Physical Forms take many forms in live debut
Kevin Bronson on
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Physical Forms – the new quintet featuring Regan Farquhar and the Mae Shi’s Jeff Byron – made their live debut Monday night at Pehrpsace, and even the most hyphenated genre names won’t do their sound justice. Power-chamber-electro-pop-arena-funk, we hardly knew ye.
Farquhar (known in indie hip-hop circles as the motormouthed rapper Busdriver) sings in the band and was a veritable neo-Stipe. But there are other things you should know: Byron’s synth sensibilities were strong in the mix. (Fans of The Mae Shi’s “HLLLYH” will find a reference point.) Marcus Savino, one of two skin-pounders in Physical Forms, is the most technically gifted drummer the Smell scene has produced. And multi-instrumentalist Marty Sataman once played in Silver Daggers, a noise-jazz band that may have strongly influenced the overall sound of Physical Forms.
No two ways about it: Monday’s performance was rough at best. Physical Forms doesn’t seem to know the meaning of “less is more” and it’s going to take considerable practice time to perfect noise so intricate. But the central conceit is a good one, and if the bouncing crowd was evidence of anything, it’s that a Byron-Farquhar marriage is one the gods intended.
That show slayed me. Dead. Murdered. Slayed. SO GOOD. It’s true, the sound mix was kind of muddy and all over itself, but Pehrspace isn’t exactly the Hollywood Bowl. They’ll figure it out but in the meantime I want that music ON MY GODDAMN IPOD, COME ON GUYS, HURRY UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.