The Diamond Center, Climbers, and Tungs
August 26 at Strange Matter
Strange Matter–the most recent reincarnation of Richmond’s revered punk rock venue, 929 W. Grace St–was swimming in a sea of psychedelic bliss last Thursday night. The Diamond Center, Tungs, and Climbers performed for a sizable crowd, who were there to hear some of the most exciting new sounds in Richmond live and in person. The evening was a tremendous experience, as each artist helped to create a spacious yet sharply vibrant soundscape. It seemed to hang over the evening even between sets, producing a cohesive aesthetic that flowed through the divergent styles of the acts involved.
The Diamond Center, Climbers, and Tungs
August 26 at Strange Matter
Strange Matter–the most recent reincarnation of Richmond’s revered punk rock venue, 929 W. Grace St–was swimming in a sea of psychedelic bliss last Thursday night. The Diamond Center, Tungs, and Climbers performed for a sizable crowd, who were there to hear some of the most exciting new sounds in Richmond live and in person. The evening was a tremendous experience, as each artist helped to create a spacious yet sharply vibrant soundscape. It seemed to hang over the evening even between sets, producing a cohesive aesthetic that flowed through the divergent styles of the acts involved.
The evening began with an explosion of energy as local psych punks Tungs hit the stage, tearing into a set opener that evoked the dark ambience of late 80’s proto-grunge and the primal beats of its’ most prominent forebears, Sonic Youth. The ever changing and evolving trio, performing in one of its many instrumental set ups, brought an eclectic variety of their lysergically influenced compositions to the table Thursday night. They blazed their way through a heavily instrumental set of unfinished new material that seemed to build momentum song after song. The lone song featuring vocals, recent single “Good Dreams,” was a lock step blast of 60’s harmony and groove that stood as a counterpoint to the band’s free-flowing, largely improvised set. Tungs’ ability to be all things psychedelic at once is encyclopedic, combining jazz, krautrock, and the classic fuzzed-out wailings of the psych genre’s formative artists into their own unique sound. They create thrilling pop music that feels dangerously close to imploding upon itself at all times. The set culminated with a furious John Coltrane inspired closer that undulated and evolved into a saxophone driven din. It left the band dripping in sweat and the audience wanting more.
Electro-indie duo Climbers brought the temperature down in the room as their ambient, beat driven drones filled the long deep space of Strange Matter. These newcomers to the scene have taken the warbling textural stylings of Panda Bear as their touchstone, utilizing samplers and light percussion to create vocally ambient pop that felt familiar yet unique. The bands dynamic of two stringed instruments, bass and guitar, allowed them to create a more traditionally rock rooted sound than other purely electronic pop artists, while also embracing hip-hop and world music rhythms through sampling–which has become standard fare for indie acts. Overall, their set was a perfect chilled-out transition between the two more raucous bands.
The Diamond Center’s set was astounding. The group’s tight-knit instrumentation was immediately noticeable, and Strange Matter’s floor filled with spectators when their midnight set began. Looking picture perfect under the venue lights, The Diamond Center were by far the most comfortable of the evening’s performers, owning the stage with confidence from the get-go. Their ethereal vocal harmonies shone through the venue’s PA system–which had been excellently run all evening–giving their performance an epic, expansive nature that had not yet been reached during the show. One of the group’s main strengths is the interplay between their two drummers, whose collective efforts produce a constant percussive vibrancy in the band’s ambient folk sound. When combined with the rest of the group’s melodic dynamism, it creates pure magic. The Diamond Center’s well-honed sound explored a variety of musical environments, touching on dub bass lines, frolicking guitar rock and weird neo-desert grooves that got the crowd moving, as the band’s frontwoman sashayed around the stage with her guitar over her shoulder, or shaking a maraca. Their set was an excellent ending to the evening, earning much appreciation from the audience as their final notes rang out. They signaled the close of a night of staggeringly good music from local artists, and equally good times for all who attended another fine evening at one of the city’s best venues for underground music.
