Battles – Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 1/11/2007

Ever since the term “math rock” was coined back in the ’80s it’s always been derided by some bands as somewhat of a misnomer. Math has always been a bedfellow of music. The moniker also proved to be a tart joke when the lead singer from Chavez derogatively referred to bands that don’t hang their high hats on complex, atypical rhythmic structures and angular dissonant riffs as merely “4-4 bands.” Somebody got burned!

Math rock has come a long way from those days. All appellations out-of-the-way, the genre (though quite inadequate) is in very good hands. The New York rockers Battles deliver a punch to the ears live that is anchored by former Helmet drummer John Stanier. It’s a novel situation when a band that is scorching the indie rock festival scene as much as Battles is gets the most ink written about its rhythm player. Indie rock isn’t particularly known for banging you over the head with beats since subtlety is the name of the game lately.

Stanier’s drum kit, erected front and center on the ornate Great American Hall flew in the face of being subtle. Jutting upwards about five feet, Stanier’s lone Zildjian K overlooks both the audience and his bandmates. The ride cymbal is the primary timekeeper in most of the jazz world, so its attention is fitting for a band that is known for quicksilver time signatures.

Before the sizeable audience gathered at the historic San Francisco venue could hear the sludge-filled rhythms, everyone’s ears met the wall of slacker punk rock distortion that is No Age. Despite being plagued by what usually mars every opening band (turn up those vocals boys) they were riotous in quick spurts of noisy palsy. First, the L.A. duo put some distance between themselves and the audience by starting their set with some grating noise. They blazed through mostly songs from Weirdo Rippers, all of which have enough dissonance to choke several horses. During “Boy Void”‘s eruption of guitar one of Dean Spunt’s strings broke. He of course kept playing and it was gloriously messy. Other highlights included Spunt’s foray into the audience during the disaffected fight song “Everybody’s Down.” The don’t give a rat’s ass attitude continued with a strong finish by drummer/vocalist Randy Randall as he rattled away on the drums with Spunt’s guitar clattering on a bed of warped noise.

Battles slowly came onstage starting with synthesizer and bassist fiddler, Dave Konopfka. He emitted the ominous reiterating guttural syths that starts “TIJ.” It sort of resembles a weird car trying to turn over. Konopfka spent most of his time near his ground nobs but there were plenty of other things to watch since that is what makes a Battles performance so special.

Tyondai Braxton added his pitch-shifted sprite vocals on tracks like “Leyendecker” and the rousing “Atlas.” The latter single-handedly brought the proverbial “house down.” I guess anticipation is the best performance booster. On the left side of the stage Ian Williams added even more guitar and electronic. Stanier was the heartbeat for the dark monster being created that night though. By the time the dank bass of “RACE:OUT” slowly crawled out of the muck and took flight, he was pretty much drenched in his own sweat. A shower of sweat flew everywhere when that ride cymbal jumped into the mix from then on. I didn’t know I had to bring a rain slicker with me (ha!) Mr. Niagara Falls kept the beat like a madman but nobody was a slouch on stage. At any given moment, the other three musicians might be working six instruments—including guitars, keyboards, bass, and electronics. Braxton and Williams are armed with everything from Echoplexes to Moogs. During the buildup for “SZ2″ Williams and Braxton exchanged volleys of Doppler Effect guitars. They simulated the lobbed reverbs in a strange sort of dance or well, battle, before descending into a full-on aural assault.

Mirrored’s locomotive maximalism was the showcase of the night. Each person added their part to the mix until it either congealed into a sleek song or broke up into tiny pieces. Each member of the band may have grown in disparate Petri dishes (Ian Williams (ex-Don Caballero), John Stanier (ex-Helmet, Tomahawk), and Dave Konopka (ex-Lynx), but for Battles they sound like one intimidating supergroup. Be forewarned that it was an incredibly loud concert as well. Those stacks of Marshalls on the band t-shirts are not a red herring (I counted eight on stage). Battles type of rock is meant for arenas but here in a small setting they were more than adequate.

Photos courtesy of Daniel Kielman