With eight bands ranging from goth rock, to noise, to hardcore, Sacred Bones and Stereogum carved a distinctly dark niche for themselves with their showcase at this year’s Northside Festival in Brooklyn. Held at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, I went over a half hour before doors to see a massive line stretching down the block. Despite their best efforts, very few people were able to get tickets at the door, though many stuck around in vain hoping some tickets would free up. Sacred Bones/Stereogum couldn’t have found a more fitting venue for this show. Public Assembly is a dark, industrial, brick and steel venue, with two huge rooms. As I would later find out, bands would be setting up simultaneously, leading to a ridiculous crush of people shifting from room to room after each set so as not to miss anything. Hot, grimy, crowded, and noisy the crowd gathered in the main room where a DJ was playing a crushing mix of metal and punk.
After a short wait, the first band took the stage. Not hyped up in the least, and with very little information about them on the net, Anasazi were a mystery to most there. They played a solid set of goth punk, with occasional metal flourishes. Double bass kicks, black metal vocals, and reverbed out guitar punctuated their set, providing a nice mix up from the average goth punk sound. With a few stumbles here and there, the band powered through their set taking the occasional misstep in stride, and they brought a heavy energy to open up what was going to be a long night. Also, have to give them bonus points for their mardi gras cow skull, though the singer didn’t seem to sure what to do with it.
Next up was New York’s Pop. 1280. With unhinged postpunk energy and eerie The Fall style vocals, Pop. 1280 seemed prone to throw a great show. Unfortunately, numerous technical difficulties, including a lengthy pause to find the guitarist a new guitar, lead to a very frustrating stop and go situation throughout their entire set. They wouldn’t be the only band to have some technical problems on the second stage however. Overall, Pop. 1280 were able to roll through what seemed a tough show for them, would love to see these guys again when all is working well.
Lost Tribe were another band I knew little about. Walking into the main room I was greeted with a massive bank of smoke from the fog machine and lights flashing rhythmically, obscuring the band. I was absolutely blown away by these guys. With a sound reminiscent of late 80’s death rock/peace punk, there was a distinctly brooding quality to their music, enhanced by their heavy synthesizer leads. Their singer was particularly impressive, a sinewy silhouette obscured by the fog, he howled the lyrics while spastically throwing himself around stage. These guys had a presence I haven’t seen in some time, and left the stage having won over many a new fan.
Over in the back room, Yellow Tear’s were setting up. Yellow Tears are a staple of the NY noise scene. They’re provocative, violent, and utterly alien showmen. Their set up was immensely complex, with video monitors, contact mic’ed bowls and troughs, and numerous other pieces of gear wired up. Their set up took unusually long due to some sound issues, but the crowd stuck around. Now to cut to the chase, Yellow Tears play their own urine. Yes, they contact mic bowls that they urinate in throughout the show, and manipulate it in various ways, including shoving their own faces into them and singing under water. With eerie yellow lighting, watersports porn playing on their video monitors, and the band members themselves acting as though they were possessed, Yellow Tears did a great job enthralling an entire crowd who I am quite sure were not totally ready for this. Harsh at points, dipping into ambient and field recordings at others, Yellow Tears were able to coax some captivating noise out of their gear. One thing I found particularly funny about their set was that Public Assembly had lifted their 21+ ban for the show tonight, wonder how many teens were expecting to see this?
Back in the main room, The Men were taking the stage. Barely able to get into there, I was excited to see what kind of material they’d be playing. The Men have been one of the most interesting figures in hardcore, and seem to have slowly transitioned to something totally different. While I was hoping for a mix of older and newer material, they instead played nearly all new songs. While I have to admit I was a little disappointed in their turn away from traditional hardcore, The Men have come into their own as one of America’s best postpunk bands on their Sacred Bones debut LP, Leave Home. Playing in front of a psychedelic projection, their hypnotic riffing blended with reverbed out vocals was powerful stuff.
Cult of Youth are a favorite of mine, and after having seen them at Chaos in Tejas, I was curious what their show would be like in NYC. With a setlist heavy on the new LP, Sean Ragon howled and screeched his positivist rants like a madman. This mixture of punk energy with neofolk instrumentation and lyrics is captivating, it’s like watching a Satanic Pogues. Hammering through a quick set, Ragon absolutely shredded his guitar. Cathartic and exhausted, Cult of Youth once again brought it.
Now it was time for the band of the evening, Ice Age. Making their US debut, the young Copenhagen outfit had a lot to prove tonight, and without a doubt they did. Their sound was tremendous, a spacious and chaotic mix of hardcore and postpunk. The singer made very little small talk, barking out the titles of songs then hammering through them. Utter youthful rage. It was incredible to hear such a distinct sound coming from such a young band. While Public Assembly’s rules don’t allow for any sort of moshing or hardcore dancing, you could still tell the audience was captivated by their energy. An amazing debut from one of the best new band’s, period.
Though many left after Ice Age, I was eagerly awaiting the first New York area show for Prurient in two years. The project of Hospital Productions owner Dominick Fernow, Prurient is one of the most prolific power electronics projects in the world. With copies of his new album Bermuda Drain available on cassette, this show was also doubling as a record release. Having heard the oddly dancey track “A Meal Can Be Made” on stereogum earlier than day, I was curious what kind of set we’d see. Taking the stage with fellow Cold Cave member Wes Eisold, Prurient launched a harsh audio assault on the audience. Incredibly loud, with hateful screaming by Fernow, he plowed through a devastating set, playing many tracks off his new album, as well as older pieces, including tracks from Cocaine Death. Like a man possessed he screamed into two microphones, trashed his gear, and generally did all he could to make the audience feel the rage that seems to seethe inside him. A devastating set by a noise legend.
From disparate genres Sacred Bones have created a powerful, mysterious aesthetic. With such a tremendous energy flowing through the sold out crowd, it was easy to see why Sacred Bones are leading the vanguard of this dark new era in American music.
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