Ghostland Observatory Brings Heavy Fun

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 30, 2011 8:20PM

Photo by Daniel Perlaky

Sometimes a person just needs to be railed by a hefty beat; nothing more complicated than that. If the railing happens to come from a stoic, cape clad synth player and his dance-happy, perspiration-flinging frontman, all the more entertaining. That’s precisely the entertainment the Metro received last Friday night with Ghostland Observatory. The duo brought down over 90 minutes of electro-metal-psych-rock (they cover a lot of ground) with a set list spanning their entire catalog.

Early on, Thomas Turner worked the synthesizer and drum kit, breaking from the two to vocode his vocals into the kind of choppy robotic chorus lines that would have made the cast of Short Circuit proud. The robotic vocals were appropriately highlighted by lasers cutting across crowd like a security system out of a Mission Impossible movie scene, but to a grimier soundtrack. While the more energetic half of the duo, Aaron Behrens (vocals and guitar), writhed, to his own lyrics, head bent, microphone engulfed by his mane of hair. Ghostland Observatory’s set also contained a few metal moments with “HFM” and “Heavy Heart.” Brehrens raged against tightly wound squalling vocals and insistent drum patterns culminating in frenetic noise of “HFM,” while “Heavy Heart” spiraled into a psychedelic hair-metal track, minus the mousse.

As the night progressed, the duo’s focus narrowed to dance tracks with one-ton bass lines and steady decreases in the spaces between measures leading to flattened out beats while paying lots of attention to affected vocals. There were dark warbled recordings on “Body Shop” and Brehrens’ own ‘70s throwback psych voice in “Glitter.” Their set included a jump-inducing three song encore, leading with "Give Me That Beat," an electronic number referencing a classic Stray Cats vibe -- with Brehrens strutting along saying no to drugs and hookers -- and ending with droning beats that eventually dropped into pulsating, reverbed bass woven with strobe lights in a raved out version of “Kick Clap Speaker.” Philosophically, Ghostland Observatory never gets too deep. This isn’t surprising given the band tosses off lyrics like “We blow our minds / On electric lines/ As the DJ plays my song.” But, for whatever the duo lacks lyrically, they compensate for with huge bass lines, disco analog beats, lasers and total enthusiasm.