A Place to Bury Strangers

A Place to Bury Strangers have often been called “the loudest band in New York”. This may very well be the case, but unlike much so-called “loud” rock and roll that’s out there, APTBS is not loud simply for the sake of it. The sonically overdriven sound they’ve accomplished is no clumsy accident, but a carefully cultivated and well-maintained entity all its own, fostered by an unbridled passion that’s clearly evident in every live show they play and each recording they make. A Place To Bury Strangers does not so much play songs as allow them to pour out. They are songs about longing, heartbreak and confusion played extremely well and at a passionately loud volume.
While there are obvious reference points: Pornography-era Cure, early Ride, My Bloody Valentine, and pre-1990s Jesus and Mary Chain, the sound is all their own, in part due to singer/guitarist Oliver Ackermann’s day job of building custom guitar pedals (see deathbyaudio.net). Coupled with the solid bass of Jono Mofo and the relentless drumming of Jay Space, the APTBS team is a force to reckon with.
Since forming in 2004, A Place to Bury Strangers had been developing its stellar live reputation in New York City by its constant bombardment of shows. In early April of 2007 the band was rewarded with the opportunity to open for one of their major influences, the Jesus & Mary Chain at Webster Hall. This was quickly followed by another high profile opening slot for the Brian Jonestown Massacre at same venue.
Following the release of their self titled debut album in August of 2007 on Killer Pimp Records, the band accrued rave reviews in a numerous publications including a Best New Music and an 8.4 rating in Pitchfork. The album wound up being one of the top 20 best reviewed records of 2007 according to Metacritic and won Rock album of the year on Tunecore.
The band then rocketed into public consciousness in 2008. Highlights include a full US/Canadian tour with Holy F**k in February/March and being THE band to see at SXSW. This was followed in May by their first full European/UK which culminated in a legendary appearance at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona. That summer the band were handpicked by Trent Reznor to support Nine Inch Nails on an arena tour of the US and appeared at the Oya Festival where they got to play with another of their heroes, the recently reunited My Bloody Valentine.

Hunters: Equal parts Motorhead, Sonic Youth and maybe the early Misfits, Hunters boast an aggressive, raw style of punk. Since February, they’ve been rising through the ranks, thanks to a 2-song offering mixed by Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
“Their aggressive instrumentation is led by pounding drums, wailing guitar riffs and in your face basslines, and the shared vocal duties of Derek Watson and Isabel Almeida distinguish them from other indie-punk bands out there…Needless to say, Hunters set the bar high as the first band on the bill.” – Audio Perv review of The Kills/JEFF The Brotherhood/Hunters show at Terminal 5.

Landing was started in 1998 and includes Aaron Snow, Adrienne Snow and Daron Gardner. They have released eight critically acclaimed full lengths and a slew of EP’s and 7″ singles on labels including K Records, Geographic North, Strange Attractors Audio House, Ba Da Bing!, Music Fellowship, and Mind Expansion. Landing’s music has been described as “inhabiting that amorphous space where time itself expands and contracts according to a delay pedal setting, and dream pop blurs into dream proper”- 8.0 Pitchfork. Inspired by first wave shoegaze, space rock, psych, krautrock, post-punk, post-rock, ambient, drone, and experimental musics, Landing forges these influences into “some of the best avant-prog and lo-fi space rock around” – 5 star review Mojo.
Landing has toured extensively across the USA, playing with bands including Windy & Carl, Kinski, Dirty Projectors, White Rainbow, Hood, Bardo Pond, Sonic Boom, Paik, and many more. As veterans of the space-rock, shoegaze, psychedelic music scene, Landing has been invited to two Terrastocks and the Brainwaves festival.