It's not a fest. It's just a show. It's just a show. - Oh My Rockness

Rockness Recommends

It's not a fest. It's just a show. It's just a show.

March 18, 2008
So last time we made a show by these party-people promoters (who go by FRICTION) the Recommended Show of the Week (which we thought was a nice thing to do, I guess) we made a silly little joke and called it the PSFPS Fest or something (can't remember what the letters stood for because it was, you know, just a joke) and we got a funny email about that joke from that essentially said "uh, just so you know, that party is actually called FRICTION, not PSPFPSPSFPS, just so you know." It was such a delightfully fun email.

So anyway, this awesome party at Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, March 26th, featuring Crystal Castles, Health, Team Robespierre and Apache Beat is by the FRICTION people, that's F-R-I-C-T-I-O-N. And remember kids: there's nothing funny about rock concerts.

Crystal Castles were one of the bands that were the talk of the just completed SXSW fest down in Austin. Toronto's thrash duo throw down some serious data-dance- rock jams. This furiously fun music is lo-fi, decidedly distorted, and entirely electrical. It all sounds like the soundtrack to most of those Atari 2600 games. Like many electro duos (Simian Mobile Disco, Digitalism, Justice etc.), these guys first got noticed via their remix work (they've torn down and done up songs for Bloc Party and their pals Klaxons), but have since taken off on their own. After all, if you really love a remixer, you set them free.

Another talk-of-SXSW band! The utterly explosive Health rips forth spazzy-noise-drone that deftly blurs the distinction between dream-like melody and nightmare-like chaos. This LA band busts out singing shrieks, pounding tribal drums (it sounds like there are 100 drummers in this band), and scrawled guitar riffs rife with feedback. And throughout their tracks, they stop and start in perfect syncopation. Put it all together, and it all just sounds so pretty. These four guys from LA released their fiery full-length debut for that insane label that loves to bring the noise, Lovepump United (home to Genghis Tron!). Think Animal Collective meets AIDS Wolf meets The Boredoms. And think awesome.

Team Robespierre has been kind enough to play two Oh My Rockness shows (including our SXSW show a few days ago). We love them. Is there anything better than a band that jumps onto the floor and makes a show feel like a swarming party rather than a stilted performance? Brooklyn's Team Robespierre rock the super fun synth-punk, with an emphasis on the punk. Their raw, electric sound reminds me of (broken-up) bands like Q and Not U, El Guapo, and Fugazi (if Fugazi had keyboard players, that is). Fun noise will be made, with all members dishing out vocal jabs. Team Robespierre utilizes a whole mess of both machine and man-made beats, and you can certainly dance to their thumps. Just don't confuse this with dance-punk. This is more like punk-dance.

Apache Beat are a five-piece from NYC that play partly-cloudy pop, synth-wave style. This punk-ish band comes armed with a kind of melancholy edge, and it's powered by the ominous alto of singer Ilirjana Alushaj. She sets the tone. Apache Beat's dark-ish melodies are accentuated by forlorn bass-thumps and murky keys. If you like Celebration, you'll like these guys.

Oh and by the way, we've now decided to call this show the ZABBADABBADOOOPOOOZOO Fest 2008!

So we hope to see you at Mercury Lounge for the most awesome ZABBADABBADOOPOOZOO Fest! That's Z-A-B-B...ah, forget it.

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Crystal Castles, Health, Team Robespierre and Apache Beat play Mercury Lounge, on Wednesday, March 26th.

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