Dark Chisme brings a punk-set wrinkle home to the Sunset Tavern

Seattle's Latin-tinged dark wave duo plays the Sunset next Friday, billed on DICE as Los Chismosos, a Dark Chisme punk set.

If you know Dark Chisme from a dark dance floor, with synths up, bass throbbing and Christine Gutierrez out front, next Friday at the Sunset Tavern might throw you a curveball.

Dark Chisme plays the Sunset Tavern on Friday, Nov. 13, at 9 p.m., with Anthers in support. Tickets are $12 through DICE. The wrinkle is in DICE's own Sunset Tavern listing, which bills the night as Los Chismosos (Dark Chisme Punk Set), with Anthers and guests, 21 and over. The listing doesn't say more than that, and we won't guess. Hearing what a punk set from a dark wave band sounds like is a good enough reason to go.

Hearing what a punk set from a dark wave band sounds like is a good enough reason to go.

To see why that's interesting, start with the usual version of the band. On its Bandcamp, Dark Chisme calls itself a Seattle-based dark wave band started by Chicago-raised Latina DJ and producer Christine Gutierrez, on vocals and synths, and E, on bass and synths. When the duo put out its self-titled debut in 2024, KEXP's review heard dark wave threaded with Latin and house influences: music built for moving as much as brooding.

Since then they've kept singles coming rather than rushing a second album. "Desire My Soul," a 2025 single, made it onto KMGP's Seattle Sound Check rotation this year. It sits on their Bandcamp next to tracks like "Lost in the Night." Writing in 2025, I Die You Die credited the duo with heavy touring behind the debut and said the new tracks kept the momentum going, with Gutierrez's vocals driving them. We haven't found an announcement of a new full-length. For now the story is a band that keeps putting out songs and keeps playing.

Mostly that playing happens here. Dark Chisme has played the Seattle market more than any other in our records, 22 shows and counting, and a hometown crowd is the right audience for a left turn like a punk set. People who've followed the band from club nights to festival bills are the ones who'll get the joke, and the payoff.

The Sunset is a good place to try it. It's a 200-capacity room, small enough that a set built on energy rather than atmosphere hits you right in the chest, and a 9 p.m. start on a Friday means you can make a full night of it. Anthers fill out the bill, and DICE says there are more guests to come.

Buy the ticket, show up early for Anthers, and keep an open mind about which band walks onstage: Dark Chisme or Los Chismosos. Either way it's a Seattle band in a Seattle room, trying something new in front of the people most likely to love it.

Sources: Dark Chisme at Sunset Tavern (JamBase) (jambase.com); DICE tickets: Dark Chisme, Sunset Tavern (link.dice.fm); DICE: The Sunset Tavern tickets and events (dice.fm); DICE: Dark Chisme artist page (dice.fm); Dark Chisme on Bandcamp (darkchisme.bandcamp.com); Dark Chisme (self-titled album), Bandcamp (darkchisme.bandcamp.com); Desire My Soul, Bandcamp (darkchisme.bandcamp.com); Lost in the Night, Bandcamp (darkchisme.bandcamp.com); KEXP: New Music Reviews (8/11/2024) (kexp.org); KMGP Space 101.1: Seattle Sound Check playlist (spinitron.com); I Die You Die: Dark Chisme (idieyoudie.com)