Head in the stars time. Cramming these three bands into the Louisiana may be like bottling a black hole, but more fun. Expansive, noisy space rock will fill the bits between what’s left of your brain cells and ear holes. This is a double-headed tour of the Julian Cope-dug White Hills and the equally riff-happy Pontiak, nicely opened by Invada Records’s youngsters Thought Forms. Heads will be expanded and squished.
THUR 11TH MAR: INVADA PRESENTS: £7adv, 7.30pm
WHITE HILLS / PONTIAK / THOUGHT FORMS
THE LOUISIANA,
WAPPING ROAD,
BRISTOL,
BS16UA
TIX: 01179 299008
WHITE HILLS
“New York psych-noise loons White Hills unleash a follow up to their Glitter Glamour Atrocity album with this release for the UK’s own Rocket Recordings. Regulars on the CD-R circuit, the band have already received a weighty endorsement from Julian Cope, but are bound to find themselves on the receiving end of far wider reaching endorsements from here on. Heads On Fire mixes the acid-trip propulsions of Hawkwind with the fuzzy aggro of The Stooges, resulting in some of the heaviest old-school rock manoeuvres around. These guys have one foot in the garage and the other on the moon, laying down krautish, tautly wound rock grooves in conjunction with some major Big Muff presence. Clearly White Hills are a cut above your standard issue psychedelic jam band, at times condensing their sound into sub-five minute, high tempo fuzz structures, while at others stretching out effects pedal experimentation over twenty-six minute vistas of swirling atmosphere and dust bowl textures. Ace.” BoomKat, November 2007
http://www.myspace.com/whitehills
PONTIAK
Tiny Mix Tapes 3.5/5: “Although Pontiak’s music carries a rural, rustic vibe, Maker’s stylistic range is impressively broad, blending disparate elements into a rather cohesive whole. “Aestival” recalls late-period Earth (at their fastest), with its ringing chords, consistent ride cymbal ping, and narcotic haze. … Indeed, Pontiak display a great amount of restraint and maturity on Maker, but they’re most successful and exciting when combining their more avant-garde tendencies with their love of classic southern rock, as heard in the multiple segments of album standout “Wax Worship.”
Wire (UK) “Pontiak’s organic approach comes as a breath of fresh air. … An elongated power surge.”
http://www.myspace.com/pontiak
THOUGHT FORMS
“Thought Forms are in an enviable position for such a young band. Neatly structured so that starry-eyed ambience bookends the album and provides a mid-act breather, the nine tracks drift dreamily through a series of increasingly wayward movements. These range from the uplifting Ostinato-worthy beauty of ‘Industry’ to ‘David, 18’ whose reverberating guitars evoke satellite frequencies searching for life and finding it in fuzzy, distant screams. Space-age shoegazers need look no further for their next trip.” Rock Sound 2009
http://www.myspace.com/thoughtforms
