KYLESA
STINKING LIZAVETA
------------
Happy June, assholes! I had a slow weekend, which is nice for a change, especially considering the toxic disaster that this coming week and weekend is going to inevitably morph into. I'll have friends in town during the week for several shows, then a road trip with still yet more friends for another show and massive afterparty during the weekend. Pray for me.*
So, Kylesa. I'm liking the shit out of their newest album, Static Tensions, which contains several great tunes (most notably early song-of-the-year contender "Unknown Awareness"). I'm a huge, gay sucker for awesome stoner sludge with psych flourishes, and face it, you should be too. I'd missed Kylesa last time they were in town (I think they played the Charleston) so no time like the present etc.
Rolled up on Cake Shop a little after 8:30 and after going inside and paying for admission ($10, not too shab) was told that the show's start was going to be pushed back a bit. Fine. As such, I spent the next half hour or so nursing $3 PBRs at Iggys down the block. When I got back to Cake Shop, I could hear the opening band, Brooklyn's own Unearthly Trance, wailing away. Again, I missed a lot of their set, but from what I could tell they seemed to be a pretty decent doom outfit, and I enjoyed what I heard.
Next act was a one-man project called Darsombra, which consisted of a dude on 8-string bass, Les Paul and occasional vocals, looping his sounds and manipulating a ton of effects pedals. Good shit, although I should say that this was a bit more riff-heavy than some of the more unstructured stuff that's out there. Maybe like a heavier Grails? Some of it kinda sounded like stuff from last year's Pyramids record (which I liked) if that helps.
By now I was several beers into the evening and I figured "what the hey, time to get high." So I whipped out my one-hitter and walked around the block (Ludlow/Rivington/Essex/Stanton/back to Ludlow). As per usual in this area, the cop presence was massive, which kept me from toking recklessly, and with my oneie being freshly cleaned earlier in the morning, the hits were not terribly pleasant unless you consider mouthfuls of flaming weed pieces "pleasant." Whatevs. This brief interlude paid its real dividends when, after returning from around the block, I saw some drunk jackass walk full-speed straight into a closed glass door and bounce off like a sparrow flying into your window, which was hilarious.
By the time I got back inside Cake Shop, I was feeling pretty fucking good, the cheap beer and expensive weed combining to create the ideal glowing/borderline meditative/"all is momentarily well in the world" mindset. Ahhhhhhhh. Anyway, the evening's third band, Stinking Lizaveta, a 3-piece with guitar, electric stand-up bass (!!) and drums, ripped into their set with road-tested fury. Apparently these guys have been around for a decade-and-a-half... well, I wish I'd heard of them at some time during said decade-and-a-half, because they are, as it turns out, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING AMAZING. Here's a description of them from the New Yorker event listings (by way of the band's MySpace page): "heavy instrumental rock that meshes complicated and precise prog-rock passages, gloomy riffs in the Black Sabbath vein, and occasional free-jazz blowouts." If there's ever been a more promising band description anywhere, I'd like to see it. At this point the room was gradually getting more and more packed, and, as such, within minutes everyone -- band and audience alike -- was dripping wet. This didn't keep the guitarist from gallivanting about the stage, ripping off insane solos while hopping onto (and off of) his amps and other equipment. The set included a positively ripping cover of Band of Gypsys' "Power of Soul" which was exactly what the doctor ordered-- man these guys rock. I eagerly await the delivery of their new album, which I ordered minutes after getting home from the show.
It just so happened that I sweated so much during Stinking Lizaveta's set that I didn't have to piss before Kylesa started setting their shit up, which was good because by this point the room was totally packed (definitely the most folks I've ever seen at a Cake Shop show) and people were jostling for position up front. Kylesa seemed to be having trouble with some of their gear (notably an amp and a mic) so it was a while before any music was played. Once they started, though... *whistling noise* man did shit get rowdy. Yes, I go to see a lot of metal shows but usually people just kind of mind their own business, at the very most just kinda thrashing solo -- that's the NYC way. But the evening's delays, combined with the fact that people were by and large fucking hammered, combined with the stinky sweatbox Cake Shop's basement had become, combined with the fact that people seem to legitimately love Kylesa, added up to some furious mosh-pitting up front. Interestingly, the most flagrant of said thrashers were not necessarily your typical metal-show fare, encompassing yuppies, hippies and random hot chicks in addition to the usual assortment of chinbearded n'er do-wells, tiny Napoleonic meatheads and fat bearded stoners like myself. Kylesa's two-drummer setup is really showcased in the live setting, as the beats have a primal, tribal element not perfected by many bands not named Sepultura. But yeah, sick set, and a pretty great show all around.
*NOTE: do not pray for me.
------
Expecting a "special delivery." The timeliness of said delivery will have an effect on whether or not I get out tonight. Muddd outward and such.
Comments