Halloween fell on a Friday this year and while thousands of New York women hit the streets in their “sexy cat/sexy nurse” costumes, I hit the Bowery Ballroom to check out This Will Destroy You, a four-piece instrumental rock band hailing from Texas.
Beginning the night was Jonathan Slade, better known as Silent Land Time Machine. His set began with electronic loops, futuristic U.F.O. sounds, and jarring traffic sounding noises and segued into this absolutely gorgeous violin concerto that blended so well with the electronic loops I was awed. I was skeptical at first as to how this would pan out, but throughout his set I felt as if I was scaling the highest mountain, flying through the bluest of skies and puffiest of clouds and engaging in one of the most epic battles of all time. All I could think of is why hasn’t this man scored a film yet? It literally sounded like the Castaway soundtrack on steroids. I loved everything about his set. It ended just as it started – electronic bloops and U.F.O. sounds with the ever-humble Jonathan thanking the crowd for being so respectful.
Completely jolting me out of my wistful moment was Future Death, a noise/art band also from Texas. I had absolutely no idea what lead singer Angie Kang was singing about, and the songs had discordant notes and melodies. It was the type of music you’d head on a whacked out indie movie. If it wasn’t for drummer Alton Jenkins I wouldn’t have had any idea of when I should have bobbed my head to the music. They definitely had throngs of fans in the audience though, yelling out for more during every single pause. Also, I find the fact that they recorded their debut album in a funeral home so fitting.
This Will Destroy You took the stage bathed in violet lights, with a projector shining black and white images of blurred scenes behind them. While most would prematurely compare them to another instrumental band, Explosions In The Sky, I found their sound to have a lot more grit and thrash than the latter. All 4 members donned Wayne from “Wayne’s World” costumes, and performed songs such as “Threads”, “Dustism” and “New Topia” while a circle mosh pit broke out during the latter half of their set. Having just released their latest album “Another Language” last month, the crowd was relentlessly cheering for more.
Article by: Lesley Keller
Silent Land Time Machine
Silent Land Time Machine
Future Death
Future Death
Future Death
Future Death
Future Death
Future Death
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You
