The option was extremely clear to me but cloudy to some of my friends. It would have been interesting to check out Grizzly Bear with the LA Philharmonic but the line up of In Waves, A Place to Bury Strangers and Holy F*ck was too amazing to pass up. It was a similar line up to the Viper Room show that I caught in December of 2007 .
In Waves
In Waves were scheduled to perform a Tuesday residency at the Silverlake lounge in February but it was scraped at the last moment. When In Waves introduced their new drummer, I quickly understood why the dates were scraped. I was very impressed with In Waves when I caught them at the Viper Room and was looking forward to catching them again. In Waves are currently recording their full length album with the help of some of the guys from Foreign Born. Tim Gregorio (Bass) was all over the stage carving out the low end with his propulsive bass lines as Jimmy Notorleva (Guitars) was using his Schecter Hollowbody guitar for some watery reverb guitars. Their new drummer was very proficient and played well within the realm of their sound. I still anxiously await their first full length release judging by how quickly I remembered the melodies of some of the songs that they played.
A Place To Bury Strangers
Some people don’t get A Place to Bury Strangers(APTBS) and I can’t imagine why. Oliver Ackermann (Guitars/Vocals) is a sonic genius creating dense sheets of noise that envelope the listener. Their live show is a bombardment of the auditory and visual senses that proves that you can’t overload on a good thing. "Gimme Acid" was the first onslaught of the senses with its consistent heartbeat of Jay Space's drum line that is fueled by the epinephrine of Oliver's guitars and Jono MOFO's (Bass) nitro injected bass lines. APTBS attempted "To Fix The Gash In Your Head" from the prior song but only did more sonic damage with Oliver stepping on his custom Death By Audio creation lovingly called "Armageddon". The smoke machines were in full effect and the light in Spaceland was non existent as their momentum started to build. If you read the credits on their album, you will see Tim from In Waves helped out on a few tracks. Tim would later jump onstage and sing "My Weakness" which is one of the top tracks from their self titled album. APTBS set reached an apex as they kicked on the strobe lights for "Ocean" as your senses reached critical overload and Oliver ripped the strings from his Fender Jaguar for some face melting feedback. My ears are still ringing and I had earplugs.
Holy F*ck
After the face melting of A Place To Bury Strangers, my mind melted from the sonic magic of Holy F*ck. Holy F*ck blew me away when they played the Belly Up in January. The exuberance on their faces is as catchy as their experimental electronica. Their show at Spaceland marked the return of their original drummer and a crazier set as a result. The return of their drummer actually emphasized how important the components of drums and bass are to Holy F*ck. Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh basically improvise their sonic stew around the drums and bass. "The Pulse" got the Spaceland crowd worked up in a fine lather with it percolating synths and fast driving bass line. "Milkshake" is a bass rumble jam and includes echo filled vocal yelps from Brian as he used a metal knife on his small lap guitar for some bizarre metallic tones. "Royal Gregory" had audience members as far back as the Spaceland bar dancing in place as the electronic madness continued to spiral out of control. I did manage to spot a Moogerfooger analog delay on Graham's work bench and Brian had a Digitech Whammy pedal. I was determined to see their show in San Diego as I was sure it would be a different mind melting experience.
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