Music seen at Geno’s, September 19, 2008
By DAN CLARK | September 25, 2008
Belfast art-monsters Full Contact Kitty took the stage around 10:15 pm with a heady brew of dissonant chords and droning feedback, contrasting beautifully with clever lyrics and catchy, atmospheric hooks. Their presentation was fittingly theatrical — a stage lit dimly red, with projections of Harry Hamlin battling the Medusa from Clash of the Titans, and two rubber-suited fellows judo-fighting kaiju-style through a cardboard city, cast on the ceiling of the club’s black-box stage.
Local peculiarities Bat Shelter played a truncated set, but won the crowd over nonetheless. Describing their sound is difficult. It’s almost as if Iron Maiden and Devo had a baby, but in a good way. Angular, syncopated riffs, played with the precision and power of a Panzer tank division. Look forward to hopefully longer performances from yet another dynamic, unique Portland band.
Dark, cynical, and utterly gargantuan, Pigboat’s music bores up from the deep like some Lovecraftian beastie coming to swallow all of humankind (the way hard rock should be played). Guitarist-singer Mark Belanger, his former Broken Clown band mate Ed Porter (also bassist for local favorites Covered In Bees and mastermind of record label The Entertainment Experiment), and drummer Brian Chaloux (of Army of Squirrels) create music that must be measured not only in volume and tone, but in mass. They played a fiery, ear-splitting set from their forthcoming full-length album, with crowd favorite “Neckfinger,” from their 2006 EP Nothing’s Ever Finished, thrown in for good measure. With any luck, their new release will be out soon. Keep an eye out.
On the Web
Pigboat: www.myspace.com/pigboat
Full Contact Kitty: www.myspace.com/fullcontactkitty
Topics:
Live Reviews
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