Lightning Bolt
Hark! Lightning Bolt are the loudest, most grotesquely intricate thing you’ll ever have the sheer pleasure to (try and) behold.
Two men named Brian – ‘vocalist’/drummer, Brian Chippendale; bassist, Brian Gibson – and a battered drumkit, amp-rig and bass-guitar is all that this project comprises. Oh, and in true Bob Log III stylee, Chippendale features a costume-mask which bears a microphone through which he bellows incomprehensible vocal-noises. If it weren’t so demonically sexual and exhilarating, you could mistake their aural panache for the sound of a man being sub-machine-gunned to a bloody, brutal death.
Yes, ‘invigorating’ is the key here. Their shows barely ever take place on stages; more often than not, you’ll find a huddle of hundreds crowding around the duo on the floor of any given venue/outdoor-arena across the planet as the twosome make a noise more corrosive than war. It’s Aphex Twin played by Slayer. Or a hurricane that simply forgot to leave any remnants of humanity or soul in its aftermath. F**king colossal.
Releases, they’ve had a few; since their inception in the mid-‘90s, the ‘Bolt have become a true cult in every sense of the definition (just take their unprecedented invitation to perform at two prestigious All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals on the trot, as chosen especially by uber-cool lounge-lizards Tortoise and dissonant-luminaries Sonic Youth), with records such as ‘Ride The Skies’ and an imminent ‘Frenzy’ true underground classics in the making.
Clearly, all that’s missing is the hype. And that’s why we love them so.
OFFICIAL SITE: Featuring frightfully cute drawings, a plethora of live-shots, full news and archives, plus some music-downloads, go and get acquainted.
LOAD RECORDS: Or buy some of the band\'s records; may we recommend a DVD on sale which documents a US tour of theirs from a couple of years back? It\'s lethal.
ATP FESTIVAL REVIEW - Coming Soon: believe it or not, but we obtained the band\'s first ever live-review/interview over this past weekend. We\'ll be sharing the former with you, whilst the latter will be appearing via rockfeedback in another yet-to-be-announced fashion. Apologies for the secrecy, but the future is exciting, and we\'d hate to ruin it for you all.