by Joel Hughes
The night began with //Tense//, a one-man-band offering funky, thoroughly danceable Industrial beats. //Tense// projected “Night of the Living Dead” behind him on a fake-blood-splattered canvas. This multimedia approach saved //Tense// from that scourge of one-man-bands–”being dull to watch.” The audience could alternately enjoy the morbid eye candy or //Tense//’s hypnotizing footwork–an amalgamation of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk and the Robert Smith Shuffle. In his most memorable song, “Work,” //Tense// chanted the song title over and over, occasionally bashing his microphone onto a nearby card table for good measure, while soulless drum machines and detached reverb echoed through the space.
The Guitars, a cluster-fuck of genre-fusion, performed second. This band’s tentacles spread way beyond the typical rock n’ roll mold that some may try to fit them in.
Fertile Crescent, from Cape Cod Massachusetts, is made up of the duet, Eben Portnoy and Sara Magenheimer. Harmonizing and switching vocals, these cats would play slow and melodic neo-folk, then suddenly trail off into hallucinogenic guitar solos, then return to the quaint, spirited sound I expected from their warm demeanor.
San Serac was phenomenal, and although the show was poorly attended (Deerhunter must have had a larger draw), those who made it were pleased. The audience danced and sang along with him to “Friends” and “Music Never Ends.” Some songs like “Farlight” were more vocal-oriented, while others were more dance-y or highlighted Serac’s synth skills.
Wilderness closed the night with James Johnson’s gripping vocals that seemed to emanate from someplace subhuman. His haunting voice clamored above the distilled drone of the guitar and punches of bass.
http://www.myspace.com/tensexxx
http://www.myspace.com/guitarszzzzz
http://www.myspace.com/fertcres
www.myspace.com/sanserac
myspace.com/hesaidshesaidpresents
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