s the girlie of the moment, and examine how her calculated messiness as a case study for how real this Indie Sleaze trend actually is.
The paying subscriber tier, if you didn’t already know, is only $5 a month. As MTHR TRSA would say, that’s one iced oat milk latte. Subscribing gets you even more takes on culture and events every week (you’ll notice half of the time they’re hidden behind a paywall).
Ok enough blabbering. Here are your relevant events of the week, all of which are great opportunities to test out the flash-heavy party photos that are so synonymous with this supposed vibe shift. Don’t forget to check out the blind items at the bottom of the post, and let me know if you like them being around.
XOXO,
Mo
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