Oh, My Pounding Head: The Information Overload Tactics Of Lightning Bolt

Album: Wonderful Rainbow
Artist: Lightning Bolt
Genre: Noise Rock
Year: 2003
Label: Load

When people think of duo bands, the first ones that come to mind are the White Stripes or the Black Keys. People with this conventional (and color coordinated) understanding of minimalist music are going to be woefully under-prepared for the thunderous chaos of Lightning Bolt. Lightning Bolt is a Noise Rock explosion from Providence, Rhode Island, and they generate more raw sound per member then the entire line-up of Broken Social Scene put together. Composed of drummer Brian Chippendale and bassist Brian Gibson, the duo propel forward at maddening velocity smashing into everything in their way. The sound is like a thousand imploding buildings crashing down all around you at high speed. Chippendale’s drumming doesn’t have an immediately distinct sound like some drummers, but it is frantic but controlled, occasionally reminiscent of drummers like Zach Hill, whose band Hella actually shares some similarities with Lightning Bolt, being another Noise Rock duo.

But where Hella is guitar and drums, Lightning Bolt relies on Gibson’s unusual and rhythmic bass playing. Tuned to cello standard tuning, Gibson’s warped and processed bass is often mistaken for a guitar, but this is not so. I actually thought it was a guitar the first time I heard it and was surprised to discover my error. Together, these two elements of the bass and drums are like mixing volatile chemicals together, producing a combustive result that’ll blast you out of your boots.

One of the stranger aspects of Lightning Bolt’s music is the incorporation of vocals into the mix. Chippendale is also the group’s vocalist, no easy task as he’s already drumming like a lunatic. But he sings, or rather, howls his way through most all of their music. Instead of a normal microphone, Chippendale sings through a contact microphone, taped inside of the mouth of a gimp mask he wears while performing. The sound it creates is like that of a man screaming for his life while slowly asphyxiating from too much whipped cream. It’s disturbing, but ultimately complements the anarchic music.

Despite the abrasive connotations of Noise Music, most of this album, Wonderful Rainbow, is pretty melodic, in its own special way. All of the tracks have grounded structure and even hooks you can sink your teeth into with the notable exception of tracks like “30,000 Monkies” which is just controlled demolition. My favorite takes are tracks like the rumbling cruncher “Dracula Mountain” and the head-banging, finger tapping nightmare of “Crown of Storms”. Lightning Bolt have expressed displeasure with the recording process, but they make excellent albums so I don’t see where there’s a problem.

It may take awhile to find the hooks and, admittedly, I was uncertain about the prospect of Lightning Bolt when I first heard about them, but I’ve grown to love their bizarre blender music. Paraphrasing from Steve Albini “It’s the best alarm clock you’ll ever have” and I do believe it.