Kiss of the Whip at Mercury Lounge

Originally from Montreal, Canada, and based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tristan Victor spent much of his adolescence and early adulthood fronting metal/hardcore bands. In 2017, he turned to electronic darkwave and took on the identity Kiss of the Whip. Kiss of the Whip's second album, Like Love Only Real, was released May 11, 2018.

The Red Party at Mercury Lounge is the monthly gathering of New York City's gothic and post-punk community, so Kiss of the Whip found a waiting audience. Victor frequently leaned into his synthesizers and sang opaquely as his electronic rhythms pulsed and throbbed through the room. Supported by bassist/synthesizer team mate Jules Fisichella, the music featured atmospheric waves of sound with romantic and melancholic brush strokes, even as they bustled with high-energy dance beats. Inspired perhaps by gothic sounds of the 1980s and more contemporary industrial music, the vocals were brooding and the repetitive grooves were cutting. Would this appeal to a large audience? Presently, this breed of music is part of an underground movement, but it is bound to evolve into a future mainstream.