I halfway feel like no further elaboration outside the title of this entry is needed. But whatever, this is a music blog, so let me sHaRe mY feeLinGs.
I’ve heard for a couple of years that I need to see Phantom Family Halo. Like, everyone I know has told me I need to see them. So, instead of doing either Forecastle or Lebowski Fest last weekend, I opted to spend my money at Lisa’s Oak Street Lounge with the yokel locals to catch Phantom Family Halo’s opening set Saturday night for new Temporary Residence signing and stalwart Louisville boys Young Widows.
Is it cool to describe a show as trenchant? Phantom Family Halo were trenchant. For the uninitiated, Phantom Family Halo formed from the mighty and mysterious local freak folk collective Sapat and The For Carnation. Obviously, these guys are heavy hitters.
A large projection of, for the most part, some visual pastiche of anthropology films illuminated the stage and the band, which included two drummers and a guy whose sole function was to create insane noise from his keyboard and Boss SP-303. PFH were extremely loud, and while listening to their recorded stuff right now, are still extremely uncategorizable. Loosely speaking, Phantom Family Halo function as a psychedelic band. However, their live show is anything but navel gazing. The group becomes a breathing, menacing behemoth purveying nasty, swampy, ultra-distorted acid rock with a rhythm and vocal section closer to the urgency of a punk tent revival, like 154-era Wire informed by Six Organs of Admittance (or perhaps its the other way around).
Phantom Family Halo is awesome. I mean, if Julian Cope is stoked on the record, you know it’s good:
I’m also right blown away by the catchy and compelling all-purpose psychedelia of THE LEGEND OF BLACK SIX by power trio The Phantom Family Halo. I say ‘all purpose’ because this stuff is useful and should be available by the vat on prescription, because it’s good for the mental health. I say power trio, but this lot are greedy motherfuckers with a hefty set of auxiliary members. The sound is totally reminiscent of that 1970 period when no fucker could control the number of overdubs, and these guys pass through every stage from The Youngbloods and Kalackakra to a kind of Amon Duul PARADIESWARTS DUUL-informed take on David Voorhaus’ White Noise project via early (very early) Chrome on their way to the proto metal of ‘Electric God In Your Galaxy’.
If they come to your neck of the woods, make haste to see them. Their web presence is at good ol’ MySpazz.
MP3 :::
Phantom Family Halo – Child of Love
Phantom Family Halo – Black River
