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A Place To Bury Strangers

My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus & Mary Chain may be the first and last word in the noise-induced shoegaze movement, but a late entry to the genre could rightfully challenge both bands decibel for decibel. New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers certainly learned a few tricks from their sonic forbearers and have doubled up on the noise in the process. Using feedback and distortion as an instrument in itself, the band’s punishing but eerily atmospheric brand of head-splitting shoegaze is pretty intense on record, but live the band’s cacophonous rage is as much felt as it is heard. The music first invades the eardrums before working its way through the brain and down the spine which, combined with a stage show doused in smoke and strobe lights, makes for an all-out assault on the senses. (Appearing with Bleeding Rainbow at Empty Bottle on November 14) –text: Ryan Bray

Young Prisms

San Francisco’s Young Prisms may be spotlight-dodgers, but the positive critical attention that sophomore LP In Between (2012) has received makes averting their eyes increasingly difficult. The shoegaze genre has always prided its oddballs, and this quintet struck some strange chords by completely retrofitting their funereal peace/love sound after 2011 debut Friends for Now’s rather lukewarm reception. The band’s style is doubtlessly maturing as reverb drones sharpen into conscious melodies, but Young Prisms underwent significant metamorphosis after losing friends and band members in recent years. However these experiences may have affected the group, their musical growth is palpable. They still maintain a dreamlike, poppy mood which is largely optimistic and tinged with melancholia, but they’ve found a new clear-mindedness of purpose that makes In Between one to remember. (Appearing with Tamaryn at Schubas on November 12) –text: Jessica Millman

The Helio Sequence

Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel, otherwise known as The Helio Sequence, know a thing or two about starting fresh. After heavy Pacific Northwest rains flooded their Portland studio, the floundering duo took the opportunity to refresh their sound and do something different. Summers and Weikel wrote and recorded their fifth album, Negotiations, in a huge new warehouse space. The result is a more raw and organic effort than their previous digital work, as they’ve incorporated analog equipment and improvisational techniques. Summers, having already undergone a reboot after injuring his vocal cords and adopting an altered singing style, found a whole new approach to songwriting by ad-libbing his introspection in front of the mic. The end result is a reborn Helio Sequence bringing a softer, more contemplative flow to pretty songs like lead single “October”. If this is what renewal sounds like, it’s safe to say they can write off that loss of a flooded studio as a win. (Appearing with Ramona Falls at Lincoln Hall on November 10) –text: Jasmyn Martin

Supersuckers

While Arizona’s Supersuckers may not be “the greatest rock and roll band in the world” (as they snarkily assert), they’re certainly one of the most fun to catch live. With a bastardized sound owing equal debts to garage, punk, blues and country and a hilariously debauched lyrical outlook to boot, Eddie Spaghetti and friends have been assaulting eardrums for close to 25 years. But while the years are beginning to add up, the band displays no signs of collapse as fans making their way to their show should brace themselves for a mudcaked, rock and roll shit show. The band is long overdue for a new record, having not released anything since 2008′s Get It Together, but their healthy back catalog of hard-partying dirt rock anthems will provide plenty of material to shit-kick to. (Appearing with The Handcuffs at Double Door on November 9) –text: Ryan Bray

A Place To Bury Strangers

Young Prisms

The Helio Sequence

Supersuckers

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