Pile is a quartet from Boston, and has been playing their brand of grungey alt rock music since 2007. Last Thursday they played an excellent set at The Bell House which drew mostly from their third album You’re Better Than This, which came out last year.
Singer and guitarist Matt Becker lead the band through rousing renditions of some of the best cuts; “the world is your motel” and “Mr. Fish” started things off with Becker’s barreling scream offset by occasional bits of talk-singing. It’s like Nirvana’s Bleach meets the Toadies meets Weezer. Regardless of influence, Pile is singular in their songwriting, progressing songs with bitterly bleak post hardcore tropes that are offset by infectious vocal and guitar melodies.
However, it was their older songs from 2012’s dripping that got the crowd singing along. “Baby Boy” had a chorus of drunk “As they slide down” and… cue the bodies flying around in the obligatory mosh pit. The best song of the night was the single from dripping “Prom Song,” which had Becker on the floor and soloing until his guitar cord pulled out and he had to scramble over to the pedals, but managed to pick up the solo with barely a flinch, and a bit of a smile.
The set ended with the lilting fingerpick meets cacophonous riffs of “Mr. Jones.” Afterwards, Becker looked at the band and said to the audience something to the effect of “Well, I feel like playing more songs.” And so the band extended their set with three encores: “bump a grape,” “touched by comfort,” and “Rock and Roll Forever With the Customer in Mind,” which hasn’t been released yet. Throughout it all there was a group of rabid fans bouncing off one another in celebratory violence.
Overall, Pile put on a great show. Not only did Pile put on a great show, but supporting acts, the post hardcore duo Austerity Program, and the irreverently metallic Couch Slut were excellent openers. Next time you can catch Pile is on July 25th at the Wick in Brooklyn.
Article: Steven Klett
