A Place To bury Strangers at Sonic Cathedral, May 12th 2008

I was mulling over actually posting a review of the gig as I wasn't really affected by the event, but then again it is a record and even the smallest things can contribute to the collective whole.

The Social is a smallish bar/club type place, a little cramped I must say, and for me, possibly not the best place to see a band. The first band was called something like 'The P Party', and although my initial thoughts of the garage rock duo were favourable, I slowly realised that they I had been daydreaming about something else for half the set, and I was actually bored by them. Bordering on the fuzzy, hazy rock of Mazzy Star and co., the duo's vocals were strangely high pitched and at odds with the music. So yeah, pretty forgettable. After an awfully long wait, The Tambourines managed to lever themselves on stage and begin getting to grips with their instruments. Reminiscent of Brian Jonestown Massacre, they were slick and professional, very welcome after the disappointing opener. They had a few technical difficulties which hampered the set, culminating in the singer/guitarist throwing his instrument down and giving it a good kick- rock and/or roll.

Another long wait which pissed me off. Really, what the hell is taking so long? These are relatively small bands, this is a small gig, it's not U2 at the Colosseum. On came the three men from New York and on came the blasts of deafening noise. I'd heard rumour they were "the loudest band in New York". Well, they were loud but they weren't THAT loud. Their self titled debut has been played a lot recently by this blogger so I was hopeful of a good show. And it was pretty decent. Their energy on stage was great, especially the singer/guitarist, shredding his arms off. The rhythm section was pretty tight to compliment the walls of noise and members of the crowd were bobbing their heads approvingly. The only downside really was the loss of the melodies in the songs. I've seen Asobi Seksu twice now and both times came away a tad unsatisfied. On record, they have the sweetest, poppiest songs imaginable but live they were virtually drowned out by the great swarthes of noise. I guess it depends on what you want out of a gig when you go and see a shoegaze/drone/noise band, but for me I want there to be a balance. APTBS weren't quite this bad at getting this balance right, but a few times the vocals and changes in the songs were lost. GET IT RIGHT.