What a great fuckin' show, quite possibly only rivaled thus far in '08 amongst other metal concerts by the early May triple bill of Pelican/Priestbird/The Austerity Program. You may notice that The Austerity Program performed at both of these great shows, and it's certainly no coincidence.
I've been meaning to write something about The Austerity Program for nearly two full months, ever since the Pelican/Priestbird show. It's pretty rare that a band I've never even heard of before (odd, considering that they're on Hydra Head) totally blows me away with their live show. Honestly, I have to go back about a year ago to the first time I saw Hull where my "who?"s turned to "awesome"s so quickly. These guys manage to mix Helmet's brutality with Wetton-era Crimson's devotion to precision, while giving off a sweaty, workmanlike Dischord-ish vibe. And as a two-piece, accompanied by a drum machine programmed to near-Meshugga levels of insane complexity, the intensity really shines through. Basically, if you've always liked Shellac but thought to yourself "hot damn, I wish these guys were way heavier," then these guys will be right up your alley. I didn't hear their '07 release, Black Madonna, until recently so it didn't make my 2007 Best-of Albums List but if I were to rewrite that sumbitch today Black Madonna would be top 10 easily.
But yeah, since the Pelican show I've gone out of my way to make sure to catch any and all live sets by these guys. Saw 'em at the After the Jump festival a couple weekends ago, then at Union Pool a couple of days later, and then finally again at this show. And after a fairly quick indoctrination into all things Austerity Program, I can wholeheartedly announce that along with Cheeseburger, Goes Cube, Hull, and a few others, The Austerity Program can definitely stake a serious claim to being the very best live band in New York.
On this night, when they took the stage there were less than 30 people in the room (not counting the drum machine), but gradually the room began to fill up, undoubtedly as those sitting in the basement bar were intrigued by the bludgeoning cacophony they were missing upstairs. After blasting through a breaking-walnuts-with-yer-asscheeks-tight version of their "Song 20" (newly released on 7") and going into "Song 12," they blew a fuse and had to make up the time with amusing banter ("blame the drummer!" shouted one crowdmember) before shooting right back into the set. If I remember correctly we also got "Song 18" and "Song 19" and "Song 17A". The crowd definitely dug the set which was a nice contrast to the sparsely attended After the Jump set (which was in the same room). Hopefully in the coming months these guys will be able to find time in spite of their day jobs to perform more local shows. Uh, and work on their movie.
I didn't know much about the following band, Daughters, and their set was nothing if not eye-opening. Musically, they reminded me of stuff like An Albatross or Ex-Models, but their performance style was like a more demented Pissed Jeans, bordering on performance art. Lots of spitting and drooling, with the vocalist eventually stripping down to his briefs and directing his drool/spit towards band members, oddly appreciative crowd members, and his own genitals. And the singer took time to scold crowd members for doing the "twirling arms and legs menacingly" mosh pit dance. (Remember "Kicky Guy?" Not bloody likely, but it was amusing to hear his ideological brethren called out for being a bunch of faggy douchefucks.)
Up next was Russian Circles, a band whose praises have been sung 'round these parts for quite some time. Their debut, Enter, made the top 5 of my Best Albums of '06 list and their set in February with Dalek at Mercury Lounge was part of one of the ten best shows I've seen thus far in '08. Again, they did not disappoint, playing a similar set to that which I'd seen in February: a bunch of jams off their fine new one, Station, as well as "Carpe" and "Death Rides a Horse" from Enter. As far as I'm concerned, as far as post-metal/post-rock hybrids, the only band that compares to Russian Circles is the mighty Pelican. Sadly, the crowd was dotted with total dickheads, most notably the guy who eventually got thrown on his ass and presumably bootstomped by staff. I've been critical of the overzealousness of MHOW's security in the past, but this guy deserved it, as evidenced by the ovation given by members of the crowd upon his (forced) exit.
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I'm going to try to squeeze in a couple more shows before heading to DC for the 4th... Death Vessel tomorrow night at Knitting Factory and Oxford Collapse at Southpaw on Wednesday. If I had any balls I would have gotten off my fat ass and seen Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's set at Southpaw tonight, but alas that bird has flown. Tuddd out.
