Knocked Loose tore through Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week with a blistering performance that shook the late-night scene, and Middle America, to its core.
Smashing through the boundaries of audience expectations, the Kentucky hardcore crew delivered a savage rendition of their track ‘Suffocate’. Featuring the hauntingly intense Poppy, the hardcore punk band truly demonstrated why they should be hailed as pioneers.
With a stormy set featuring rain-soaked visuals and a shadowy cross backdrop, the performance was pure energy. Bryan Garris’s guttural roars were offset by Poppy’s eerie vocal delivery, creating a visceral showcase of controlled chaos. For die-hard fans of the genre, it was a defining moment. For casual viewers, it might’ve been their first encounter with hardcore’s uncompromising sound—and it showed.
The performance sparked plenty of reactions, both from fans and from people who clearly weren’t ready for what they saw. One baffled viewer took to the internet, complaining, “By the third or fourth ‘JUNT’ from the guitars, my son was in tears. He doesn’t like scary things.” Another called it “the worst thing I’ve ever heard on TV.”
Still, for every pearl-clutching reaction, there was a voice in support. Fans celebrated seeing hardcore music infiltrate mainstream media. Some even pointed out how this performance could inspire a new generation of listeners. “This is the kind of moment that makes kids pick up instruments and start bands,” one commenter added.
Garris himself addressed the noise following the show, reflecting on what it meant for the band and the hardcore scene at large. “For a long time now, our goal has been to see how far we could squeeze this band into places where we don’t fit,” he wrote on Instagram. “It feels like the ceiling gets higher for EVERYONE, every single day.”
Love it or hate it, this wasn’t just about a single performance. Knocked Loose made their mark on the late night stage, and in doing so, pushed hardcore music further into the spotlight. Not everyone understood it, isn’t that exactly the point of metal music.
Check out the performance below.
