Concert review: New Translations | 03.24.25, Blueberry Hill Duck Room (with photo gallery)

Photo of New Translations by Laura Jerele

The band you absolutely need to know about right now? New Translations. And if you were not at their first-ever tour stop in St. Louis this Monday night at The Duck Room, you not only missed one of the best shows I’ve seen in well over 10 years, but you’ll probably be one of those people that will lie and say “oh yeah… I was at that show…”

To say that this band blew me away is an absolute understatement. They may be young lads, but their music has a certain depth and maturity that is as equally polished as it is raw. Their lead vocalist, Oliver Pierce, has such an incredible and controlled voice (much like The National’s Matt Berninger, No/Faux Prix/Black English’s Bradley Hanan Carter, or even Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring) and a unique stage presence that is absolutely mesmerizing. With sock-clad feet, he immediately hit into a trance-like performance with shockingly perfect vocals. His incredibly talented bandmates include multi-instrumentalists Isaac Middleton and Andrés Ahogado, bassist Ben Dunn, and drummer Philip Walker, who collectively provided one of the single best sounding performances I’ve ever heard in that small room. Sounding as bright as it was deep, these fellas are incredibly dialed in to one another and their rich sound. And they are talented AF. 

New Translations are hard at work, promoting their debut album, Vacation, which you have to give a listen. Their set was mostly comprised of songs from Vacation—”Love Bombb,” “Rat People,” “Sherriff,” “TV At Home,” and “Voided Velvet” were standouts for me. Their songs are catchy and at times heavy, full of dope synths, guitars, drums, and well-written bass lines that really draw you in.  New Translations was so good, they left the audience both stunned and impressed, so much so that the smallish crowd that was there could not stop talking to one another about this amazing ‘new to me’ band is. So, you can trust me when I say that at the end of the show, I was not the only person who could not stop saying how rad their performance was! I felt compelled to share this love with them after their set, and I was met with the most gracious and kickass human beings who can’t wait to come back to St. Louis. So, the next time they do, get your ass to their show. Dance your ass off, because Laura told you so. | Laura Jerele