05/11/07 - 65 Days of Zodiac

My anticipation for the gig was almost non existant. I'd seen 65 Days of Static before, in the same place but a few years ago. Whats changed since then is really the release of only one album: The Distruction of Small Ideas. Their reputation is noticably more intense, apparently there is much more talk around the campfire. Unfortunetly their sound, being very much their own, hasn't gone through any evolution at all. Still they retain their original style and their musical structure; the climax and resolve, heavy mash of guitar effects and extensive jams, full expression and musical narrative. Shoegaze, it seems, has taken a more epic turn into darker dimentions. Its experience is something like standing in a Boeing 747 jet engine or perhaps the sound that would eminate from the collapse of our sun; and in all this, it is the sound of the apocalypse. Dramatic, dark and overpowering; at times, out of control and disturbing. To dance or be involved in any way at a 65 Days of Static gig is almost impossible, I am literally nailed into place and lost in a deep-green ocean of sound. All we can do is hold fast and hope they make it through alive. I can't remember where the tracks begin or end, I'm left with only the experience, naked in the void. As one critic of My Bloody Valentine wrote "I cant really remember what they played, just that it was fucking loud". A few reconisable tracks however, like floodlights would loom out of the bombardment. The wave of distortion is sometimes broken by only by that of a lonely piano, arpeggiating by itself and leading the music into softer currents. Minutes lead into fucked-up electronics including heavy, distorted drums and chaotical abstract synths. The way these sections merge with each other is almost perfect, seemless even. They fit the phrase "a beautiful noise" in every way.
My only actual criticism that I've had to scrape for is their apparent lack of change. They've always been experimental just along too specific an angle. Two years have passed since I saw them last, the lasting effect is all very much the same however awe inspiring it is. Consideration of new horizons is required for them, if they are to continue. Also, their backing guitarist and keyboard player began to piss me off, and I really dont know why. There was an ellement of the nu-metal self loving cock about him, maybe... thats just me. One thing is certain however, 65 Days of Static are a band to see live. I've hardly listened to their albums, they just don't live up to their gigs.

It would be criminal for me to forget to mention the one support band I saw. Due to turning up late I missed the first. Asobi Seksu, an electro pop group from Booklyn's new wave, played an amazing series of tunes - sticking in with the evenings shoegaze genre, and lead by a small japanese girl with a bjork sounding, siren like voice. With rich and stunning guitar waves, blinding and beautiful, it was truly otherworldy. Long has it been since a support act keeps up with the main. Seriously, if you have a moment, you will not be disapointed.