Every once in a while a show pops up with a line up so boisterous, heaving with such perfect acts that fit together so well, that no amount of star alignment, let alone tenacious planning and all the other hoopla that goes into making a showcase of this caliber, could actually happen. It seems almost just too good to be true. You might even expect to show up only to find a "steam punk" band playing to an empty room, and a bunch of pranksters snickering behind a dumpster across the street at your naivety that such a wondrously perfect show could even take place in this soiled and stupid world. But it is happening in New York this Saturday at the Grasslands Gallery.
Now booked as the New York Night Train Terror Fest and BBQ and stretched into a twelve hour long sonic pummeling, the event gets underway just at 3 in the afternoon with the K-Holes, a one-off outfit featuring members of the Black Lips, Wet Dreams and Golden Triangle. Then, next up are Imaginary Icons who have been laying pretty low until recently when they released their latest effort as a 12" EP on Daggerman Records, and their performance Saturday will be their release party. Playing with post punk Wire rhythms that crawl along a drone and severed with a talky and android vocals effects a modern flavor that's irresistible.
The Brooklyn-based Crystal Stilts have a slot on the bill too. After recently signing to Slumberland records, it seems these guy's creepy and smothering fuzz drone isn't going away anytime soon. Thank your lucky toenail clippings too, because their eerie miscellany of everything from The Smiths to Jesus and Mary Chain, and of course the Velvets, comes up with a fresh and melancholic strum that will have you raking in the goth chicks like late October leaves.
Static Static, from LA , are in the middle of their US tour and are also performing tonight. Their set this past weekend in Chicago left the patrons of Cal's Bar panting over their futuristic, nihilistic, yet rustic take on barking robotic dance numbers. If you're lucky, they will still have the hand-screened tour edition of their yet-to-be-released debut full-length LP, and if they do, you better pick one up.
Black Time are here in the States touring as well, and coming all the way from London, this is the perfect opportunity catch their brutal and caustic beats before they abuse the shit out of Memphis next weekend at Goner Fest. Keep an eye out for Black Time's upcoming release of their Double Negative LP/CD on In The Red. But tonight's real treat won't have to travel too far to perform his set. The awesomely mysterious, cloaked genius of New York's Blank Dogs have certainly changed the landscape of modern underground music, playing the sort of funereal disco it takes to turn frowns into maddened grimaces, and hooking legions of fans into proudly wearing bed sheet capes.
The Intelligence, also touring the US, are headlining the showcase and have another LP in the works for In The Red, probably due out before 2009 rolls around. And after the unearthed tunes from their recent Plastic Idol 7", this pallid planet is ripe for a wiping with their untethered and matchless brilliance.
check out a video of Crystal Stilts performing in Chicago this summer, right here:
