Kylesa Entrances With Their Musical Swirl

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 5, 2013 3:45PM

Kylesa make a mountain of noise, and onstage they are imposing as hell, but look deep within their music and you'll be transfixed by a dark beauty within the turmoil and swirl.

Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope front the band, sharing vocal and guitar duties. Her voice is the sweeter of the two but drips with foreboding, while his screams sound as if they come from deep within some dark pit only he is brave enough to shout from. Their guitars build like sheets of rain in a mid-summer thunderstorm whose primary intent is to knock you off your feet. Underneath this, the rhythm section acts like a siren's call, thundering hypnotically and drawing listeners deeper into its grasp.

The band just released Ultraviolet, and this album sees them continue to seek out new musical textures to put their stamp on, and while they're not giving up on the fury, there are a few songs in here that almost slip into shoegaze territory. And while Kylesa isn't bound by expectations of genre, they do seem focused on delivering everything with a singular passion.

The band is touring behind the LP and comes to Bottom Lounge tonight. We've seen Kylesa play before and they've never disappointed, and the strength of the new material on top of a strong back catalog means that tonight's show should be a humdinger.

Kylesa plays tonight, June 5, at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W Lake, 7 p.m., $17, 17+