The Good Ship Rediscovery: A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers

We all forget about the older stuff from time to time, in our quest to stay up to speed with the latest and greatest. But one should always respect their elders. So don’t forget about them, y’hear?

Y'all know how smitten I am with those noisy scoundrels A Place To Bury Strangers. Yet for all the time I spend talking about them, I've not yet touched upon their self-titled debut long player. I do believe it's time to go there.

Upon first listening to A Place To Bury Strangers, the band's intent is clear: full-scale sonic destruction. It's an objective the band clearly accomplishes for the duration of the LP. But eardrum annihilation isn't the band's only specialty, no sir. The songs are complex, well-concocted, and played to perfectly imperfect perfection. There's even a smidge of romanticism (and broken-heartedness) to be found down there in the depths of the cacophony of noise.

The first three songs, "Missing You," "Don't Think Lover," and "To Fix The Gash In Your Head" (which is not at all romantic and more than a little grumpy, but is definitely a favorite of mine) leave one breathless with their unapologetic, riotous noise. My one grumble about the record is the comedown song that follows, "The Falling Sun." I've always found it a little too sticky wicket molasses for my liking.

All is love after that, however, as the band rebounds with the impeccable "Another Step Away." Ever so industrial and ever so slightly tinny, the song is pure rebellion, and pure magic. The leering lines of "I Know I'll See You" are flawless, and the song shimmies suggestively and wolfishly, definitely baring teeth. It's another favorite. The juggernaut that is "My Weakness" hints at the direction the band would take for their next LP, Exploding Head. Slightly more polished, the song has two distinct parts: loud and super fucking loud. Pick your poison, it all ends well. 

Things shut down with "Ocean," a song I've always loved for many reasons, not least of which because it seems to nod to the early songs of The Verve. The dream-laden drone and dizzy, swirling guitar effects go in a completely different direction, of course, towards their own small-scale industrial revolution. In its' way, it's violent, but in true APTBS form it's not without beauty.   

The band has come quite far in the six years since the release of this record, all the while staying true to the foundation living here. If this one's not yet in your collection, there's no time like the present.