In Brooklyn where it’s no surprise to overhear a guy on the street telling his friend, “Yeeeaahhh, this is like, TOTALLY known as the hipster capital now!” It’s nice to have another layer of existence that’s still unpredictable enough to hold you back from bursting out laughing and then tripping said guy. Bar/music venue Grand Victory is one of those places. I’ve seen good shows and shit shows there, and I’ve definitely seen plenty of characters. And even the shows that seem like a bust at first can somehow turn into something unexpected.
Such is the case with last night, when Luke Rathborne played a show that seems to only be announced the day of on the band’s Facebook, along with Portland Oregon’s Wooden Indian Burial Ground, who was the definite highlight. WIBG began eerily, with frontman Justin Fowler pitch bending drone noise with what looked like a handmade analog synth, like trying to pick up a weak AM radio signal from deep in the woods. Then the ghosts were set free out of the effects machines and the band proceeded to rock out with some killer post punk heavy psych gypsy jam songs. Yeah, all o’ that.
I couldn’t really tell you what any of the songs were called that they played. Someone did yell out a request for “Holy Mountain,” and they do have their entire Self-Titled EP on Bandcamp, but their live set felt more like heavily jammed out versions more loosely based on the recordings. Listening to them play was like driving on a twisting and turning highway, that sometimes lead into dense thicket of fuzzed out heavy psych drone, would slow and crawl, past graveyards and ancient ruins, then open up again like following a cliffside road of gypsy rock overlooking the ocean. This was all punctuated with Justin’s completely fuzzed-out vocals, full of whoops, hollers, and what sounded like mocking hearty laughs. The bassist was one of the sickest bass players I’ve seen in a while, wilding out all over the neck of his instrument from end to end. The drummer was working with a small, pared down kit that needed constant readjusting from the beating it was taking. All three guys were locked in the whole time, speeding up and slowing down seamlessly, shrinking to minimal song structure and then blowing it right back out. It was one wild and awesome trip.
Before that, Luke Rathborne did his fair share of helping to turn the vibe around. He and his band, who collectively simply go by the moniker Rathborne, are just so lovable and scrappy with their jangley garage-tinged power pop tunes that’s just what you need sometimes to dance off all that PBR. Luke left out the older piano ballads like “Tomorrow” and “I Can Be One” in favor of the newer guitar and scratchy vocal-driven new tunes off the SOFT LP, like “Wanna Be You” and the already media-acclaimed “Last Forgiven.” I’m wondering when they will tour with King Tuff, but maybe that would be too easy.
Halfway through the set Luke beckoned the crowd forward, inviting anyone who wanted to fill the gap in front of the stage to do so, because “it’ll be a lot more fun.” It’s weird that you have to just tell people how to act, and especially when they need to loosen up sometimes, but it worked. Rathborne & band busted through their power pop jams with a garage edge, and it was way more fun once everyone got into it.
Wooden Indian Burial Ground are about two and a half weeks into their seven-week tour. They have an LP and 10 inch out, both with cool artwork. Rathborne looks to be laying low on the show front for now, but they do have all kinds of things to check out on their bandcamp as well.
