Emerging from the ashes of seminal New Zealand band The Gordons, Bailerspace (or Bailter Space in the past) continue to work up a considerable racket. Their latest, Concret, sort of flew under my radar on its release, but I managed to get a copy at the band's D.C. concert last night and am here to talk about it.
Alister Parker sings like Lydon or Mark E. Smith (dig "Glacite Rain"), while his guitar mixes it up with the drums from Brent McLachlan and the bass of John Halvorsen. On the more propulsive numbers, like the solid opener "Telephone", the trio works up a fury that's nearly shoegaze, though that term's wildly overused. I think one can, however, draw a line between the sound here and that of Eighties American noise-rock acts like Band of Susans, and Brit ones like Loop. "Outta Sight" even sounds a bit like the Stones, if they'd jumped off the blues tip and followed The Stooges around for a spell. Elsewhere, "Modf", with its eerie hook like Sonic Youth's "Shadow of a Doubt", stands out as a moody highlight here, and evidence of the three-piece's skill at working up a vibe, not just volume.
This is simple stuff in a way, but there's real force and heft here to the material. It's worth stating that, as always with this lot, things are a good deal removed from the glory days of other bands from the legendary Flying Nun imprint. Bailterspace are instead charting their own unique course on Concret, and it's an alternately beautiful and corrosive one.
Concret by Bailterspace is out now. Details via the link below.
[Photo: me, 04/27/2023]