underscores

On 9 November 2026 at The Grand Social in Dublin, underscores lands with a live set built on sharp contrasts and quick left turns. Born in San Francisco in 2000, April Harper Grey has grown the underscores project from early online dubstep roots into a pop laboratory that pulls from hyperpop, pop-punk, emo and indie pop. On stage, abrasive guitars rub against tight electronic drums and direct melodies, with cuts drawn from Fishmonger and the 2023 album Wallsocket, a record with a clear narrative thread and a small-town Midwest backdrop. The mood swings easily from glitchy eruptions to more intimate passages that flirt with folk, country or shoegaze, before snapping back into high-tempo hooks.

After opening for 100 gecs and a stop at Lollapalooza, underscores has refined a compact, hands-on performance where production trickery serves the songwriting rather than swallowing it. The 2024 Wallsocket (Director’s Cut) extends that world and feeds the set’s palette, alongside parallel work in the electronic collective Six Impala and the bedroom pop outfit Papaya & Friends. The result is a show that treats genre as raw material and bends it into songs built to hit live.