There is
something so immediate about a Freshkills (http://www.myspace.com/freshkills)show -
something in the involvement of the band in the music, in the quivering voice
and sometimes-pained expression on the face of the frontman.The lyrics, which sometimes aren’t
completely intelligible, are absolutely worth a second look.Lead singer Zachary Lipez is an adept
storyteller - his words are abstract and poetic, gritty and visual, carrying
hints of the sacred in tales of the profane - and they are made all the more
real when delivered through five moving, breathing bodies right in front of you
on stage.
These five
individuals with warring influences are what make this Brooklyn band (comprised
of the aforementioned Lipez on vocals, guitarists Johnny Rauberts and Timothy
Murray, bassist Mishka Shubaly and drummer Jim Paradise), so instantly
recognizable, even despite being a band of few words, as they were at Music
Hall of Williamsburg (QRO venue review), opening for ...And You Will Know Us by
the Trail of Dead (QRO live review) on Saturday, October 19th.Their punk rock-styled pummel and
unflagging drive is perfectly coupled with Lipez’s full, distinct pipes, and
even more with his nervous energy onstage.Of course, it’s not that he’s actually nervous - instead that
his energy truly inhabits the songs, as if he’s living his reasons for writing
them all over again.The energy is
present from the start, creeping just beneath the surface.The band is clustered together in front
of a wall of amps and equipment, unable to utilize the full expanse of the
stage.Noise from the double
guitars reverberates, seeming like the average soundcheck, but then without
warning, and without any grandiose introduction, the sound transforms into the
opener, "Asleep Means No", the first in a set made almost entirely of cuts from
their latest self-titled release (QRO review).
Lipez begins
- hand on cheek, fists clenched, and looking as though he’s actually going
through something onstage.Steady drums introduce the track, and
at once the tempo is high and the story is told - all the while showcasing
their honest lyrics, driving rhythms, and abrupt tempo changes.Lipez is steadfast at the front, and by
the second song, "Enemies", their signature frenetic energy is breaking through
- his skin is crawling, the drums launch to the forefront at the pounding
chorus and breakdown, and the band is really beginning to come alive.It doesn’t take long to realize that
Freshkills has a serious knack for memorable, anthemistic, shout-it-out
choruses, and "Enemies" is no different.And in a way, a line from "Enemies" can describe the feeling of watching
Freshkills, desperate and devoted, offering up their sonic punch under red
lights and dark shadows - "I can feel / Something enormous rushing towards
us".
Freshkills playing "Child We Almost Had" live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on
September 19th, 2009, video by Captain Whiptastic:
The second
song ends abruptly, making space for the few words Freshkills does say that night."We’re Freshkills, from down the
street," Lipez says with a nonchalant but semi-comic air, gesturing to the
streets outside with his water bottle.Then before you know it, the music rushes in again - "My House" begins,
and Lipez is belting the lyrics with palpable desperation, backed up on the
chorus with steady vocals from the guitarists, every member fully involved in
their respective instruments - some not even eyeing the audience at all.Yet not a moment of it is passé, not a
moment lacks authenticity.It only
becomes more apparent during their next song, "Child We Almost Had", a new cut
saved for the recording of their forthcoming album, which fits right in with
their dark and emotional yet direct and hard-hitting repertoire.The drums are building, Lipez is
literally hanging off the mic stand, repeating, "Not tonight, not tonight,"
bassist Shubaly has his back turned, playing to his amp, and it becomes
undeniably clear that Freshkills have this ‘desperate energy’ thing down to a
science.It’s what makes a nearly
wordless show still so unbelievably engaging.
Freshkills playing "The Bigger Man" live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on
September 19th, 2009, video by Captain Whiptastic:
The next
song in Freshkills’ set stands out completely."The Bigger Man", another new track that has yet to be
recorded, saunters in with distinct, creeping riffs of bass and guitar, and as
the band plays on, especially furiously for the breakdowns, it seems Freshkills
is flirting with a sort of harder, rocky bluesiness that unexpectedly suits
them very well.Then the formless,
rising noise of the guitars is back - building ever so slowly before suddenly
bursting into a track which brings the band back to material from their last
album: "I Quit Smoking".
Freshkills playing "I Quit Smoking" live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on
September 19th, 2009, video by Captain Whiptastic:
The song
is stylish yet touching, emotional yet indifferent - a completely honest
portrait of the complicated kind of hope we somehow cling to in the face of
trysts that just can’t seem to work out."I said I... I want to be happy for you / And I...Want to be less helpless all the time /
And I... Don’t want to be someone you got over / And I... Just want to be around
when you come alive."As the
chorus chugs and Lipez is standing at the mic, staring out, repeating "When you
come alive, when you come alive," you get a glimpse of that joy he’s chasing,
and it couldn’t seem any more true.Yet without getting too deep into what could resemble Freshkills ‘ballad
territory’, their nervous energy returns with an immediate explosion into the
unmistakable "Caroline", a little firecracker of a song just under three
minutes - constantly moving, pounding, driving - the clincher of their formula
for a singable, repetitive chorus.
Freshkills playing "Caroline" live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on
September 19th, 2009, video by Captain Whiptastic:
And then,
without missing a beat or offering much more than "Freshkills, this is the last
song," the band has suddenly reached their finale: an unforgettable rendition
of "Revelations".They’ve chosen
the ideal song to close their set with - a dramatic, powerful pinnacle that
leaves a lasting impression - and they ride it out to the very last note,
seeming again like that ‘something enormous’, like something to behold."Now bow your head, know that evil is
real/ Now bow your head, know that evil is real / You’ve got to believe /
You’ve got to believe," Lipez shouts, nearly chanting to the frantic tempo, and
this is only the start of the ascension.
Freshkills playing "Revelations" live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg on
September 19th, 2009, video by Captain Whiptastic:
The band
is moving as much as they can amongst the restrictive crowd of amps, and
absolutely punch it for the chorus - everyone is wholly absorbed, bobbing
heads, singing along: "If you think the heart that beats / Beats for you and
yours alone / Revelations, revelations / Revelations, revelations..."It’s simultaneously spiritual and
sinister, seeming like a beckoning, an otherworldly invocation, and the spectator
can’t help but be honestly struck as the lights are blaring, the band is
shouting, the feeling is fervent, the sound is skyrocketing upwards, and then
suddenly - "Freshkills, thank you" - they’re gone.Who needs lengthy between-song banter when you can run the gamut of
emotions in a tight, explosive set, even as openers?Let the music do the talking and Brooklyn’s Freshkills will
be the real
statement-makers.
Set
List
(Noise)
1.Asleep Means No
2.Enemies
3.My House
4.Child We Almost Had
5.The Bigger Man
(Noise)
6.I Quit Smoking
7.Caroline
8.Revelations
Freshkills
is playing October 30th with Future of The Left at Music Hall of Williamsburg (QRO
concert listing).Their 2008 release, Freshkills, will be
re-released by In Music We Trust in February of 2010, and the band is aiming to
record their next album this December.About the new album, singer Zachary Lipez remarked via email:
"Musically, it’s a little looser and angrier than the last one.Lyrically it’s about how everybody lies
every time, anytime, all the time, to any dumb lying fucker who will
listen.And good for them.I want it to be as emotionally face
punching as ‘The Lion and the Cobra’ would be if it didn’t have that awful late
80s early 90s production.And it
won’t.So it will be." And there
you have it.
Set
List
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