Show Review: Just Mustard, Miss Grit at National Sawdust.
September 9th, 2025.
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The gritty mustard reunion
September 10th, 2025
Unless you live under a rock (no hate if so, but you’re probably still paying too much for rent), you know that Irish alternative groups are making a huge splash across the globe. Groups like Fontaines D.C., Inhaler, and Kneecap are proving that new-wave music coming out of Ireland didn’t fade with U2 or the Cranberries. When Just Mustard, an experimental group out of a small town called Dundalk between Dublin and Belfast, were headlining a show at National Sawdust, I knew it’d be worth seeing. An opener wasn’t listed on the bill, making Miss Grit’s quick set a treat.
Miss Grit crept onstage to a pindrop silent crowd that by the end of the set was buzzing. The solo act came out clad in all-black, making her cream and chrome guitar pop extra hard, and throughout the set, a live video of MG played on the jagged wall behind her, creating a hypnotically beautiful parallel. All tracks were pre-set, with thumping loops meshing with ethereal and distorted backing vocals. I've been predicting a blend of house and alternative rock to start becoming more commonplace, and Miss Grit proved me right. At times, certain tracks had grooving drum beats somewhat to fcukers, but had an overdrive guitar and reverb-soaked vocals slathered over the top. A short but worthy set that I hope to catch again.
Just Mustard is a tsunami of sound: songs start from some far out, quieter place, and suddenly grow into a mountain of power, crashing in and throwing everything else to the side. The experimental group’s distorted, flanging guitar tones drown the crowd in a shoegazey, head banging rhythm, supplemented by slick grooves on drums. The white crest of this colossal wave is the singer’s eerily beautiful high-pitched tone, cutting through the massive strings like a jagged rock on the shore, carrying the torch of the great female Irish vocalists who came before. This is a pretty fun tsunami to be swept away in. And really, who the fuck likes ketchup, anyways?
National Sawdust is a venue worthy of checking out, if you haven’t already. It blends a larger-show architecture with a club-like intimacy, and the design of the walls make for a pretty unique forum. These acts played together a few years ago at Union Pool in Brooklyn, which Miss Grit said was the “best show I’d ever been to.” With Just Mustard’s upcoming album We Were Just Here a month out from releasing, this group once again hopped the pond to flex the Irish alternative muscle. Also, shoutout to some of the Been Stellar members for turning up — artists support artists. Rrrat Pack was just here.
| Keywords: | New York City | National Sawdust | Just Mustard | Miss Grit |
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