Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011: Day 3 (Part 2)

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists



Ted Leo and the Pharmacists set is one of those sets that will forever be spoken about in Fun Fun Fun Fest lore. Leo told everyone that he was filling sick and wouldn't be able to perform the best of sets, but that seemed like a lie as he ripped through cuts from The Brutalist Bricks. If this is Ted Leo at sub par, he most be a ball of pure energy in top form. He saved the great moment possible of the whole fest for the finale though. Danzig had on Friday completely fucked up his set, going on an hour late, cutting his set down and eliminating all the planned Misfits material, and then told the crowd to basically riot. Yes, he truly is as much of a douche as people say he is. However, Leo decided to repay Danzig's debt by dawning a black wife beater, bad wig, and launching into four Misfits songs. While this isn't out of character for Leo (see his TV Casualty project), it was just awesome to see him do it here. Needless to say a large chunk of the crowd went nuts for the songs, and Leo and co. cemented their reputation as some of the best guys in punk.





Architecture in Helsinki



Architecture in Helsinki's set was surreal in a number of ways. These were five, scientist looking and dressed Australians performing electro dance pop almost completely with electronic instruments (even the drums they had were more machine then kit). At certain points they even engaged in synchronized dance routines to some of their songs. The thing was, they were doing all of this to Slayer fans who had gotten there early for the band. It was miracle that they didn't get booed into oblivion. However, AIH managed to make it through their set unscathed, though not perfectly. All that electronic equipment backfired on them a lot, the drums in particular having to fiddled with practically between every song to get them working again. Still it was a fun set, made a lot more interesting from the circumstances around it.







Boris



Boris rocked. Flat out rocked. It was the most metal thing I have ever experienced in my life, just a barrage of ear splitting guitar riffs and skull crushing drums blasted out of six foot high amps. The all black attire, the smoke machine that pour out through out the set, the giant gong set behind the drum kit (that eventually made its way into the crowd); Boris love metal to their bone and embodies it so well. Equally impressive is how they take their new, catchier, and less metal material and live, manage to convert it into equally impressive feats of rock bravo. There was nothing brutal about the set, but there was an intensity to it that was ever present, and rose it proper heights. Shredding never sounded so good.







Black Lips



I think this was the proper way to end my Fun Fun Fun Fest experience. With the utter wonder and chaos that was the Black Lips. They literally started the show off with a bang by throwing lit firecrackers into the the crowd. From their it got as crazy as a Black Lips show gets, the crowd become a giant mass of colliding bodies and garage rock infuse octane. Toilet paper was thrown, light swords were waved and flung, and people drunkenly song along to the songs at the top of their songs. Black Lips on their part helped with the chaos, never slowing the set down for any of the slower or more psych tinged songs in their discography, and just transferring the energy of the crowd into more manic forms of "Short Fuse" and "Katerina". There were moments were you couldn't even see the stage because of everything that was going on, but it says too much that it was OK and the giant drunken, high, crazy crowd singing along was all you needed.

Boris to Release Two Albums

Boris, the ever changing, shape shifting advent metal gods, have done the only logical thing in their desire to do something different with their music, which is release two albums on the same day (April 16) on the same label (Sargent House). Heavy Rocks, which is strikingly similar to their 2002 album of the same name and near same cover art, though the band claims it to be a completely different and separate album. However, Attention Please is the album the band seems to be concentrating to most on, an album that first time has the band's female guitar Wata singing on the songs, and her voice gives the album a very majestic feel to their heavy sound. For instance, the just released song "Hope" has a very Dinosaur Jr feel to it (something that was previewed in their single releases from last year), with the soft vocals and strings contrast the song's heavy riffs.

(mp3) Boris-Hope

The band, if nothing but prolific, has plans to release another album, the currently Japan only release called New Album. The album's core appears to be various different takes on songs that will be appearing on their upcoming new albums. Like "Party Boy", which will also appear on Attention Please, and which here sounds like the band decided to become a dance band. Seriously, if you ever wanted to know what Boris would be like if they tried to make a mainstream pop song, this is probably the most likely result.

(Sound Cloud)-Listen to "Party Boy" here.

Links:

Boris' Website
Sargent House's Website

Single Reviews: Boris-Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol 1,2,3

Time for another embarrassing music confession; until these singles came into my hands, I had never listened to Boris before. No, I cannot give a good reason for this, yes I know this is sad, and yes, my puny indie rock ass was blown by these six songs of heavy, experimental, noise infused post-metal.

Each single has a different member of the band, more than likely to show the different direction each single goes. Vol. 1 is the most directly catchy of the three. It starts with "8", which opens with a chugging guitar riff before a few drum hits morph the song into the greatest song Dinosaur Jr never did, complete with guitar let ups during the verse and a sublime guitar solo in the center. The song is just pure ecstasy for the ears! The flip side "Hey Everyone" is more in the metal zone, with chunkier riffs and tribal beats and chants. Still it manages to be catchy in a way only Boris can make metal riffs and screeching vocals catchy.

Vol. 2 would be the most metal/traditional sounding of the three, along with where their experimental side begins to show. "H.M.A. (Heavy Metal Addict)" is just that; the equivalent of crack for a metal head or Boris lover. The thick, body crushing riff that is the soul of the song coupled with the lyrics and chanting would be great as it was, but the quick solo at the middle just puts it over the edge. "Black Original" is the more experimental track of the single, starting with weird effects and a beat that continues (though buried) through the song. The riff is lighter, but still good, and the vocals are more digestible than "H.M.A", but the song is just as good as the previous 3 songs.

Vol. 3 is were the band decides to mess with everyone and go full on experimental, at least for Boris. "16:47:52" is sung by Wata, with nothing more than an airy guitar and simple drumming to accompany her silky voice. It has a real Sigur Ros meets a jazz/lounge act feel to it and I mean that in the best possible. It is extremely beautiful and pretty; destined to be heard on rainy days or deep at night. It gets noisy again on the B-side "...and Here Nothing", but instead of speed, the band dives into their slow metal with a mix of psychedelia and stoner rock. It still has that level of experimentalism to it, with echo galore especially on the vocals and very different drum work that is both minimal and loud at the same time. Sounds almost like a hymn at times, which is very cool.

I know every time I review singles it's never negative and I am probably under the "new band obsession spell". And from what I can tell, every hardcore Boris/metal fan who has read this is probably seeing everything they didn't want Boris to turn into happening before their eyes. However, for the rest of us who just like good music, these are some great single, not only for the unbelievable songs, but the thick, cardboard covers, translated lyrics printed on the backs, and just sublime art work. I feel very jealous of the people who managed to snag the forth single as well.

Links:

Boris Website
Buy the singles here, At Southern Lord