I was in Detroit to see the Jesus Lizard, which requires its own post entirely, and these guys were the opener. I always try to make it to shows early to catch openers, because there's a very good chance the openers were hand picked by the band you're going to see for a very good reason. It was a little tricky living in Cleveland, but I wiggled out of the office a few hours earlier than I had scheduled to make it happen. Now I don't have much information on how "big" shows go, shows that are played in huge sports arenas. I'd imagine those openers are picked for financial reasons only. For the shows I go to, most of the time it's friends of the headliner, a favorite band of theirs, or both! Some of my favorite bands to this day have been discovered from showing up early.
I wasn't sure what I was in for with these guys. My imagination goes wild when I see a band's gear, but the instruments I was looking at were about to be used in ways I had never seen done live before. There was this bizarre, cartoon-like confidence and bounce to the singer and guitarist the entire time that was highly intoxicating. The drummer was a mix of David King meets Throbbing Gristle. I don't really know what that means, but it was amazing. It was obvious to the average set of ears that he was fantastic, but it was so much more than that. He was splicing up beats and spitting on the synth lines while making love to them at the same time. The synths were felt for miles and held it all together, while staying true to the free form type feel of the entire band.
After the show, I took a big bite out of their studio albums and I'm always hungry for more. It's everything I love about music in general. For me at least, I always want some type of sound or arrangement I've never heard, but it has to be good to revisit it multiple times.
Their newest release, Dead Rider Trio featuring Mr. Paul Williams, is the trio teaming up with Mr. Paul Williams. I personally find the name a bit confusing but I think it means it's the trio with another dude featured in it. They trek forward with a bit more aggressive and free-form vibe. The band sounds so incredibly tight and well rehearsed for every second of this album. It's mind blowing how at one point the songs sound drunk, and like they're falling apart, and then they smack you in the face with their full band sound.
Anyways, those are words about sounds I heard that you now saw. I know you're super busy scrolling through instagram and eating pizza rolls, but turn that garbage off and listen to this band! And go see them when they come back to Cleveland, which hopefully is very soon! Goodbye.
- Novak