Last Minute Plans: The Psychic Paramount
By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 20, 2011 6:20PM
Every once in a while, a writer/reporter gets to be unabashedly hyperbolic, so here's my shot: Holy Amazeballs does New York-based trio The Psychic Paramount fucking rule, and you should hurl yourself with a 28 Days Later-sense of blind fury toward the Empty Bottle in order to catch their live show TONIGHT.
What do they sound like? Transcendence. Rage. Bliss. Anarchy. Ascendence. Descent. Fury. Beauty. Euphoria. All this using only guitars, bass and drums.
Their third album, ironically titled II, is filled with crazy-good post-rock, math-rock and even just rock-rock jams, and doesn't let up for a second, even when it's winding down for a little ambient texture. It is my favorite album of this year so far.
Tracks on II weave and wind with a thrilling musical dexterity, with The Psychic Paramount generously sharing their awe-inducing virtuosity with the audience in order to provide them with a true psychedelic, hallucinogenic-with-no-hallucingens experience rather than just use their talents for a self-indulgent exercise in progressive, instrumental wankery. If Icarus had been listening to II on his ill-fated flight, he would've roundhoused that asshole sun straight in its fucking mouth.
Here's video of the trio performing at the Empty Bottle from 2007:
Tonight's show is $8, which is a bargain, and features White/Light, Implodes and Andy Ortmann. Check out an MP3 of "RW" below, one of II's calmer tracks, courtesy of No Quarter Records.