A pot being clanked with a spoon. That's a form of noise. But volume — the difference between a pot being tapped with a teaspoon and a pot being smashed with a sledgehammer — is where things change. Many noise musicians seem rapt with sheer quantity of the sound — the volume — they are making. Some are punishers, raging waves of almost-unbearable sounds at their audience. Most times it's dissonant, ear-splitting cacophony, which can be difficult to understand for a noise-newbie.
And then sometimes, noise music is a little more like Power Skeleton, a band that takes things beyond knob-twisting and thrusting their amps into the air. There a few things to grasp onto: drums, vocals, samples. They are in no way mainstreaming noise music — Power Skeleton combines elements of other genres to create a psychedelia-infused noise sound. You can listen to some of the tracks on the band's MySpace, but don't get hooked or anything — Power Skeleton says they never play a song twice.
Check out the video, and let them be your gateway drug to INC.
The International Noise Conference takes place at Object Space (1818 1/2 E. Sprague) on Sunday, April 11, at 4 pm. Tickets: $8. All-ages. Call 340-3934.
