live: pit er pat, high places

Photo by suckapants

So my brother Stephen (he of Tazer) came up to NYC this past weekend to hang out with his big bro, with seeing live music pretty high on the list of things to do. Seeing as how he’s 16, options were limited… until we saw that the awesome Pit Er Pat were playing an all ages Todd P show in Bushwick. Oh, and, as we later found out, the honest to God Next Big Thing was opening. Who was it?!? Read on…

Well, first off, lemme just suggest you put Pit Er Pat really damned high on your list of Shows To See. I’m still not totally enamored with the records (kinda hit and miss), but live they are a TREAT. They play math/post-rock kinda stuff, and the interplay between the three of them is really a privilege to behold — they really play for themselves up there in a way that’s very voyeuristic and fun for the audience.

It should also be mentioned that their drummer, Butchy Fuego, is totally bananas amazing. Brother Stephen, himself a drummer who is nonplussed by everything (he’s a teenager!), offered this: “he’s pretty super.” From him, that’s high praise! Basically, Fuego plays lead in every song, his sticks rolling across his kit sounding for all the world like a jazz-influenced Keith Moon. Go and see.

Now, as for the Next Big Thing, that would be the High Places, a duo from Brooklyn who opened. The High Places are a guy and a girl. The guy plays a sampler/drum-pad doohickey on which he has programmed a multitude of drum sounds and production samples that add up to an incredibly loud and physical concoction of M.I.A., Konono No. 1 and Tom Tom Club. So a world/West African sound that’s 100% informed by hip-hop. Fronting this are the vocals of his female partner, whose voice is drenched by Cocteau Twins reverb and hazy malaise.

It’s a completely bewildering combo that works on a very primal level live: lots of movement, a huge, blaring sound and pop melodies (in a great, skewed kinda way). So far they only have a four-track demo and 7-inch to their name, but if they don’t blow up and get signed in the next three months I am turning in my hipster card forever.

You can download four songs gratis from their MySpace page. They really fail at capturing what they really are (way too timid), but I recommend “Shared Islands.” Hopefully we can get them on eMusic soon.