Photo credit: Tedd Henn

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1. MP3: Untitled
2. MP3: Untitled
3. MP3: Untitled
4. MP3: Untitled

Download the entire set in FLAC.

Microkingdom

rhodes amp – sennheiser 441
cello – sm57 in bridge
guitar – sennheiser 421
kick – beta 52
snare – sm57
overheads – sm81s
sax – sennheiser 421
scwelch – sm57
electronics – sm57
stage – apex 460 tube (c12 modded clone-set to omni)
stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage)
mid room: Oktava 012 (x/y)
back room: AT871R Boundary

We left DC around 8:30 pm (yes that’s pm) to begin our 10 hour trek to Portland, ME.  Actually we thought it would be a 10 hour trek, but it took around 12.  Kids, when you use a Tom Tom make sure you pay attention to the “Avoid Toll Roads” screen.  Not respecting that screen will cost you time and tears.

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1. MP3: Pfisters – She’s Mine
2. MP3: Pfisters – Cluck-U

Pfisters can be found in their native habitat, the live show, TWICE this weekend: the DNA Test Fest III pre-party at their home-base, Ruintown on Fri Apr 2nd, and the big show proper on Sat Apr 3rd at Sonar.

Punk for the musically capable is what crossed my mind on the first playthrough of Narcicity. That assessment certainly holds up when you break down Pfisters’ membership: the trio is comprised of Jason Donnells (The New Flesh), and Glenn Gentzke and Darren Bolk (both ex-Trash Camp), a veritable treasure-trove of local out-there rock talent.

Pfisters, (much like the New Flesh) forgo the mind-numbing and simplistic repetition of technically mundane elements, essentially eschewing the bricks and mortar for the majority of punk that takes off fast and hits hard. Guitar and bass on this album rip with startlingly proficient abandon and a garage-y twang; drums manage to attain accuracy both rhythmic and arrhythmic, whether flailing into anemic disintegration or propelling forward in tightly meted phrases. They also dabble in unpredictable tonal progressions and chords. However, their true hat-trick is that this release manages to pack so many elements that would normally be considered abrasive and challenging, into something effortlessly listenable. I attribute this partly to their uncanny ability to carve melodies out of madness.

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