What You Missed: This Place Is A Zoo “Strangers” release show. 6/27/15
Tag Archives: This Place is a Zoo
These People Are Animals! A review of This Place is a Zoo’s Strangers
By Marlon Admiral Joseph Cappuccino
I was sitting in my easy chair sipping my afternoon tea after a rousing game of strip-polo, when I was approached by the representative of Jesse Davidson to write a review for This Place is a Zoo’s latest album Strangers. “But this is a hardcore band,” I replied remembering years ago hearing their music in class with former drummer Ryan Wolanski and genuinely enjoying it, “I don’t know anything about hardcore punk music.” It’s true, I’ve dabbled in Dance Gavin Dance, I’ve heard a few North Lane songs and liked them and I’ve been known to, as the youth say,”fux with” with La Dispute but for the most part remain ignorant about the genre. “Mr. Davidson would like you to have the review on his desk by Saturday” I was told. And thus began an interesting prospect to offer an outsider’s, or dare I say, Stranger’s perspective on what proved to be quite the complex album.
The soundscape opens up with “Distinction” in which some ambient space pinball sounds that give way to heavy guitar, drum beats and screams. By the slow, smooth, somewhat jazzy refrain of the second track “Curiosity Killed Us All” (a song I expect is about the dangers of what we may find on Mars) it became clear that This Place is a Zoo exhibits a trait that is the one common through-line of all good Antelope Valley bands. They refuse to be confined by one specific genre and will borrow from and shift to anything that fits. Their protean antics take the listener from the zesty Latin waltz feel of “Deadline”, to the funky reduction spread over the title track “Strangers”, to the insane gumbo of stylistic changes within “Compulsion Sets In” morphing effortlessly throughout the album from one style to another and always bringing it back home to the brutality
Now, one of the things I immediately noticed as someone enthusiastic about lyrics is more often than otherwise, I couldn’t understand a single word happening and of course I tried my best to avoid reading the provided lyrics on bandcamp because that’s cheating. I assume that’s a customary staple of hardcore, as I never can figure the words out. At some points it even felt like the vocalist made a clear and potent point to be as unclear and unintelligible as possible but I was pleased to find that it didn’t just descend into chaos and wild careless thrashing. The music seems more to follow the Khalil Gibran philosophy that music is the language of the spirit and communicates primarily to the emotions telling stories of hopelessness, frustration, revenge, and frustration masterfully through the notes, dynamics and syncopations. Leaving the actual words as supplementary footnotes in case the listener wants further exploration of the themes. And this is so well done and so captivating, I found myself dancing along, shouting unintelligibly and overturning furniture alone in my bedroom. “THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN. MY SANITY’S WEARING THIN” (I really can’t get enough of that bittersweet tortured disco “Insecurities”). Not to mention my delight to find the album includes a seven-minute track about extinction called “Extinction” which, I have to say is EXACTLY the kind of thing I’m into.
I came to about 50 minutes after the start of the album when my laptop fell silent. My clothes were badly torn and I was washing blood off my hands. Whose blood? What transpired on this night? What had I done? What evidence had I yet to hide? I wasn’t sure but I found myself feeling strangely hopeful for the future after listening. Awash with an unexpected euphoria. This Place is a Zoo delivered a solid hard core punk rock music album and I’m confident their future as musicians (barring crumbling society, alien invasion, and the end of the world) is a bright one.
This Place is a Zoo’s album Strangers is available on bandcamp for $8 or more if you so choose and if we’re ascribing numerical ratings with these reviews, I’d give them an 8174/10000 and a “Good Job” sticker with a star and a thumbs up. And I’d like to offer my recommendation for anyone capable of turning sound waves into information to give them a try.
Check out Strangers below:
If you would like to hear Marlon on soundcloud, click here:
Show Review: End of the Year Winter Blast 2014
by Jesse Davidson
Bands: Wile, How Scandinavian, OG Dino, Patella
Date: 12/27/14
Cost: Free
Leaving my house in a post Christmas haze, I was headed to an event on the night of December 27th that I rarely attend, a garage house show. My experience with attending shows is wide and vast. Everything from arena shows, bar gigs on the floor, college open mic nights with no mics, and everything in between. Although many differences exist between these shows, there is a huge detail underneath it all. Depending on your event, live events offer a varying element of danger. In a giant sports center, little danger. These waters have been charted before. Bar/club gigs, the terrain gets rockier. You’ve been in these woods. Just be careful you don’t become surrounded by wolves. When you go to a house show, you’re going off the edge of the map. Sure there’s probably going to be land where you’re going, but who knows what else? Simply put, you truly have no idea what is going to happen. Will your night be pure magic or pure hell? Maybe just a lukewarm experience. It all depends on your personality and the circumstances you were thrown in.
I didn’t print directions or put the address in my phone. I just reviewed the route and remembered the address in case I made a wrong turn. Driving to the show was interesting. Slightly more eager to leave for this one. It would be a small departure away from the mass of Christmas that had just ended. Not that my holiday wasn’t good but I needed a break. Almost there. I approached a crossroad. The mall on one side. My route on the other. What a better way to depart than go the opposite direction. Drove slow through the neighborhood, looking for signs of this house. Bingo. Cars and young people. I make a U-turn and parked at the end of the street in the opposite direction. Waiting for my friend to show up, I text my girlfriend I love her. Stepped out of the car, I could hear the music being mechanically thrown in the air. Only two houses away now. Weird vibes growing stronger as I approached the house. It was like a mix between Halloween and gloom. I paralleled the closed garaged door moving toward the back gate, which was left open. I was then smacked over the head by some of the strangest music I’ve ever heard in my life. Metallic droning sounds. Audible recordings of despair. Industrial noises falling into blackness. A snare drum that sounded like machine gunfire randomly interrupting the music. At the forefront, a man screaming that sounded like his body was being pulled in two different directions.
I was frozen solid. I had an equal amount of curiosity and desire to leave immediately. One thing was for sure. I wasn’t going in without Soul Brother backup. David Hodrick, drummer for This Place is a Zoo and wearer of funny hats, would be supplying that. Once he arrived, we made our way in. I was bracing for the weirdest show I’d ever see. My imagination began painting an image from when I first heard the screams. Surely there would be madness at the highest level. Fear and Loathing in Garage. Outside was reality. Inside was Odd. As we entered the show, it was Odd but not for reasons expected. There was no cloud of smoke. No bottles being passed around. No drugs being shared. We walk in and find about 25 people watching a man scream into a mic, nodding their heads to drone music. That may sound somewhat pretentious but still, I was pleasantly surprised and happy that these kids showed up just to hear the music with no other motive. Part of the show was still odd for reasons I expected. There was still a man three feet in front of me screaming his guts out to soundtrack that would be playing as you wandered through the gates of hell. Behind him a projector played film of images and visuals I can’t accurately describe. It like a combination the film playing during the tunnel scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and black and white footage that would be used at the beginning of a horror movie.After about 10-15 minutes of watching him, his set ended. I found out afterward, his name was Wile. Everyone then dispersed. Some gathered in groups to quietly discuss music. Most wanted some fresh air. A few new people arrived. One of them with In-N-Out and promptly planted himself on the couch in the back of the garage. The next band was How Scandinavian. Their guitarist and singer Bryan, also the one in charge of this show, introduced the band and thanked everyone for coming. This was the first of two sets, this one being a covers set. The first kick hits. The mood changes. We’ve moved from a dark room lit up by a creepy film to Christmas lights creating a parameter around the band and drum kit. I’m not sure how it was created but these lights would flash on and off in time with the music. Darkness. Light. Darkness Light. It was slowly mesmerizing. I don’t remember what songs they played or could really recognize any of them. I just remember at one point it felt like time stopped. I looked over the crowd all transfixed on the band. Dark. Light. Dark. Light. Everyone had a different face. Some more weathered than others. Some as fresh as the previous day. Everyone tuned in to what was happening. For a split second, everyone was unified. Different faces and all. Dark. Light. Dark. Light. Over the top of all this, the band played spacey music and Bryan sang, “The Party is Over…” while the lights, continued to flash. Then it was over
Again the routine continued. Fresh air. Conversations. New people. Also, just like the mood changed with How Scandinavian. The next group was OG Dino. I don’t know how to describe this and I don’t think I really could. I guess it could be considered “Free Comedy Rap”. I say free because in between each rap segment one of the duo of OG would bang on a cymbals while the other would play the recorder. Then they would interject lyrics about having sex with pregnant women really hard, eczema goat cheese, and yelling about how his girlfriend was a bitch at top volume. The beats changed rhythmically and frequently. All while a single strobe illuminated above the band only added to the weirdness. Hodrick and I were both surprised to learn their CDs were for sale at the low price of $1 USD. After the assault that was OG Dino, Hodrick and I left to a 24-hour diner where I had the worst fucking eggs of my entire life.
This type of show is certainly not for everyone but everyone should attend a show like this at least once. It is one of the rawest types of performances you’ll ever see. The sound won’t be that great. It will be cramped and hot. But that’s kind of the point. No matter what happens, you won’t forget what you’ve experienced.