Liturgy - Dope Body - Goldmansacks.com -- DC9 - July 5 2011

Goldmansacks.com - I believe this is how this "band" was spelled on the DC9 website. I guess if they called themselves EBAY or Amazon.com, they could be more difficult to find on the Web, if they even have a website. Not that I would particularly care, although it probably would be more interesting than this set. I apologize to all the do it yourself'er electronica composers out there, but I just really don't want to see you slouched over your notebook computers on stage. At least these guys did some vocal work on top of the sounds. But most of the time, I would rather listen to your recordings at home, although my expectations will not be too high. But on stage? You better have something really interesting going on. A few of the people in the crowd really thought so tonight and hopefully they have a blog where they can explain why.

Dope Body - An interesting combination from Baltimore is up next. A drummer, vocalist and two bass players comprise the unique combination. One bass player has a computer and loads of switches. He has a higher tone and some higher squawks and screeches, while the other bass player lays down the traditional bottom. This band is intense and is a natural brutal progression into post-hardcore worlds. They make Chrome sound like the Cowsills. It can be a bit much at times, but sometimes they hint at a tune. The second to last song sounded like a lost track at the end of a Big Black rerelease. I swear I heard Steve Albini and Santiago Durango's guitars clashing away. It had that Rollins Band intensity going on as well. It did seem a bit long after 20 minutes, but a couple of better tunes made the 35 minute set work pretty well. I do like these sets as long as I don't hear them too many times in a row.

Liturgy - This two-guitar four-piece did not just hit the stage running, but hit their speed far more quickly than any drag racer could ever hope for. Thrash metal approaching shoegaze tones at hyper speed. There are some throwaway vocals on top of some of the songs and normally I would encourage bands to do more, but these guys should just toss them aside and stick to the instrumental sonic assault that they do as well as anybody doing this sort of thing. I had a drummer friend that used to try to emulate Wayon Jenning's drummer, Richie Albright, with his quick right wrist. Well this guy had his right stick a blur while keeping his wrist stationary and somehow having the stick flying in between his thumb and index finger. Motortik? No, more like the progression from hand eggbeaters to food processors. They did slow it down during parts of a few songs later in the set which was a nice break. Their music reminded me a bit of ECW Extreme wrestling. For better or worse, ECW introduced (among other innovations) matches that were heavy on high spots and seemed to have wall to wall finishing moves. This music was similar as most of the songs sounded like fast and loud dramatic endings, yet they just went on for 3-4 minutes. I would have thought 45 minutes of this may be pushing the audience's minds and bodies a bit, but these guys were good enough to pull it off. The modestly full room seemed to marvel at this band from the comments I caught in the back of the room. This is the first day of their US tour, so hopefully a few people will check out this review and others and decide to check out this band.
Obit... And speaking of wrestling, I was going to talk about the wrestling connection with me in Bob Mould's autobiography. But I am going to save that as I want to mention the death of Cleveland rock critic Jane Scott at age 92. She was in her mid thirties when she shifted her job at the Cleveland Plain Dealer into rock criticism when Beatlemania broke. She continued her whole life and "criticism" may not be the right word as she was a big fan of the many good bands that came through Cleveland. Nothing like a blond grandmotherly looking lady who sincerely is rocking out in the clubs decade after decade. I was hanging with Husker Du at a show in Cleveland when she came up to chat with Grant Hart. He was his usual engaging self but tried to slip in a joke to her by saying that in Europe, Bob did not have his signature 'flying bee guitar'. Funny, but in her review, she had 'flying vee'. She knew her stuff and kept her enthusiasm for decades longer than most rock'n'rollers.