Burial at Sea: Strangers Kill with “Ocean”

Listening to A Place to Bury Strangers live is less of an aural experience and more of an existential one.  This I already knew, but was reminded when I set foot in The Parish on April 8 in Austin.

The experience began in darkness with the theme from Twin Peaks playing tranquilly above what was soon to become a room filled with mayhem:  the calm before the storm.  The beauty of APTBS is their ability to do this, to create a swelling tension before the fury and beauty of their music is unleashed on the listener in layers of distortion that might drift away into the atmosphere if not weighted down by a heavy rhythm section.

Figures moving in the dark onstage.  Oliver.  JSpace.  Dion. 

Having fallen in love with APTBS during Jono’s bass reign, I was apprehensive about Dion’s ability.  Would he try to add his own flair?  Would he remain true to the original bass lines and save his creativity for new material?  As the band erupted into “Keep Slipping Away,” my affirmations of Dion’s integrity were evident in uncontrollable head nods kept in time to the rhythm section. 

The room was alive.  The room was an undulating sea of bobbing heads and raised hands.  The room was studded with brilliant camera flashes mimicking onstage strobes.  I momentarily watched the performance through someone’s digital camera screen raised before me and felt a concussive dizziness at the strange out-of-body experience:  Oliver wrangling his heavily modified Jaguar; Dion’s wide-legged stance, hunkered over his bass; JSpace battering weary skins.  All the while, a cocoon of sound enveloped me as I witnessed the affair through an artificial lens.  I could’ve vomitted pure elation and choked on the ecstasy of it.

When “Deadbeat” played, I roamed the venue frantically.  I had to get a drink.  I had to watch and hear from every inch of The Parish.  I had to escape the destruction of sound that I knew was imminent.  The frenetic energy of the song was too much for me live:  aggressive and unrelenting with Oliver’s vocals nestled insouciantly amidst the havoc.

What… what the fuck?

More camera flashes, more undulating sea.  More apprehensive me.

I never wear ear plugs.  How could I?  How could I deny the struggle of the outer ear frantically funneling psychedelia to the drum?  There was too much sound for the drum to absorb, anyway, I’m convinced, and most of it probably escaped into the smoke that drifted toward the ceiling and swished there lazily like a cat’s tail.  Besides, everyone in the audience that night shared the same pain.  We heard as much as we could hear in every passing second and let the rest depart on invisible waves of no-tone, and those wearing plugs missed the subtleties of each boutique pedal and the entire sonic spectrum APTBS laid out before us.

Oh, it’s “Ego Death.”  The pulsing kick drum echoed in my chest and gave the effect of a heart murmur.  Throughout the song, the Jaguar ascended into wild crescendo that ended in fuzz, that ended finally in a unified climax of noise before Dion kicked off “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.”  “Now they’ve done it!” I thought.  “Now they’ve painted themselves into a corner!”  The coup de grace on “Exploding Head” - the perfect end to a perfect album – has to be the final song of their set.  How can they top it?  The trio didn’t pull any punches with the song, harvesting all the energy of the album version and showcasing it perfectly onstage.  They destroyed the end as usual, building up to the sonic devastation that marks the last 2 minutes of the song, and I wondered what could possibly be next as JSpace and Dion kept playing, Oliver appearing to change a guitar string.  I sensed what was coming, but couldn’t quite believe it.

You have to admire a band that can take a song such as “I Lived My Life…” and follow it up with something even more amazing, even more inspiring, and that’s exactly what Strangers did that night.  Their ability to continually outdo themselves in live performances suggests the grounding for their immense popularity.  If Exploding Head is a must-have album, then a Strangers performance is a must-see event that tops any video, any downloadable track, any B-side, any remix. 

Oliver was almost done with his string and I was just waiting for JSpace to confirm my suspicions.  Yes, it was “Ocean.”  J began the distinct drum line for the monumental song while Oliver strummed his Jag into a frenzy.  I closed my eyes, standing in an ocean of music lovers and an ocean of a song.  Halfway through, Oliver takes a marked pause to contemplate what he’s about to do:  reveal his passion as a musician and lover of distortion.  Sharp feedback, then Oliver wildly strumming the strings of a guitar that he sometimes yanked viciously toward the sky, and other times brought low to the ground, cowering over it like a predator.  And then, in the middle of it all, he jumped offstage, jumped right off the front of it, and disappeared into the ocean of onlookers who were left to balk at Dion’s and JSpace’s now-solo performance.  I turned to watch Oliver dissolve into the dark, into the smoke, into the crowd. 

In his absence, the rhythm remained strong.  Though one of the highlights of Strangers’ music is Oliver’s wild guitar, J and Dion showcased the underlying beauty of it all with a staunch reverance to catchy, danceable hooks.  Finally, Oliver returned and climbed the stage.  Without strapping on the guitar, he finished the onslaught he started, gesticulating and thrashing while his six-stringed assault weapon screamed above the sea of viewers.

And as quickly as it started, it came to an abrupt end.  There was one final upheaval of noise, swelling to an immense apex before the sound died suddenly, lights out, darkened figures moving offstage. 

The experience ended in darkness.

Austin Psych Fest 3 Lineup Announced

The lineup for Austin Psych Fest’s third installment is now available on their website as well as 3-day passes for the event (a very affordable $45).  Passes are available for will call only, so Austin Psych Fest encourages all out-of-town attendees to include their name exactly as it appears on their ID when purchasing online.

The event, which takes place April 23-25, will be held at The Mohawk (912 E. Red River) in Austin, TX.

CURRENT LINEUP:

The Raveonettes
The Black Angels
Pink Mountaintops
YaHoWa 13
Spindrift
Warpaint
Indian Jewelry
The Vandelles
The Meek
Headdress
Ringo Deathstarr
Christian Bland and the Revelators
Daughters of the Sun
Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor
The Night Beats

Austin Psych Fest Set to Open Your Mind

Austin boasts yet another music event this spring, this time honoring mind-expanding psychedelia.

The 3rd installation of the Austin Psych Fest will run from April 23 – 25 at one of Austin’s more prominent venues, the Mohawk.  While this year’s lineup still remains a mystery, previous concerts have featured A Place to Bury Strangers, The Vandelles, and Ringo Deathstarr.

The multimedia festival was founded in 2008 and honors the legacy of Austin’s psychedelic musical background.  Each year, the festival highlights “the best of vintage, modern, established, and up-and-coming acts that push the envelope in mind-expanding music.”

And this year will be no exception.  Be sure to check back for updates regarding the official lineup for Austin Psych Fest 3.