Thotcrime

Emerging from digital exchanges spanning multiple continents, the alternative quartet Thotcrime fuses disparate elements into one sound: rapid grindcore riffs on guitar, warped keyboard textures drawn from hyperpop, and vocals steeped in screamo that together sketch a chaotic portrait of how people interact online.

The project took shape during the idle stretches of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic when Urbana, Illinois guitarist Melody "Malady" Jane Wachtel and British producer Kezia Salmon began trading ideas for a cybergrind endeavor, shaping riffs and synth fragments into jagged, unpredictable forms that pulled from hardcore, emo, and math rock. Philadelphia vocalist Mara Bender, performing as Hayleyy Sparxx, was brought in to supply words and vocal lines, while Wachtel’s acquaintance Dot Wamler joined on drums to complete the lineup.

Thotcrime’s first full-length, ønyøurcømputer, arrived as a vivid declaration of intent, a whirlwind of contrasting textures and breakneck speeds whose song titles included “Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Vored My Morning Coffee” and “I Am a Full-Service Gas Station, Please Fill Me Up.” Listeners trading cryptic shorthand and niche references across the web embraced the record as a welcome discovery, linking it to the broader cybergrind wave thriving in internet communities.

Following several remix collections and split EPs alongside Headgore and THECHEESEBURGERPICNIC, the band joined Prosthetic Records and issued its second album, D1G1T4L_DR1FT (2022), a tighter yet equally varied exploration of the peaks and valleys found inside online subcultures. Eventually the members carved out time for live shows, one of which appeared in 2023 under the title When the Laptop Breaks. Their third studio effort, Connection Anxiety, came out in 2024.