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Concert Tue Feb 12 2008
Those Powers That Be
While it seems that poise, a modicum of polish, and a few thin ideas are all it takes to pull an act together in Williamsburg these days; it requires a unique degree of creative and collaborative chemistry to transcend the "just another band from Brooklyn" syndrome. Such is the case with the noise-punk trio These Are Powers. Guitarist Anna Barie and bassist Pat Noecker first came together to form These Are Powers back in 2006 -- Noecker having formerly been a member of Liars, and Anna was then working in the band Knife Skills. The rest of the equation fell firmly into place when the pair took on Brenmar Someday drummer Bill Salas while summering in Chicago this past year. Salas returned with the band to New York in time for them to complete work on their debut LP, Terrific Seasons.
Much of These Are Powers' musical energy takes its cue from classic NYC no-wave precedents, the sort of tribal noise that the likes of Mars, 8-Eyed Spy, and (a then appropriately named) Sonic Youth were churning out in the trash-strewn Lower East Side back in the mid-1980s. Onstage, Barie's a dynamo, a one-woman maelstrom of daemonic vocals and frenzied slide-guitar, as she and Noecker whip up a delirium over gnarled, interlocking rhythms. Their music could be considered "heady" stuff, but its jolt is mainly visceral -- often dizzying, sometimes harrowing, and urgently rhythmic to its core.
These Are Powers will be playing the AV-aerie next Wednesday evening, February 20th. Local naïf-savant popsters Bird Names will also be on the bill. Adam Griffin and Laromlab open. 2000 W. Fulton. Admission is $8 and the show starts at 9:30pm.
[video]: These Are Powers - "You Come With Nothing" (live)
[video]: These Are Powers - "Peel Some Off" (live)
[mp3]: These Are Powers - "Little Sisters of Beijing"
