FFFF Live Review: A Place To Bury Strangers

Photo by Sandy Carson

A Place To Bury Strangers

Ultimately, there wasn't any point in the Jesus & Mary Chain reuniting, even for a one-off. A Place To Bury Strangers' swirl-pop time bomb Sunday on the Orange stage left the Reid brothers' South by Southwest 2012 Belmont gig a tattered memory. Guitarist/singer Oliver Ackermann pinwheeled "Onwards to the Wall" in a blur of fuzzball distortion and epic, earsplitting ultrasound. (Note to self: Stand at least 12 inches "So Far Away" from speaker columns next time.) Robi Gonzalez's furious drum work patterned in and out of Dion Lunadon's bass mayhem, but A Place To Bury Strangers' finest asset remains its ability to keep the chaos at the heart of the group's universe in check. You're never "Alone" in this crowd. Comparisons to J&MC and BRMC may have dogged them in their earlier years, but if you see these Strangers coming toward you on the street, best to cross over and psych 'em out before they do the same to you.