Based out of Minneapolis, Monica LaPlante is playing The Aquarium in downtown Fargo on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Joining her will be System Exclusive, Colton Jay & Others, and Artificial Dopamine.
The Covid-19 pandemic was hard on everyone, but especially on performers and artists. While the isolation could be good for some forms of creativity, the loss of social contact was almost too much for some of us. Out of that period, a lot of new art has sprung up and now we all finally get to experience it together.
LaPlante’s latest single, “Compression” is an encapsulation of bottled-up anxiousness and uncertainty. Set to vintage drum machines, the ’70s funk bass lines, and whacked-out synthesizers, it’s easy to believe The Minneapolis Star Tribune crowned her the Quarantine Rock Queen.
“I felt like: ‘This is what I’ve always wanted, to have all this time on my hands to be creative and make music,’ ” LaPlante told the Star Trib. “There were so many things and people to worry about, though, it wasn’t so easy being creative.”
Sharing The Aquarium stage will be System Exclusive, a two-piece band made up of Ari Blaisdell and Matt Jones. Based out of Pasadena, they’ll arrive bearing an armful of mini synths and making heart-throbbing capital P pop, cut with more than a hint of post-punk.
Blaisdell’s vocals hearken back to openhearted ’80s hitmakers unafraid to quaver in the name of love, and they’re buoyed by Jones’ laser-gridded synth concoctions and a heavy hand on the ones and twos.
Local Colton Jay & Others, and Artificial Dopamine round out a properly punky indie-pop show, something we don’t get a whole lot of in Fargo. Make plans to be there!
