Stabmasterarson were always a local band worth rooting for. Bandleaders Kerry Zettel and Shawn Kock seemed like good guys, and they demonstrated all the right influences—British postpunk, CB4. Still, they never quite hit what they were aiming at. In 2005, the band changed their name to Das Llamas, kept playing frequent bar shows, toured, and released a six-song EP. And they continued to be a good band that didn't live up to their potential.
Now they have. With their new record, World War (set to be released this summer on Zettel's own Aviation Records), Das Llamas have finally nailed the tense, moody postpunk they've been working toward for years. Its eight songs are airtight and dense with busy drumming, relentless bass, stabs of guitar, and ominous synth leads. It's a lot of sound for a four piece to produce, but Das Llamas are impressive multitaskers, with Kock simultaneously playing guitar and synth via foot pedals and Zettel juggling bass, vocals, and keys. Zettel's vocals are distant and reverberating, alternating between urgent shouts and low, almost droning singing. Thomas Burke, who joined the band last summer, and Aaron "Rusty" Everett, who just joined in March, keep all the activity manageable, laying down tight, sweat-soaked drumming and sharp blasts of guitar, respectively.
At a recent practice session, Zettel explains that the just-expanded lineup has been a turning point for the band. "It's good that we added another member, 'cause we have this theory that we write better songs the less we can move around in here." It's a handy theory, as the space is crowded with amps and gear, the floor a mess of cords and pedals, and even the walls cluttered with old show posters.
"There's an added depth now with Rusty," says Zettel, more seriously, "instead of just dropping parts in and out, running things through more or less effects, and ending up with these walls of noise." The nuance is somewhat lost in their practice space, where cramped quarters and high amplification make not only for walls of noise, but also a floor—and the suitcase I'm sitting on—perceptibly vibrating with the stuff.
On Saturday, May 5, at the Comet, the band had just slightly more room to move around—the place was pretty packed for their performance—but their songs didn't suffer any for it. Das Llamas' live set is intense, and the sound was better than I expected from the Comet (apparently they've recently upgraded their sound system). Zettel is an arresting frontman, requisitely dark and tattooed, steady on bass and injecting his vocals with some odd mixture of nervousness and disdain. Kock, who shows similar levels of ink, keeps busy shredding guitar and stomping his foot pedals, rocking in place like he was still in the cramped practice room. Burke, a flailing monster on drums, never misses a beat, and Rusty plays with a kind of quiet swagger.
After their set, I heard nothing but good things from people in the crowd—even from a couple people known to be incredibly curmudgeonly about bands—and even saw one woman ask Zettel to autograph her poster. Sometime in the last several months, Das Llamas have gone from merely likable to truly exciting. It's been a long time coming. 
