Sightings
w/Factums, Withdrawal Method
Fun House, Tues May 24, 9:30 pm, $7.
New York is happening again. I’m not talking about derivative bores like Interpol and the Strokes; I’m blabbering about the real underground, the shit you’ve gotta scour Arthur and The Wire to know about. Survey the Big Apple’s weird noise scene (Black Dice, Double Leopards, Jane, etc.) and you’d think we’re in a new golden age for psychedelic improv brain-bombing.
Uh-uh, says Richard Hoffman, bassist for Sightings, one of the corroded jewels in NYC’s freak-scene crown. “Rock music is so diminished from [its ’60s/’70s] heyday,” he opines. “There’s a limited market/fan base for any rock nowadays. We may be in a fair revival of the exploratory spirit, but rock’s ability to reach people, for the unusual to thrive out of the basement setting, is pretty limited.”
Maybe my view’s skewed. But it’s still inspirational to see labels like Load (which released three Sightings albums) and Paw Tracks thrive in this conservative climate.
But Hoffman dismisses NYC’s specialness. “We’re resistant to the idea that NYC has any direct influence on the music we make. There are so many comparisons to other NY bands-and classifications of us as no wave-that I don’t get. Environment always has an influence, but we aren’t trying to channel the gritty, shitty city into our music or anything. We just like a lot of weird, different music. And we play our instruments a certain way.”
Sightings’ cataclysmic noise proclivities peaked on their second album, 2003’s Absolutes. If you find the last three songs of the Stooges’ Fun House to be too mellow, you’ll dig it. But on 2004’s Arrived in Gold, Sightings tone down the construction-site anarchy and allow space into their wanton decompositions.
One wonders if Sightings need special psyching up and/or mind augmentation to achieve the proper state to play their music live?
“Beyond varying levels of beer imbibing, not many mental/chemical preparations are made,” says guitarist Mark Morgan. “From careful trial studies and personal experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ecstasy, hard drugs, pot, and prescription pills have an adverse effect on our overall performance. It’s cappuccinos and imported beer from here on out.” ■
