A Place to Bury Strangers

Anyone who's known me both online and off knows that I champion today's band at every single step, having seen them live about a dozen times and talked about them in conversation to absolutely no end. After catching them live once more at Galapogos this past Friday eve, it's only appropriate for them to make their appearance on these pages...

Hailing from New York City, A Place to Bury Strangers are explosively sonic post-punk/shoegaze outfit often deemed "the Loudest Band in NYC." Rather than being loud for the sake of being loud, the band combines the coarse sonic textures of both the shoegaze and no-wave movement with the craft and beauty of dreampop, a delicate yet perfect balance that is far more moving than it is unsettling.

The origins of the band trace back to Virginia's Skywave, a similarly styled outfit featuring fuzzed out guitar tones and abrasive drum machines. Guitarist Oliver Ackermann relocated to NYC and took the helm of a A Place to Bury Strangers, expanding on the already jagged soundscapes of Skywave, adding more catchy rhythmic undertones and a more intense approach for this new outfit. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Skywave remained local and formed fellow shoegaze group Ceremony.

On record, the band is overdriven and sharp, all instruments pushing into the red with a pseudo-industrial aesthetic, while on stage they are an intensely passionate and pummeling force of fury, a treat for both the eyes and the ears.

Oliver is also founder of the Brooklyn-based experimental pedal company, Death By Audio. Many of the band's unique sonic textures are the result of his own audio experimentation and deconstruction of electronics.

Needless to say, this band is best experienced at maximum volume. For your listening pleasure, here's a handful of self-released EP tracks:

download A Place to Bury Strangers- 'My Weakness'
download A Place to Bury Strangers- 'I Know I'll See You'
download A Place to Bury Strangers- 'I've Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart'

...and here's a live video of the band performing the yet-to-be-released track 'Gimme Acid' at a Jezebel Music showcase at Union Pool on April 17th of this year. If you look closely, you may spot me thrashing away in the front...



For more information about the band, including more tracks, visuals, and show information:

homepage
myspace page