A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York–based Noise Rock band with a heavy, atmospheric blend of both Psychedelic Rock and a dreamy Shoe-gaze style. With a reputation as 'The loudest band in New York', this band really mean business.
Oliver Ackermann (guitar/vocals), Dion Lunadon (bass) and Robi Gonzalez (drums) make up the wall of sound that are APTBS, but make no mistake, there's certainly substance behind their 'noise'. An accomplished trio, they have a real passion, carefully crafting and cultivating their sound to perfection.
Originally formed in 2001, the band played their first gig in Brooklyn two years later. Their big break came in 2007 when the band played at New York's famous Webster Hall with The Jesus And Mary Chain, earning the band their energetic and chaotic playing style, and The Washington Post dubbing them "the most ear-shatteringly loud garage/shoegaze band you'll ever hear". Since then, APTBS have built up an impressive and loyal fan base (I'm sure many of you are already familiar with their music), recently completing a U.S tour with The Joy Formidable earlier this year.
Having just released their third full-length album, Worship (11th June via Dead Oceans), bassist, Lunadon, has spoken about the recording process and vision they had for the record:
“This album was written, recorded, mixed and mastered by A Place To Bury Strangers. It is our vision of what our music should sound like in 2012, not someone else’s interpretation. Every sound on the album is made by us and our tools; tools created by us, used on no other recordings, and purposefully built for this project. This is real. Some of it is the band being in complete control — bending, shaping and building the songs and the sounds. Other parts are the band relinquishing control and letting the songs and sounds take over and produce themselves. We are not trying to reinvent ourselves, but simply push ourselves further in all aspects of our music".
APTBS's music touches on a diverse array of human emotions - longing, heartbreak, confusion - with an inherent passion and execution. And, did I mention it's quite loud? Take a listen to two tracks taken from Worship.
You Are The One is awash with fuzzy guitars, dark melodies and a relentless bass-line. Seering guitar feedback penetrates the muddy instrumentation and moddy-sounding vocals nonchalantly exclaim, "You could be the one'.
A pounding drum intro kicks And I'm Up into action before a lo-fi, jangly guitar enters. Although a more upbeat track, it still manages to ooze with that grungy hopelessness, supported by brilliant lines like "I reach for the sky to realise that I have destroyed all my friends and everything nearby."
These guys are on tour in the U.S at the moment, hopefully we'll get to see them in the UK soon!
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