A Place to Bury Strangers, Light Pollution, Useless Keys: Concert Review and Photos

A Place to Bury Strangers came to bless Los Angeles with their presence once again this past weekend at our beloved Spaceland. Although we last saw them a few months ago with The Big Pink, we weren’t about to pass up another opportunity to annihilate our ear drums in the best possible way again. Besides, two great bands by the names of Useless Keys and Light Pollution beefed the line up for a solid stream of rock and by the time the night was over, we really had no words – mostly because we couldn’t hear each other anymore.

The night started off strong with Los Angeles’ very own Useless Keys. Although front man, Michael Bauer, came from a hardcore punk background, it was amazing to hear his songwriting completely triumph in a sound where it was a bit breathier and moodier. Prior to the show, we were overjoyed to hear that Useless Keys was opening for A Place To Bury Strangers because there really is no other Los Angeles band that could complement them better.

Their opening set only confirmed this as songs such as “White Noise” were spooky and sexy at the same time, which ultimately brought us into a world that seemed mysterious and dangerous. Their music definitely holds enough adrenaline to soundtrack a hectic car chase scene complete with guns but it’s also got that lax vibe that hypnotizes us into a very slow sway as we watch them. (Somewhat like watching Baz Luhrman’s Romeo aka Leo DiCaprio walking in the desert and inhaling a cigarette with the very same smokey look in his pondering eyes.)

Next up was Light Pollution, a Chicago-based band who has gotten a lot of buzz for being signed to Carpark Records (home to Beach House,  Toro Y Moi and more) prior to SXSW this year. Not all bands who get lucky enough to be signed and shown off at the Austin music festival actually have the endurance to continue proving their validity, but Light Pollution has been one of those bands who have been giving it their all since they got their big break.

It’s always the legitimate bands who can play for strangers and get a great response and this is exactly what vocalist James Cicero and his band accomplished. Although it was hard to believe someone’s shoulders could bounce so much even while playing the keyboards, Light Pollution was a very nice melting pot of all the right elements. They were definitely eclectic rock with elements of swirling synth lines, sparkling keyboard riffs, strong vocal melodies and the right touch of drums and guitar to create something vaguely familiar to the 90′s shoegaze sound.

However, the highlight was our headliner, A Place To Bury Strangers. This trio who hails from New York is space rock at its best in the indie realm. We cover numerous shows for you guys but this was the very first where we thought, “Okay. Maybe I’ll put ear plugs in.” However, the noise level wasn’t the only pleasurable factor about their set. As always, APTBS makes their set unique no matter where they go and even when they played Spaceland this Saturday night, they were able to transform everything. The metallic blue curtains were covered with a white backdrop in order to embrace their epic strobe light show they were about to destroy us with. The lights and fog machines were set in place and when the members also took the stage, we didn’t even recognize the place anymore.

Immediately, questions raced through our minds: “Is it really this loud at Spaceland right now? How is their sound system even handling this?” A Place To Bury Strangers always put on such an amazing show with their atmospheric but heavy psychedelic rock and shoegaze, we wouldn’t be able to tell if it were a smaller venue such as Spaceland or a large one such as the El Rey Theater. Dueling guitar and bass playing unimaginable rhythms and riffs in this band go beyond epic.

Check some of our photos out below!

Photography by Carl Pocket