Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Psychedelic band to jam at Lounge

By on April 14, 2008

Kicked out of a New York City concert in October for being too loud, the psychedelic rock band A Place to Bury Strangers not only will blast its fuzzed-out, wall-of-sound music at The Caledonia Lounge tonight, but will also use a pulsating screen of images, swirling strobe lighting and effects designed by front man Oliver Ackermann.

CONCERT

A Place to Bury Strangers, Twin Tigers, All the Saints, Everybody Everybody
When:
10 tonight
Where: Caledonia Lounge
Price: $7 at Wuxtry and Ticket Alternative (until 4 p.m.), $8/$9 (under 21) at door.

And if you head to Clayton Street to see the Brooklyn-based band, don’t forget earplugs.

Gordon Lamb, a Flagpole Magazine columnist and music blogger at 24hourpartypooper.com, promoted the concert through Buddies Helping Buddies. He said it’s impossible to play as hard as this band does and not damage your hearing.

“Volume that loud can be felt in the body,” he said.

Jeremy Frye, who promoted and attended the band’s concert at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta in March, described the band on his music blog as “evoking the psychocandy-era Jesus and Mary Chain.”

Editors of Tunecore, an Internet music-delivery and distribution service, named its “Killer Pimp” release the “Best Rock Album 2007,” and a Pitchforkmedia.com review rated it at 8.4 out of 10 points.

A Place to Bury Strangers is exactly the kind of band Lamb and Buddies Helping Buddies hope to attract to Athens.

Lamb said he remembered when bands always used to stop in Athens. Now, this town attracts out-of-town rock bands less and less, with many hitting Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala. and other cities instead, he said.

“Mike Turner (of local Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records) and I joined together to promote bands and to bring bands that wouldn’t normally come to Athens,” Lamb said, clarifying that the name isn’t a record label or a charity. “[Buddies Helping Buddies] gives us an umbrella to work under.”

Both Lamb and Turner have been promoting bands and shows for years, and have put on five or six shows under Buddies Helping Buddies. Currently, they are working on Athens Pop Fest, which will be held in August.

Since A Place to Bury Strangers’ tour began in August, Ackermann said he has not grown tired of the wall-shaking sound or the different people he has come into contact with.

But he has gone through a few new occurrences, such as the two or three times the police pulled over the band’s RV in Arkansas to check for drugs with sniffing dogs (he said everything was OK).

In Brooklyn, Ackermann runs his own warehouse for recording, sculpture makers and hosting events. He also designs and builds his own effects pedals. Sold through the company Death by Audio, they have names such as “total sonic annihilation,” “fuzz war” and “interstellar over-driver.”

As far as writing music goes, Ackermann said the jumping off point can come from anywhere, and everyone can relate to either his melodies or his words.

“You take whatever inspiration you can get and go with it, whether it’s being madly in love, getting pissed off at traffic, attending an amazing art exhibit or swimming in a lake.”