Model/Actriz is an American rock band, formed in 2016 in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, that is currently based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The group consists of drummer Ruben Radlauer, guitarist Jack Wetmore, vocalist Cole Haden, and bassist Aaron Shapiro. The band's music has been described as

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

. Frontman Haden often incorporates

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

sexual themes in his lyrics "as a gay person working in a genre that’s not very outwardly gay." Their debut album ''Dogsbody'' was released in 2023, followed by their second album ''

Pirouette In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are ...

'' in 2025.

History

Drummer Ruben Radlauer and guitarist Jack Wetmore were childhood acquaintances whose fathers were in a band together in the 1980s. Radlauer and Wetmore reconnected while attending

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

, and decided to start a band together. In 2015, Radlauer and Wetmore met vocalist Cole Haden when they saw him perform, "writhing on the floor in a corset, fake blood dripping down his face," and invited him to join their band. Haden, a Delaware native, joined the group out of loneliness. In 2019, after a two-year hiatus, Model/Actriz incorporated bassist Aaron Shapiro. In 2019, Model/Actriz was dubbed one of ''Alt Citizen's'' favorite live acts of the year. In 2020, the band was scheduled to perform at SXSW, but the festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Model/Actriz recorded their first album, ''

Dogsbody A dogsbody, dog's body, or less commonly dog robber is someone who does menial or drudge work.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd edition, 2010''s.v.''/ref> Originally, in the British Royal Navy, a dogsbody was a semi-sarcastic colloquialism for a ...

'', released in 2023. It earned an 8.2 rating from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

,'' and was named ''

Bandcamp Daily Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epi ...

''s album of the day. Following ''Dogsbody'', the band was invited to play the 2024

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as Primavera) is an annual music festival held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain, during late May and early June. It was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler as "a showcase for Spanish Noise rock, noise ban ...

festival in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. The band's second album ''

'' was released on May 2, 2025. The lead single "Cinderella" was released on February 25, 2025 and earned a "Best New Track" honor from ''Pitchfork''. It was followed by the singles "Doves" and "Diva".

Critical response

In 2016 '' Boston Hassle'' wrote that guitarist Wetmore and drummer Radlauer "remarkably capture a wide scope of dissonance and noise with live belligerence, with control and spontaneity." Vocalist Haden has been praised by multiple publications for his onstage charisma. In 2022, ''Fatty Strap'' stated, " aden’spresence is so big that it literally arrives before him and leaves days after he has left." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote, "Every time they perform, it’s an explosion of outrageous noise, raw physicality, and communal joy." The

festival praised them as "pioneers in bringing homoerotic references into a genre as un-homoerotic as post-punk."

Band members

* Ruben Radlauer – drums (2016–2017, 2019–present) * Jack Wetmore – guitar (2016–2017, 2019–present) * Cole Haden – vocals (2016–2017, 2019–present) * Aaron Shapiro – bass guitar (2019–present)

Discography

References

{{Authority control American noise rock music groups Musical groups established in 2016 Punk rock groups from New York (state) Queercore groups American musical quartets American post-punk music groups Punk rock groups from Massachusetts Musical groups from Boston American dance-punk musical groups