{"id":144403,"date":"2026-02-25T01:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144403\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T01:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:26:21","slug":"live-review-sword-%e2%85%b1-at-babys-all-right-brooklyn-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144403\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Review: Sword \u2161 at Baby’s All Right Brooklyn, NY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sword II are one of those bands that sound like everyone simultaneously. On Electric Hour, the group\u2019s 2025 sophomore album, the band cherry-picks from across the spectrum of contemporary indie rock, sneering grunge on \u201cGun You Hold,\u201d a menacing bit of jangle on \u201cPassionate Nun,\u201d bittersweet dream-pop for \u201cEven if it\u2019s Just a Dream.\u201d The Atlanta-based trio of Mari Gonz\u00e1lez, Certain Zuko, and Travis Arnold hit all the marks of \u201890s-inflected alternative like straight-A students of the genre.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that Sword II sold out their headlining set at Baby\u2019s All Right, alongside Nashville shoegazers Total Wife and Brooklyn-based art-rock group fantasy of a broken heart. The band is fresh off the release of an acclaimed new record released via the Partisan Records imprint Section1. They\u2019re the perfect snapshot of what\u2019s \u201cin\u201d in contemporary indie right now.<\/p>\n

Though, they\u2019re certainly not trendchasers. This is a band that is road-tested and DIY-raised. All three members have been involved in a variety of different projects within Atlanta\u2019s DIY community. Playing to the crowd at Brooklyn\u2019s scene-iest venue was no issue for the trio.<\/p>\n

After a few technical difficulties and monitor adjustments, Sword II began the set with \u201cDamage,\u201d a blown-out, noisy cut from 2023\u2019s Spirit World Tour. Though I wouldn\u2019t call Electric Hour<\/a> a particularly moshable record, guitarist\/vocalist Certain Zuko began the show by bringing the audience forward with a few enthusiastic armwaves. Rock music is best for close-quarters. By the second half of the set, the audience was jumping along to the heavy \u201cDisconnection\u201d or alongside the bolts of guitar on \u201cHalogen.\u201d The Electric Hour cuts with grabby, affecting hooks fit the room best: Zuko sneering the word \u201cDesire\u201d on \u201cPassionate Nun,\u201d the harmonies on \u201cUnder the Scar,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s whisper on \u201cSugarcane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three members of the band all share vocal duties across the show, offering a suite of different tones and energies behind the mic. Zuko is bold and peppery, interspersing plenty of comments like \u201cThis song is about hating the cops.\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez and Arnold are softer presences, drawing you in while the guitars fill out the middle of the mix. For every ilk of indie rock they try out, they have a vocalist at the ready. No wonder they can cover such breadth. As much as Sword II feels drawn right from the endless tap of \u201890s alternative-inspired bands, they can\u2019t help but only sound like themselves.<\/p>\n

Words by Andy Steiner
Photography by Bobby Nicholas \u2162<\/p>\n

\"Live<\/p>\n

\"Live Sword II at Baby\u2019s All Right in Brooklyn, NY 2\/21\/26 by Bobby Nicholas III<\/p>\n

order tickets for Sword \u2161 HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sword II are one of those bands that sound like everyone simultaneously. On Electric Hour, the group\u2019s 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,60583,9,24,63,60584,60585,60586,60587],"class_list":{"0":"post-144403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-live-review-sword--at-babys-all-right-brooklyn-ny-february-21","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-partisan-records","16":"tag-pinned","17":"tag-sword-ii","18":"tag-sword-ll-and-feeble-little-horse-whos-giving-you-love-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}