Text and photos: Bobby Cochran
There are some bands who play shows with stages full of gear, lights and smoke, multiple band members, and music that still doesn’t say very much. Wreck and Reference’s performance in SF was the antithesis of that. Two people, a sampler and a drum kit, and nothing but steady red lights onstage were all that was necessary tonight. The economy of this presentation left much room for the bleak soundscapes and whisper-to-scream vocals to have their space, combining with precision and power. Instrumentalist Felix Skinner uses only an MPC trigger box for all the musical texture and samples, and Ignat Frege’s drumming veers from the ultra-simplistic to the spastic, but always with taste and precision. Wreck and Reference make music that’s often labeled as experimental/noise, but it’s impossible to fit it into a specific genre. Maybe experimental is good enough, but really, there isn’t any way to describe what they do to anyone who hasn’t heard them. Tonight, the LA-based duo pulled heavily from their last two full-length releases, Want and Indifferent Rivers Romance End, re-creating the eclectic and complex moods with skill and focus for the attentive audience. The band continues its US tour with neo-Darkwave duo Some Ember through the end of September.
8.18 – Ames, IA – DG’s Taphouse
8.19 – Minneapolis, MN – Eagle’s Club
8.20 – Chicago, IL – TriTriangle
8.21 – Detroit, MI – Trumbullplex
8.22 – Columbus, OH – Double Happiness
8.23 – Baltimore, MD – The Crown
8.24 – Washington, D.C. – Safari Rest. & Lounge
8.25 – New Paltz, NY – MLIBOG
8.26 – New York, NY – Alphaville
8.27 – Richmond, VA – Perfect Church
8.28 – Columbia, SC – Tapp’s Art Center
8.29 – Nashville, TN – Drkmttr
8.30 – Birmingham, AL – The Firehouse
8.31 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
9.01 – Dallas, TX – Three Links
9.02 – Austin, TX – Sidewinder
9.03 – Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture
