Spybar, Spybar, Spybar. Seems like every weekend they’re on a mission to make sure the sounds being injected into the night are top notch, and I don’t see an end in sight. April 28th brought Truth x Lies into the city, and while I’m not the biggest tech house head, I decided to pop in and see what they were all about.
Almost every song had me asking: “what is this????” in the best way possible.
Tech house isn’t really in my wheelhouse – it’s one of those genres that seemingly got huge out of nowhere while I had my head buried in other places. But as with my personal favorite – deep house – I’m sure that anyone following along would be surprised that someone could miss the genre’s rise in the house music scene. It’s almost like a “blink and you missed it” sort of thing.
One of the byproducts of an ascendant sub-genre is that you have a lot of talent competing to make a name for themselves. Everyone is trying to get that corner of the market where they can slowly carve out their own space, gather a dedicated following, and just generally get down to business when they come into town. Truth x Lies are those dudes, and after seeing them in action this past weekend, I can confidently say that they are worthy contenders for a future place in the upper echelons of tech house.
Truth x Lies started the night with a bang, and it was foot on the pedal for their entire set.
It was absolutely amazing to see them play, I have to say. Saturday might have been the first time I was legitimately swept away by a tech house set, lost in the bass-heavy riffs coursing through the speakers. And every time they transitioned to another track, there it was: another flawless transition, or phrase, loaded with the confidence all good selectors have. I was so busy being enthralled that I didn’t even have the forethought (or maybe the ability) to Shazam the track and make sure I saved it for later. This is going to have to go down as just one of those “you had to be there” moments, and I’m sure glad I was.
It got to the point that I had to just let go of all of my expectations and allow myself to be amazed at the sound coming from the decks. It was a top notch performance from start to finish, which led to a bit of a let down when I realized they were about to cede the control to someone else. Don’t get it twisted, the rest of the night was fire, but I just had this feeling that I didn’t get enough of Truth x Lies.
Truth x Lies is a great addition to the tech house scene, and I’d love to see them back in Chicago as soon as possible.
I still have that feeling that there was more I’m missing from them, and if I have my way, I’m determined to find out what that is. They’ve also had a strong year of releases, with the most recent being “Caroline” featuring CID. Truth x Lies is an artist duo that we’ll be keeping close tabs on in the future.
Story: Andrew Ploeger
Premier EDM 