All Nines, Prince Rupert’s Drops and Obits at the Bell House 9/21/13

All Nines, Prince Rupert’s Drops and Obits

The Bell House

September 21, 2013

The last couple of weeks around here have been insane as I’ve traveled some 7,000 miles back and forth from New York to Frankfurt am Main, Germany; covered CMJ; and then immediately got incredibly sick with a case of acute pharyngitis that I finally kind of kicked not to long ago. So as you can imagine I’ve been trying to catch up to the best of my ability. And that included editing various sets of photos during two cramped 7 hour flights back and forth. Actually, the flight back was even more cramped, if you can believe it. i mean, ever try typing or editing something when the person in front of you keeps moving their fucking seat back – directly into your lap? Fun times, right?

Back in September, I was at the Bell House to catch Obits at their release show for their excellent (and blistering) new album, Bed and Bugs, and it was quite an interestingly bill as All Nines, a duo whose sound and look reminded me quite a bit of Japandroids, White Mystery and others – a drum and guitar duo of scuzzy, grimy sounding rock with elements of punk rock as their songs were generally 3 minutes long or less. in fact the quick pace of their songs made their set seem shorter than expected. Still, their set was impressive and fucking loud – just how I like it.

I had heard about Prince Rupert’s Drops for quite some time, thanks in part to this site but I hadn’t had the chance to catch them live – until this September night. Sonically I’d describe their sound as being shoegazer style rock with songs slowly unfurling and undulating towards you like a wave. My friend Robin who had went with me immediately compared their sound to early Pink Floyd, and she had a point – there was a muscular insistence, an oomph to the material that underlies it’s ethereal, dreamy nature. Much like Pink Floyd, Prince Rupert’s Drops songs seemed comprised of multiple movements and went towards epic length as songs stretched out for 8 or 9 minutes. Live, they had one of the trippiest sounds I’ve heard in some time.

The band of the night Obits, got on the stage and most of their set was comprised of the material from Bed and Bugs. The material naturally brings up questions on fame and middle age, especially as they all approaching middle age with a vital, roaring fury. There was an immediate sense that as each member of Obits will age, that they will not go gently into the good night – they’ll go out with a blistering, towering noise.

Their live set played with expectations quite a bit as solos were stretched out and songs were stretched out – as though there were just a bunch of dudes coolly jamming at a party. But holy shit, they kicked ass.