A Place To Bury Strangers Will Have You Pinned

Brooklyn noise misfits A Place To Bury Strangers recently released their fifth album, Pinned, and the result is a stripped back, goth-colored, industrialized punk piece. The band, known for turning up the audio excess (insert Spinal Tap’s famous “These go to eleven” line all throughout), disassembled their sound and stayed within the bounds of 10. The outcome is a growth from the experimentation done on 2015’s Transfixiation, a quirky yet excellent effort. While listeners are still treated to short, aggressive clamor, the subtlety of Pinned’s noise rock is compelling and fantastic. New drummer Lia Simone Braswell (formerly of Le Butcherettes) works the kit with exceptional prowess and occasionally adds rich vocal accompaniment to Oliver Ackermann’s distinct baritone and fuzzed out, swirly guitar work, lending a chilling essence to the music. Dion Lunadon’s heavily distorted melodic bass lines remain solid and drives the band’s sound into greater sonic territory with a Peter Hook-like quality. Stand out tracks like the haunting opener “Never Coming Back”, aggro-punk number “Look Me in the Eye”, and poppy album closer “Keep Moving On” showcase the band’s unique approach to each song delivered on the 12-track album, and it all comes together with pulsating post-punk energy. The band’s new relatively stripped-down sound is impressive, and not a touch of what made them modern shoegaze sweethearts is lost. They took a successful gamble with Pinned, a compelling and rewarding listen from a band that re-emerged as powerful and dynamic as ever.

Photo: Brooklyn Vegan

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The Grim Folk: As Grim as It Gets

San Antonio dark country/psychobilly band The Grim Folks have been taking the San Antonio music scene by storm, albeit in their own way. Not one to mix in with the rest, The Grim Folks deliver a fresh and exciting sound in a city obsessed with metal and Mexican regional music. It’s not to say they don’t fit the bill; simply, they aren’t the typical band you would expect to come across. That, however, is a damn good thing. At home with the punk and goth crowds, The Grim Folks play macabre songs inspired from “roots” Americana full of dark humor and superstitious folklore with an undisguised energy. They aren’t exclusive to particular crowds; they have a loose and inviting vibe anyone can enjoy. “When it comes to writing lyrics, my influence is inspired by horror movies I watched as a kid or stories of the supernatural, “said Nathan Quintanilla, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist. “That enticing feeling I get when seeing or hearing these things is what I try to shape i

Chelsea Wolfe Births Violence

If the American Gothic movement had a sound, Chelsea Wolfe perfectly captures it. Wolfe’s latest album (and sixth overall), Birth of Violence , brings her back to her gloomy folk roots. It’s a goth-tinged acoustic album, a departure from her harder, heavier and sludgy doom-metal heard in her previous releases, Abyss and Hiss Spun , two albums that followed the more accessible Pain is Beauty , whose title sounds like an art school kid’s expressionist project. Acoustic offerings are nothing new for Wolfe. Her catalogue features a few here and there, and Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs is as stated: a collection of acoustic songs from her earlier days. Acoustic music has a tendency to be skipped over, but Wolfe’s should not. No matter how they’re performed, they are desolate, raw and impassioned. If her studio recordings can move you to the deepest bowels of a dark place, they are a whole other entity live with even more depth.

Depeche Mode, Peter Hook and The Light, A Place To Bury Strangers: Reviewed

Depeche Mode brought their music to the masses and gave us a black celebration (whatever, sue me.) On the road promoting their 14 th studio album, Spirit , the iconic British electronic band presented their mega successful Global Spirit Tour May 27 one last time to American audiences with a sold-out appearance at the AT&T Center, flawlessly banging out their biggest hits and album-oriented material to an enthusiastic crowd of 15,000. The band, comprised of vocalist Dave Gahan, guitarist Martin Gore, keyboardists Andy Fletcher and Peter Gordeno and drummer Christian Eigner impeccably delivered song after song as they cataloged their entire career into an energetic two-hour set, proving why four decades after their debut they remain a vital presence. With deep running roots in San Antonio’s music scene, audiences excitedly sang and danced through the night. If their show and fan response was any strong indicator, they surely have another album and one final world tour left unde

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