An angsty suburban punk attitude (and outfit) was clearly a must have for every member of the audience for Sorority Noise, who played the Portland Arms last Tuesday. I felt slightly out of place being one of the only people there without a lip piercing, but I did my best to look like an angry teenager.

Sorority Noise is a Connecticut-based emo/pop/punk band. They are quite an angry band that holds an endearing sense of romance in their lyricism, hidden between their crashing guitar riffs. Their debut album, Forgettable was released solely online to the Tumblr generation, and gradually they grew in their popularity when their follow up, Joy, Departed came out a year later. The band had established themselves in the US – playing to college students all across the country. Now between albums, they are touring the UK with both old and new material on offer.

The support acts of the evening began with the UK-based band, Grieving. They walked on stage announcing: “Hi, we’re grieving”, which set the tone for the rest of the set. There is something fundamentally a bit strange about the heavily stylised and emphatic shouting of emo music when it is done with an English accent. When singing about how much they hated their lives, it did seem almost comical at certain points. The following support, Puppy continued to push the anguished tone, but brought the energy up through some super impressive falsetto from the lead singer.

The modest stage set-up of the Portland Arms is always a great place for a low-key live music experience. Sorority Noise shyly arrived on stage and then proceeded to break both my eardrums, but honestly I kind of enjoyed it. They opened their set with ‘Corrigan’, a track from their latest album to an enthusiastic audience. A lot of people there were speaking about how long they had waited to see the band since their first album, and it was exciting to see how an ‘internet band’ could finally reach dedicated fans all the way across the Atlantic.

The band rarely allowed a silent moment, keeping a constant echoing guitar between each track, creating a sense of fluidity between the spikes of energy within all of their intense, rock choruses. The high point of the evening was their performance of ‘Blonde Hair, Black Lungs’ from their first album, where there was a strong connection between the audience and the band. The lyrics deal with depression and the death of a relationship, yet there was something strangely uplifting about the passion with which the band delivered it.

The genre of their music requires a lot of volume, which was definitely provided. At times this was slightly overwhelming, and there was almost a sense that the music was a little bit too big for the space itself. That said, the intimacy of the venue did create a stronger sense of conviction in Sorority Noises’ lyrics, as if they were delivering a confession to the crowd.

The band used this more intimate setting to debut a couple of new songs, which were met with the same head banging from the front rows of the audience. Sorority Noises’ music is relatively uniform across both albums, and their new music did not branch out from the same model: a subdued start leading to a raucous chorus and finale of screeching electric guitar. However, it seems the audience did not want anything more, and it was very warmly received. At one point, the band transitioned between songs with a cover of similarly styled band Modern Baseball’s ‘Fine, Great’, and unsurprisingly the crowd seemed to know every word.

Overall it was an enjoyable and fun evening. I will be the first to admit that the angst of these American pop-punk bands can sometimes become slightly abrasive, but Sorority Noise managed to pull off the heavy songs in this small setting, and the crowd helped make it a high energy, explosive concert. That said, I’m also super annoyed no one told me to bring my oversized flannel shirt and beanie.