Headquarters
Fri Aug 9 at

2nd Avenue Pizza.

The one night I didn't bring earplugs to a show, I thought my eardrums were going to implode, shooting bits of bone and cartilage deep within my gray matter. The reason for this fear was Monster Defiance Headquarters, a three-piece noise assault that filled 2nd Avenue Pizza's back room with sound textures that demand ear protection if you plan on ever having a conversation at normal volume again.

MDH is made up of Jody McElmurry, Nick Rogerson, and Mark Barth, three men who enjoy making audiences squirm. Their show featured more equipment than most rock acts--a couple amps, a half dozen stereos, a half dozen effects pedals, two guitars, and lots of hidden boards with knobs that could be twiddled to increase or decrease the shrill factor of what was blaring through the speakers. Behind all of this sat a small black-and-white TV that switched between static and Antiques Road Show.

The entire MDH set consisted of one 60-minute "song," an amorphous noisefuck of aggressive static, guitar feedback, and fuzzy electronic explosions, making it feel like we were sitting on a jumbo jet runway listening to planes take off. At times, McElmurry would pick up a mic, singing emphatically as his head bobbed around, his words lost in the sheer bombast of the trio's production.

The group was not without a sense of humor, though. Throughout the show, the band members passed out religious pamphlets and tapes, crayons, and baseball trading cards. Their presentation would lose its sharp intensity as they lowered the decibel level slightly to clutter the room with readings from the Mormon scripture, filtering out from the multiple stereos.

Overall, the one word I can use for this band is intense, as there are no comfortable pockets in the noise they make--only rough edges they exploit and ratchet up with the unadulterated enthusiasm of a kid ripping wings off insects. If your ears could use a good cleaning, MDH will be disturbing the peace again on Friday, August 16, at Zak's.