AA Review – Hunters @ Glasslands 1/22/13

via

Once upon a time, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were a no name band that travelled the Williamsburg circuit making a splash with their outrageous shows. Karen O would hop on stage wearing nothing but a bikini bottom and some tape over her nipples, and proceed to get into tussles with broken glass.

Fast forward to 2013 at Glasslands Gallery and it is clear that that brand of thrashing, brutal minimalism is alive and kicking in Hunters. With hardly a word to the audience, the Brooklyn quartet proceeded to roar through their set.

Consisting entirely of punishing two-minute riot inducing anthems, Hunters perforated the ear drums of the audience with a fine frenzy of noise. Without fail, Derek Watson and his dreadlocked coiff kicked off each track with savage guitar attacks and leering vocals before engaging in a feisty vocal fire fight with his partner in crime Isabel Almeida.

As the two traded shots, innocent bystanders were indiscriminately sprayed with their sneering petulance, and as the set wore on the vocal exchanges escalated into a kicking and shoving match that ultimately ended in a scuffle on the floor that resembled the tangled chaos of Custer’s Last Stand with arms and legs splayed every which way.

An adept graduate with honors from both the Karen O School of Mayhem and the Alison Mosshart School of Wicked Flailing, that hell cat she devil Almeida radiated raw energy and sexual malice, creating that brand of terrified arousal that swallows you whole and spits out your bones. As my friend eloquently put it, she’s “nymphomaniacal.”

Needless to say, their post punk garage rock left the audience breathing hard, charged with sexual energy, and ready to light some shit on fire.

For a sample of the mayhem, have a gander at the video below, courtesy of DeathMirror365 (although, i can't vouch for the audio quality).





Taken at last year's show at Glasslands, with significantly better audio quality.

Quiet Lights – Bar Matchless 5/13 Concert Review

I spent the better part of my Friday night enveloped in the deafening shoe gaze din of Quiet Lights, who played at Brooklyn’s Bar Matchless.

The small venue was perfect as their sound literally consumed the entire space leaving me wrapped in the middle of their miasmic swirl of guitar effects.

The band took to the stage as the culmination of an evening filled with shoe-gaze acts replete with impressive array of guitar pedals, effects, and colored lights.

With minimal banter, the band dived straight into their set powering through each song in an inward looking fashion that let their music set the tone. With their amps set on high, the band’s spiraling crescendos literally overpowered your body, flooding it with aural vibrations that left you somewhat stunned as your ears continued to ring pleasantly.

Their breathy vocals are even more beautiful in person and the hushed whispers serve as a great juxtaposition to the frequent sonic explorations and meandering guitar lines. With a thickly layered and lush dreamy sound, their performance packed an impressive emotional punch.

Featuring new songs from their forthcoming EP Big Fear as well as their previous releases like “No More Canyons,” the night proved to be hypnotizingly delightful.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the Big Fear EP which is due out June 28^th on Old Flame Records.

In the meantime head over to their Bandcamp to listen to their previous releases.

Lucinda Black Bear @ Union Hall 4/9/11

Last Saturday, Lucinda Black Bear returned home to Brooklyn for a special show before they headed off on the European leg of their tour.

Less folksy and morose than the last time I heard them live, their sound has become more raw and now seems to be fueled by a dark southern gothic twang that I had not noticed before. Perhaps it was the venue – the dimly lit musky basement of Union Hall with its ancient decor – but Lucinda Black Bear’s sound had achieved a new resonance that pierced one’s soul.

Their set began with a misleadingly quiet opening that suddenly exploded with a psychedelic flurry of distortion. Just as suddenly as the crescendo had come, it was replaced with a quiet haunting melody.

This closely orchestrated ebb and flow in energy, sound, and style repeated itself throughout their set to highlight the emotional depth of the lyrics. Like a mournful specter seeking a new companion, lead singer Christian Gibbs would coo fatal lyrics like “take my poison/ here I am” and “all she wanted to be was strangled by starlight.”

To borrow my friend’s apt description, Gibbs sounded like a cross between Willie Nelson and a ghost from the Civil War. This ghostly ambiance was created in large part by the melancholy violin and cello of Gillian Rivers and Chad Hammer respectively.

It was both more haunting and frightful with its Southern Gothic vibe, while also more energetic than ever before, at times resembling a western prairie band at a mid-nineteenth century revival replete with the same twang and folksiness.

Overall a fantastic show that revealed a new aspect of their sound that I had not previously picked up on.

Listen to “Knives” below, but most importantly check out “Medicine Bag,” which is from a few years ago, but captures the energy of the 4/9 show nicely.

Lucinda Black Bear: Knives by Gracie Management

Lucinda Black Bear @ 92Y Tribeca 11/5 Concert Review

Last Friday I was fortunate enough to be invited to Lucinda Black Bear’s record release party for their second album “Knives” at 92Y Tribeca. After a long trudge through the deserted yet posh streets of Tribeca, I found myself in one of the strangest venues I’ve ever been to.

Situated deep in the bowels of a minimalist concrete and glass building that housed a sleek art exhibit, café, and bar, the stage was cold and alienating as it was set in a cavernous room with bare concrete floors and Spartan bleach white walls.

Lacking warmth and infinite in its solitude, the barren hall seemed to be a fitting backdrop to Christian Gibb’s mournful vocals. The seated café style arrangement before the stage lent a hushed air of introspective thought and quiet contemplation to the sorrowful lyrics.

Despite the stultifying venue, the band found a way to connect with the audience with a dazzling display of carefully honed musicianship. Playing a mix of songs from their first album as well as their latest release, these Indie folk rockers masterfully shifted between various styles in the span of a single beat. Transitioning smoothly between soft spoken folk, to twangy blues, and even anthemic rock, LBB showcased their ability to manipulate emotions and shift moods like a bi-polar woman on her period.

Perhaps, nowhere else was this more apparent than on “Suffocation Blues.” Fantastic melancholy blues would give way to foot stomping crescendos before immediately quieting down to a sullen blues once more.

This ability to create these seismic shifts emotionally is testament to the band’s skill in building intricately textured soundscapes with gorgeous string arrangements by Chad Hammer and Gillian Rivers (who has also contributed her talents to MGMT and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Together, they not only arranged the strings, but meticulously positioned the strings on each track during the mixing and mastering of the album.

Needless to say, the band played a fantastic set, ending it with a series of epic dizzying head banging solos and energized cymbal crashes. For their encore, they played an amazing cover of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” from their previous album, adding a quiet twang and poetic dimension to the song.

For such a stellar performance, the seated audience at café tables made the show feel austere and removed. Frustratingly, polite applause and silent nods of approval dominated the evening instead of the thundering cheers and enthusiastic nods (seeing as no one dances at Indie shows anymore) that the band deserved.

In sum, Lucinda Black Bear’s carefully constructed songs are even more impressive live as one is able to see the infinite care in which they create their lush and deeply layered music. Carefully orchestrated, beautifully conducted, and thought-provokingly sincere, these Brooklyn indie-folk rockers know exactly what they are doing. The only downside was the harsh seated venue, which the band bravely overcame through sheer force of talent.