A Place To Bury Strangers

Armed with validation from all the right magazines as a buzz band worth their salt, A Place To Bury Strangers proved in a tight 60-minute set that they’re not in danger of losing their buzz anytime soon. Standing on a stage cloaked in darkness and smoke, the fiery Brooklyn trio threw themselves into their set without pausing once to talk. Aside from a seizure-inducing strobe light flicked on mid-set for half a song, their silhouettes were only illuminated by moving images on a screen behind drummer Jay Space. While Oliver Ackermann’s squalling and caterwauling guitar feedback left fans of white noise purring in approval, Jono Mofo’s thickly resonant bass and Space’s muscular percussion left them with something sturdy to lean on during perfectly controlled noise sprees. Crouching over a cluttered stage floor full of his handmade pedals and extension cords, Ackermann’s effects were predictably unreal. Occasionally, it sounded like dinosaurs plodding across the earth crossed with the productive clank of industrial machines and someone dropping the needle on the tenderest moments of a Cure record. The trio sealed the deal mid-set, after they pulled out a fuzzed-out Cramps-inspired rocker that had the dance floor hopping. Aside from a wee glitch with Mofo’s bass amp that they barrelled right through anyway, there weren’t any shortcomings to be had. Performing a smattering of fresh material, APTBS recreated a warm and multi-layered shambolic racket live with every indication that their sophomore album is going to be as deadly good as their first.