A Place To Bury Strangers

As if travelling through the Friday evening rush hour traffic wasn't bad enough, Canadian two-piece Japandroids have the added ignominy of incurring a flat tyre on the dreaded M1. With doors already having opened forty-five minutes ago and stage time looming ever closer, they've yet to arrive at the venue, amid fears they may not show up at all. They finally make it, even if it means their set is cut shorter than planned but it is a lesson in persistence. What's more, despite the traumatic journey culminating in no soundcheck - they literally load in then play, pronto - there's is a ferocious performance of slacker rock that recalls the more youthful days of Dinosaur Jr or fellow titans of yesteryear Buffalo Tom. Sure, their lack of numbers means they're are inevitably going to get compared to No Age an awful lot, but whereas the latter proffer noise over melody, Japandroids are a much subtler, tuneful proposition whose clamorous element owes more to enthusiasm and vigour than pre-planned decibel busting manoeuvres. The only real criticism is that a lot of their songs sound the same, but one suspects that with time, Japandroids have the tenacity to develop into a formidable outfit.

If Japandroids haven't exactly enjoyed the most comfortable of trips to Nottingham today, then Brooklyn's A Place To Bury Strangers must have broken the record for the most tiring. Having stepped off a plane from their homeland literally hours before arriving, one could forgive them for being jetlagged and ultimately wanting to get tonight's show out of the way in order to get a good night's rest. The band themselves of course have other ideas, and despite the physical exhaustion that shows across the trio's worn out faces, their endeavour to please is a sight (and sound) to behold.

As befits an APTBS show, many have come prepared, earplugs at the ready, while the warnings around the venue that "strobes will be used during tonight's performance" shouldn't be underestimated either, as the flashing monochrome light show is just as important to an APTBS live event as the speaker-and-PA destruction out front.

Strangely enough, the opening two songs of 'Exploding Head' and 'To Fix The Gash In Your Head' feel quite subdued and muddy by their standards, Oliver Ackermann's guitar seemingly lost in the mix as a heavy rush of bass and reverb duly takes over. By the time 'In Your Heart' and 'Dead Beat' cut deftly fractious swathes of rhythmic beauty encased in a halo of white noise, APTBS arrive back on track, and then some. A lot is made of the band's favouring of loud, convoluted distortion over simplistic tune, but scratch beneath the surface and there's much more to A Place To Bury Strangers than an exercise in Tinnitus. Ably assisted by the tight-knit rhythm section of J. Space and Jono Mofo, Ackermann literally peels several strings off his guitar at one point, almost exacting a degree of sympathy for the poor instrument that finds itself man-handled to an inch of its life. As the show progresses, the sound levels seem to increase before the thrilling, seismic climax that is 'I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart' segues into a tumultuous 'Ocean', as breathtaking and dynamic an ending to any performance as this writer has witnessed all year.

While there's still a lot of deliberation from both critics and punters alike as to the long-term merits of A Place To Bury Strangers, live they're an experience once seen and never forgotten, and for these ears at least, next month's ATP show in Minehead can't come soon enough.