Live Review: HEALTH

Friday night was a good night. The Transmission Room on Mayoral Drive is usually a suffocating, overheated death trap. On Friday, it was curiously empty; a promoter's nightmare, but concert-goer's dream. Thunderous drums and shrieking feedback opened the set, and HEALTH unleashed their frenzied noise-rock on an audience no larger than seventy. For a band with so much raw intensity, HEALTH have an astounding degree of precision and control. They're able to launch abruptly into a ferocious assault on their guitars, bass, Zoothorn, and drums, stop for a moment of silence, and then start again with no lapse in momentum. Lead guitarist Jupiter Keyes and bassist John Famiglietti took turns savagely pummeling floor toms for several of the songs in addition to BJ Miller's violent, tribal rhythms. Live, Jake Duzsik's vocals have a haunting, ethereal quality which stands out in sharp contrast to the aggression of HEALTH's blend of electro-pop and hardcore noise-rock, and then he screams, and it's also awesome.

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