Brooklyn decibel terrorists A Place to Bury Strangers have been creating a massive buzz with their economical bursts of noize-toon, neatly encapsulating influences of The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, Spacemen-3, Big Black, and Ride.
The group’s self-titled debut on Killer Pimp Records, full of robotic rhythms, ubiquitous distortion, feedback eruptions, and affectless singing, merits the comparisons, but never resorts to imitation of their predecessors. Instead, APTBS mean to join their idols’ ranks. An earth-shaking set at Chicago’s Schubas recently suggested that they are closer than any of their peers.
There is a certain amount of pretense inherent to a number of New York bands. In the case of APTBS, they incorporate strobe lights, smoke machines, and esoteric film clips into a dazzling Warholian display. It’s pretentious, but the multimedia artifice only adds to the excitement of their brutal, swirling assault.
At Schubas, APTBS played a number of songs from their album, including “To Fix the Gash in Your Head,” which utilized pulsing tremolo-tweaked bass for a sickly danceable groove. “I Know I’ll See You” was even more sinister than the album version, with a visceral, slinky, New Order-inspired guitar line and blasts of distortion from guitarist Oliver Ackermann. There’s not a song on the record that wasn’t improved in the live setting.
Amidst the sonic fury, it can be easy to miss how well these three musicians play off each other. Occasionally chaotic, this music is not easy to keep together. Bassist Jono MOFO and drummer Jay Space form a tight, grooving rhythm section, keeping Ackermann’s anarchic guitar maelstroms grounded on terra firma. Their timing is impeccable, and heard together, APTBS is an unstoppable force.
– Mike McGovern
A Place to Bury Strangers: www.aplacetoburystrangers.com
Killer Pimp Records: www.killerpimp.com