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St. Petersburg, FL 5/23/98 |
| Godzilla arrived in St. Petersburg today. No, not that wimpy reptile
with the big feet. I'm talking real monster sounds and sights from "Cubanate"
and "DJ?Acucrack." You can buy their albums and crank them up.
You can flick the light switches off and on all you want. There is no way
you can match the assault on your senses by these industrial/techno monsters,
especially in the intimate confines of an old movie theater. Sure they looked innocent enough, but give "Acumen Nation" refugees Jason Novak and Jamie Duffy of "DJ?Acucrack" their keyboard/ turntable/sampler/DJ (Dr. Jekyll?) setup and they turn into Hyde-bound monsters of bass and percussion, going nonstop for nearly an hour. It is impossible to identify particular pieces since they all run together and each performance is unique, but it was a much louder and flashier version of their album, "Mutants of Sound." As smoke tinged with incense wafts out over the audience the beat begins to pulse through the heart of the beast. Strobe lights flashed across the stage as the duo started our trip the outer limits of noise and destruction. Jason, in a blue jumpsuit, had obviously come to work and got busy scratching out a living, while Jamie hit the keyboard and his Heinekin with equal vigor. Waves of distortion wrapped up in a blinding beat poured out of the giant speakers, and the light show flashed in time with the beat. While there was no dance floor, a few souls begin to give in to the power of the sound, while others stood and let the music roll over them. Like a monster truck, the two DJs were constantly shifting gears as we moved down the techno highway. Climbing the grade they downshifted for a moment before pushing it into overdrive as they hit the top of the grade. We were truckin' now! It's easy to see why their brand of techno/industrial sampling and percussion is so appealing. It gets inside and touches something basic, something animal; music that savages the calm beast. Finally the monster rolled to a stop, and our breathing returned to normal, as the adrenaline rush died down. The curtain was pulled back, and the great OZ is once again just a couple of guys who have been to a Stephen King kind of truck-driving school! But that was only the beginning, for now the "live" monster reared it's head as "Cubanate" took the stage. The British band known for their lyrical and sonic assaults have hit these shores, just like that other disturbed monster, on the heels of their latest album, "Interference." Bald headed lead singer and songwriter, Marc Heal, says " I felt it was time for Cubanate to become intelligent in what they were singing about." The lyrics are personal and in some parts as riveting as the beat that surrounds them. So now we had a monster with brains - shades of Jurassic Park! While they performed several songs off the new album, including "Voids" and "It," they also made sure to play the smash hits "Body Burns" and "Oxyacetylene." With the fog machine going full blast, and Heal backlit by flashing strobes, he roared into the mike, while Phil Barry and Roddy Stone led the guitar assault and Dave Bianchi was the keyboardist/"padbasher." The band has also added a drummer for the tour. Since I didn't hear their album until after the concert, nothing prepared me for what was about to happen. Actually I don't think anything could have prepared me for what happened. From the opening beat I was transfixed, like a deer in the headlights, as this band just rolled right over me. I needed sunglasses, I needed earplugs, I needed to hear more! I'm no youngster, but damned if I didn't want to get up and move, so powerful was the beat that coursed through those speakers. Heal snarled, he barked, he growled but most important, he spoke to me with his lyrics. "Junky" jabbed a needle in my veins, "Oxyacetylene" made my body burn in a flashfire of 120 bpm sound. It was a monster "high" and definitely addicting. Godzilla? He's a twinky compared to "Cubanate." |
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Artist: DJ? ACUCRACK Title: "Mutants of Sound" Label: Slipdisc Records Reviewed By: Donn Jehs Rating:  |
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Artist: CUBANATE Title: "Interference" Label: TVT Reviewed By: Donn Jehs Rating:  |
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