Though it's a bitch for most scene kids to get to, 92Y's relatively new Tribeca branch has some solid bills of music. Friday night saw performances from Hearts of Darknesses, Bird Names and These Are Powers, as well as an art show in the adjacent galleries. First I checked out the art: trippy, whimsical stuff from Brian Willmont, Eric Shaw and Denise Kupferschmidt with Dan Deacon's green skull making a cameo in one painting. I'm no art critic, but I thought it was all pretty excellent to look at. The space itself was clean and nice, and felt more like a schmancy theater than a rock venue. Weirder yet was the fact that most of the audience was seated at tables. Despite this energy killer, Hearts of Darknesses played a frenetic set of percussive noise pop. Primal, Liars-esque drums pounded a template for sparse guitars, spacey sound effects, distorted bass and a shout-singing, swaggering frontman to do their worst. One song reminded me of the Cramps with its ’50s chord progression and yelping delivery (R.I.P. Lux Interior).
Bird Names played that type of cutesy ensemble cast psych-folk for which my enthusiasm has been waning as of late. "All our songs are about nature," they reminded us, as if they needed to. Maracas, woodblocks, group choruses, recorders, bare feet, hairy armpits, a pretty girl playing the saw and yes, bird sounds. All elements of a quality freak folk orchestra, but I just couldn't groove to it. Maybe I'm getting old and cranky.
These Are Powers got everyone up in front with some beautifully messy, uncategorizably awesome noises. Bill Salas' shamanistic drumming and noise gizmos, Pat Noecker's high slicing bass and frontwoman Anna Barie's larger than life charisma all brought the energy up to eleven. With a unique animal magnetism, Barrie wove heavy breathing and drony/yelpy/chanty vocals into an insane performance that transmitted her flailing, high-stepping rain dance to an audience of arms-crossed non-movers. The sterile space transformed into a futuristic pow wow, soon we were enmeshed in the cloth stage decorations, baring our teeth and beating wildly on passed around instruments. New songs off All Aboard Future use some grime and dub step beats; "I'm the Goldie Hawn of grime," Barrie said when questioned. This band never ceases to surprise me in all the best ways.
