S-S-S-Spectres
WHAT
WE KNOW:
A band of charlatans, magicians, mediums and scofflaws claiming
to be "S-S-S-Spectres" surfaced in Brooklyn in
early '05. Since then they have been frequenting the meaner
night-time establishments throughout the New York Isles
and beyond, conjuring up and putting questions to the spirits
of "The Contortions," "Bush Tetras ,"
"The Fall" and "The Birthday Party."
Some rubes taken in by their performance have also claimed
to have felt the chilling touch of "Six Finger Satellite,"
"Erase Errata" and "Old Time Relijun"!
Their spellcraft is simple enough: jerky percussion and
skittish bass riding waves of gang vocals and chants amidst
a squall of shrieks from a home-built 12-string guitar.
Through photo-comparisons and tireless cross-checking, we
are fairly certain their members have previously been implicated
in incidents of unholy music and mischief in Providence,
San Francisco, Washington D.C. and even Austin, TX! Today,
these blackguards have united into one single-minded, seething
mass, and they have been plying their trade along the coasts
in company with the likes of Country Teasers, Magik Markers,
Deerhunter, No Things, Meneguar, Cause Co-motion and assorted
other fiends and groups. Their shockingly brazen manifesto,
Sea Potentia Divina , was released by a shadowy organization
known only as "New York Night Train Recordings"
in early '07. Everything beyond these barest facts is either
mere conjecture or the ramblings of the mad.
A
WARNING!
Be wary of "S-S-S-Spectres" and their wily magicks!
You may not know them by sight, as they have been seen in
assorted disguises and ritual dress. Reports of appearances
in black cloaks, blindfolds or horrid tribal masks are not
uncommon, and there have even been some accounts of these
so-called "S-S-S-Spectres" lashing themselves
together with a great rope in the manner of Odysseus! Their
"performances" never last long, but can leave
you soul-stolen, wicked and smitten with their blasphemous
songs, lest you are very careful and stop up your ears and,
yea, your eyes as well.
REVIEWS
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[S-S-S-Spectres'] dissonant honkings and lurching beats evoke No Wave heroes like James Chance.
-Ben Sisario, New York Times
[S-S-S-Spectres'] dark, uncommonly hard-angled post-punk suggests various 80s bands without seeming retro.
-Mike Wolf, Time Out New York
This mysterious Brooklyn no-wave outfit specialize in musical confusion: Nearly everything on their new Sea Potentia Divina EP sounds like two bands playing at the same time. In this cut, it’s not witches vs. wolves but the B-52’s vs. King Sunny Ade; in "You Faux Pas" they pit Bob Bert-era Sonic Youth’s rhythm section against "Crazy In Love."
-Mikael Wood, PaperThinWalls.com
The trio played gloriously spazzed-out punk with a really strong low end, and their spectacle was accompanied by two spangle-outfitted dancers whose flailing and handstands only added to the fun.
Idolator.com
Brooklyn minimo-punk rockers firing off noise-y staccato drumming, hypnotic bass repitition, high strung guitar licks, and low end half-spoken vocal fragments ala Mark E. Smith or James Murphy.
- Todd P, toddpnyc.com
Back to S-S-S-Spectres. The S-S-S-Six-Finger-Satellite s-s-s-spastic tempos made me reminiscent of Providence noise-art-rock, and that’s-s-s-s a good thing.
- RecordParty.com
NYC's S-S-Spectres burried the Eagle's Nest (Northampton, MA) at sea Saturday night with their angular math core and interstitial tales of the dead and dying...er something. It's conceptual, and I don't have it all figured out yet. But sorrowful punk tales, or aggressive (sea) chantey core might begin to suggest what the trio known as S-S-Spectre produces.
- neverheardofthem.com
2007 take on a more punked out Birthday Party/Fall sound.
- screamingbloodymess.com
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