HEALTH

Echo - February 26, 2009

Live Review by Alexis Roberts

Neon-clad patrons of the LA based rock band HEALTH filled the interior of the Echo waiting in anticipation to hear the new songs that the noisy, experimental four-piece have been holed up working on. HEALTH’s self-titled, first album put them on the map as a band to keep watching. Over the past year they sure seem to have gained many dedicated fans and kept the hype around them very tangible.

The opening acts were other LA locals, Captain Ahab and Abe Vigoda. Arriving just in time for the tail end of Captain Ahab gave me ample time to suffer through their stupid and overdone stage show. Too many men strip down to their Speedos and dance around on stage these days- and to be honest, most of us in the audience aren’t shocked or even amused by this type of behavior anymore. It’s not original, it’s not novel, it’s just an eyesore and their music mirrored their appearance. The general reaction was that of annoyance, while a few drunks danced wildly by themselves.

Abe Vigoda weren’t much better, but at least they left their clothes on and at least they show some sort of promise.

HEALTH took the stage, silently and their whirlwind of a set began without a word from any of the members. They jumped right into new songs, which sound like they used their familiar formula of their older songs. The new music seems to share the same noise-rock sensibility with the only real vocals being moans into microphones under heavy distortion.

Their songs transitioned with ease and without a break in noise. The experience of HEALTH is a bit surreal and very intense. At their most hyper moments the four of them appear very confrontational. They thrash on stage flailing their limbs and the guitars sound like a chorus of klaxons (the buzzers not the band), then, slowly they will mellow out and at the calmest moments, they can sound very shoegazey and almost comforting. Just when you feel it’s safe to let yourself zone out, the pace will resume at lightening speed and the flashing lights and untamed movement jolt you back to reality.

Their older music was tweaked for their live performance giving the songs a new feel, while still remaining recognizable. Once the noise stopped completely they left the stage but promptly returned for an encore when the spectators up front howled and cheered for more. Which just encouraged them to bring more of their power and energy to the noise-hungry fans of their hometown.