Viva L' American Death Ray Music, the Memphis based power trio whose members include such luminaries as the Nicholas Diablo Ray and Harlan T. Bobo are playing a couple of shows over the weekend, one in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with Static Static this Sunday, then Friday night in New Orleans they are supporting Simeon Coxe, better known as simply Simeon from the late 60s electro-psychedelic outfit, Silver Apples. Over the past couple of years Diablo (aka, Nick Ray) and co. have been laying pretty low not releasing anything since In The Meantime LP on the New York Night Train label in 2006. Their lull in output may be attributed to bassist Harlan T. Bobo's recent success with his solo venture as his brilliantly fuzzy-hearted and introspective heartbreak fills the well yearned for cool singer/songrwriter void with such ingenious and touching songs. Up against the soft crooning of Bobo's, who doesn't sing in Death Ray, Diablo's edgier style seems to mash the heroin-era Stones into post-punk guitar vectors that are as droning and artfully sleazy as they come.
The headliner, Simeon was one half of the late-60s East Village psychedelic outfit, Silver Apples. As far as some of their geographical cronies, Silver Apples couldn't be further from other New York bands on the burlap bandwagon of that time like The Fugs and the Godz, incorporating synthesizers and vintage audio oscillators that ultimately gave them a sound so far ahead of their time that, it took most of the world until the 90s to catch up when they had a brief revival. All kinds of bands from Suicide to Spaceman 3 probably would not have existed if Silver Apples didn't lay the circuitry of context for them to perform.
