“If this is the arena rock of the future, send me a ticket.” — Pitchfork
“A triumphant, heavily riffed, primarily instrumental epic, whiplashing through six minutes of smiling prog jams, and as many tempos as passages, before settling into one last minute of uplifting chants.” — Stereogum
“Life-affirming prog guitar anthems.” – Seattle Stranger
Fang Island describes its sound as “everyone high-fiving everyone.” And, the Brooklyn quintet’s anthemic and soaring songs make it quite possibly one of few bands befitting such description.
Its finger-tapping guitar lines, chanted vocals, triumphant harmonies and overall perky songs hearken to the sort of “Total Music” of the Fucking Champs, Jay Reatard, Ponytail, Kraftwerk, Marnie Stern, Thin Lizzy, et al. But, perhaps more so, its songs are like the music in your head at that moment when everything feels just right: that first kiss, that high score on the video game, buying your first small nation in cash… you know, good stuff.
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"Let’s see what we have here: a decidedly hippie-fied band name, a hand-painted album cover and an 18-minute track called “Space Jam (Looney Tuning).” Gotta be a jam band, right? Well, no, not really. While Atlanta-based Vegan Coke definitely digs the extended instrumentals, there’s a lot more Motorhead than Wookiefoot in their DNA.
Untzbenon opens at its most accessible with “Architeuthis,” a fuzzed-out, six-minute stomper that rides Eric Grantham’s manic drum work around in circles. Chad LeBlanc’s meandering guitar jousts good-naturedly with Amir Mirsajedin’s foreboding bass as the track moves from frenzied uproar to smooth groove and back again. It’s a deceptively tight track that suggest the noisier efforts of mid‘70s prog/proto-metal acts like Hawkwind.
The sound takes a more modern turn on the eight-minute “Anhedonia.” With its creeping guitar licks and big, ballsy rhythm section, it plays sort of like someone mashed together the opening riffs of a dozen or so tracks from a “Today’s Best Alternative” radio station. It’s basically hard rock hook after hard rock hook, with enough musical variety to keep an audience engaged for the duration.
The run-times keep on expanding with nine minutes of “Gay Gothic Cowboy,” a piece that doesn’t immediately bring to mind any of the words in its title. Instead, it’s another churning chunk of old school metal that takes frequent detours into avant noise rock. It’s a little less coherent than the preceding tracks, although the bouncy middle section is oddly captivating and the high-speed conclusion borders on psychedelic.
And then there’s the main event. “Space Jam (Looney Tuning)” completes the album’s evolution from melodic to straight-up experimental with nearly 20 minutes of guitar feedback, electronic chirps and general cacophony. It’s actually much more listenable than one might think, thanks in large part to the stable groundwork laid by Grantham’s drums. Much like a good jazz drummer, he uses his percussion as a recognizable reference point, giving listeners something to latch onto in the midst of all the sonic tumult. The result is a noisy but intriguing track that falls more on the Yahowa 13 side of heavy jamming than the Metal Machine Music side.
All told, Untzbenon is something of an academic exercise. Everything here is solid and exciting, but it’s hard to imagine the album getting a ton of spins in most folks’ collections. Still, it’s a consistently engaging exercise in hard rock experimentation. Perhaps most importantly, it gives the impression that Vegan Coke puts on one hell of a live show." - Ira Brooker / Made Loud
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"Finally, Nigredo took the stage. With fifteen feet of pedals, including eight Moog pedals, these five men sounded like they were playing about fifty instruments. Outside it only seemed like the world was ending. Inside, thanks to this dark, heavy, droning, harsh music, it was certain. Two frostbitten thumbs up!" Performer Magazine live review of Nigredo's show on 12/19/2011
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$8 in adv, $10 DOS, 18+
Doors @ 9 pm
Advance tickets available @ Ticket Alternative, Criminal Records,
Decatur CD, Fantasyland Records and the following CD Warehouse locations: Buford, Duluth, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville and Roswell.
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