Lightning Bolt "Assassins"

 

Short version: Noise, noise, and faster noise.  But listen close and you will hear the sense of it all.

Long version:  Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson are the two members of the Providence, Rhode Island band Lightning Bolt  This style of music is not for most folks.  But consider this a broadening of your education in other musical genres.  I first heard about them from a stellar review they got in an industry magazine.  On first listen, I also was confused and searching for meaning within the soundscape.  Yet after only one more listen I GOT IT!  And the song I mos def got was "Assassins."  If you don't get it don't worry.  Each week's song is not for everyone.  But I at least want you to appreciate the craft on display.  These guys produce energy on record, but you should see them live! 

I had the pleasure to do so last fall when they came to Lexington to play at Busters.  The good word was that you gotta see this drummer.  He is one of the fastest in the world.  While drumming he dons a homemade raggedy doll mask with a mike shoved in his mouth so he can bark/sing/gag the lyrics? from his throat.  Talk about multi-tasking.  You try walking up steps with a homemade mike in your mouth, let alone playing some of the fastest drums on the planet.  They performed on the floor level but to the left on a side wall in the room.  I got a good spot up front.  Basically everyone just crowds around the equipment until the mania starts.  They have been known to start a show two seconds after the opening band ends.  It is a given that over the course of a show audience members will knock over a drum or hit the guitarist.  Mr. Gibson, the guitarist, is an enigma as well.  He plays this guttural mess with a look of utter boredom.  I kept waiting for him to check his watch.  It was a total yin and yang of styles between the two band members, yet watching these two perform was pure joy.  It was loud, fervent, and hot.  A drummer with the fits playing with his brother in a coma.  I love it! 

Coachella smartened up this year by inviting these guys to play.  It will be interesting to see if it is a daytime show.  Chippendale might drum his heart out all the way to an IV administered bag full of saline.  It will be worth it my friend.