If my own experience is any indication, then a common reaction to seeing Gay Beast for the first time would involve confusion. No stranger to rhythmically slippery "math rock"-type music, I nonetheless couldn't quite figure out quite how all the parts were fitting together. As I watched Gay Beast's drummer, Angela Gerend I couldn't help but feel that she must have been making a lot of mistakes. But these were simply lapses in my listening comprehension. The band was just inhumanly tight, managing the music's constant barrage of acute angles and sharp turns with uncanny aplomb.
Any one of Gay Beast's three members would be impressive on their own. Guitarist Isaac Rotto skitters all over the neck, emitting a series of brittle shrieks and stabs; keyboardist and vocalist Dan Luedtke functions as the band's low end while vying with Rotto in the treble range with equally transfixing complexity, all while hollering queasy, impassioned melodies over the maelstrom; all that needs to be said about the aforementioned Gerend is that she's absolutely the most singular drummer I've ever seen, and I'd be surprised if that changed anytime soon. And throughout it all, the band doesn't get mired in complexity for its own sake. Their songs are well-written and catchy, and when they're not crafting new ones, they're updating the old ones.
Triple Rock 8/14/06: http://www.mediafire.com/?aj9kyrdhffm
1. 3 Pairs of Eyes Brown, Brown, Blue (2:24)
2. Multi-Purpose Antiform (2:37)
3. Mama, Wrap My Coffin in the AIDS Quilt Cuz It's Cold In Hell (3:37)
4. Dymaxion (The Need cover) (1:20)
5. What You Want (3:16)
6. ID Politic (3:27)
7. Cry (1:04)
8. Unknown (4:02)
Total running time: 21:47
Note that on this next one, the audio starts out sounding really great, but takes a significant hit a little ways into the first song, possibly due to cell phone interference. It still sounds alright, though.
Organ Haus 4/28/07: http://www.mediafire.com/?7zwrxdyylah
1. Intro (:59)
2. Cyclops / ID Politic (4:29)
3. 2 Borgs 4 Every Borg (4:51)
4. Grocery / What You Want (4:47)
5. Exploding Knee / What You Want (5:20)
6. Unknown / Cock (3:31)
Total running time: 23:57
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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