It is always great to see touring artist's jaws drop when they view New Haven's own shred collective Headroom. Fronted by experimental guitarist ( and sometimes Spaceland bartendress) Kryssi Battalene, a local lefty feedback purveyor, a droney rhythm guitarist, throbbing bass, and acrobatic drummer, Headroom always brings the sonic assault. The sheer experimental "guitar army" create washes of psych-drone-shoegaze fuzz that rocks. Kryssi has been adding some subdued vocals that add an extra element to their sound. One feedback battle between Kryssi and the lefty was great.
75 Dollar Bill is a Brooklyn duo comprised of Che Chen on microtonal guitar and percussion and Rick Brown on percussion. Chen's Touareg guitar sound is a function of his study with a Mauritanian master. The guitar is repetitive and trancey and reminded me of the Mdou Moctar shows I saw last year. Brown was a sight to behold, he sat on a wooden box that he struck with what appeared to be bath loofahs covered with tube socks. The sound was pulsing tympanic. Sometimes he picked up a cigar box and some other shakers and things to color the flow of Chen's guitar. I'm pretty sure I scoffed at the notion of drums/ guitar as a viable unit pre-Black Keys and White Stripes. I'm glad to say I was wrong, while the Keys and Stripes have enigmatic front men as a dimension, the rawness of those bands and 75 Dollar Bill is striking. On a final tune, Chen picked up a soprano sax, they called a friend up with an alto sax, and Brown played a series of plastic oil funnels fitted with sax mouthpieces. This band's take on what I will call Africambient was thoroughly entertaining.
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