High Places – Cargo, London 04/05/2010

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Chen Santa Maria are not a band for the weak-hearted. They’re also not a band for those with eardrums terminally damaged from years of unstinting decibel abuse. A noise band in the purest sense, it’s the kind of experimental onslaught that’s sure to sharply divide opinion, assaulting the unsuspecting Cargo audience with waves of industrial drums delivered at uncompromising volume. At times, the slightest hint of a melody would break the surface, before being swiftly subsumed under the general cacophony; any respite from their intense chaos was to be ephemeral at best. At the very least, the audience reaction was fun to watch- some folks nodding their heads approvingly, others fleeing with their fingers in their ears.

CSM may not have been everyone’s cup of tea then, but the other support act proved to be a far more palatable beverage for your average punter. New Zealand’s Annabel Alpers may initially seem like a shy and awkward twee type straight from Central Casting, but her project “Bachelorette” proved to be one of the most intriguing support sets I’ve seen this year. Like a female Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, but with greater scope and a more impressive range of instrumentation, her luscious and engaging synth-pop is at times slow-burning, but always well-crafted. There’s hints of Of Montreal there too, but her sound and setup are entirely her own- definitely an act to look out for in the future.

As Mary Pearson fell to the floor, having received a sharp electric shock from her equipment, one became concerned that High Places may have been over before they’d even begun. But not even dodgy wiring could stop the New Yorkers delivering a superb set of tropic-infused polyrhythms, reverb-heavy bliss-outs and Pearson’s beautifully haunting vocals. Whilst previously relying purely on samplers and other electronic tomfoolery, the band now add live guitars into the mix, giving them greater impetus than before. And while they superficially retain the air of your typical Brooklyn buzz-band, their recent relocation to LA seems to have loosened them up a bit- they’re chatty and engaging, and their songs are infused with an energy and joy that wasn’t so apparent in the past. Even those exhausted by the myriad bands sounding “sort of like Animal Collective” may find a lot to love here- whilst they can occasionally be a bit too noodly for their own good, they’re also much more fun than so many of their peers.