Music

Deafen the Old Folks!

PLP: Portland's Sexiest Nerds

Point Line Plane

w/Jackie and the Control Tops, Ursula and the Androids, Wormwood

Fri May 23, Sunset, 9 pm, $6.

The artwork on Point Line Plane's new eponymous CD belies the duo's roots in D&D, Philip K. Dick books, and general high-grade obsessive music nerdiness. Drawn by Portland art multitasker E*Rock, it depicts a giant skeleton made of crystals zapping evildoers with prismatic bolts from its fingers. It's some serious Final Fantasy shit.

That's why, if this CD--a split release between Portland's Sincere Brutality and Seattle's Xeroid Records--is your first experience with Point Line Plane, you'll be quite surprised the music contained within is just so... dark and sexy. It smarts with melodic tension between heavy synths action and anxious screaming (from Joshua Blanchard) and a surge of drums (from Nathan Carson). Buzzing with the raw fire emitted from Blanchard's livid vocals, they create the feeling you'd get if you were lost in a damp underground labyrinth lit by a flashing strobe light. They give off a disoriented, mysterious feeling in their music. "I want people to be entertained by our music, but also be somewhat violated," says Blanchard. "You know, like getting an ice-cream cone shoved in your face. It tastes good because it's ice cream but then again... someone just shoved it in your face."

But don't expect this duo to get all freakishly aggressive on our asses. Carson notes, "Sure, we make as much noise as possible, but it's an energy we can harness. So I feel we have far more in common with a band like Deerhoof than anyone who's just wearing a wrestling mask and twisting knobs."

That's why the best way to experience Point Line Plane is still live, where they exude a kinetic chemistry that comes from knowing each other for years. Blanchard is quite the showman, jumping wildly as he performs. He explains, "I think we convey a more cuddly kind of aggression than a lot of 'punk' bands because no one would believe either of us could really kick anybody's ass."

Carson continues, "Hopefully, the audience gets excitement and catharsis from seeing us flop around like abused marionettes, while putting out enough sound to deafen an old-folks home once and for all."

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