Buildings

Buildings
BIG V's

Forgive me for pimping my bumping project for a second here, but we’ve got a fantastic little compilation coming out this month called Twin Town High and I’m not being falsely modest when I say little. With only 78 minutes to fill, we had to leave a lot of quality tracks on the cutting room floor, and, unfortunately, Buildings’ excellent “Miners” was one of them. Mixing At the Drive-In’s emo-ier talk-sung moments back into their hardcore roots, the track was an excellent example of something I don’t often hear: knife-edge punk music that I can actually tell is better than the bulk of hardcore. That I am saying in all modesty, as the whole genre of hardcore is something I have precious little handle on. But when you combine it with some witty titles (they also submitted songs entitled “Cohorts Adorned” and “I Invented Al Jazeera”), you’ve got music that can find a home outside of tattoos and bludgeoning guitar riffs. With USS Horsewhip. 9 p.m. $5. 21+. 1567 University Ave. W., St. Paul. 651-645-8472.MCPHERSON - The Pulse Twin Cities

Many times, when you go to a concert, you more or less know what’s coming – nothing seems inherently menacing or hazardous – but Friday night found me vaguely uneasy, and it made the night all the more exciting. The potential for disaster, though present throughout the evening, never came to fruition and it made the night absolutely stellar.

Near the halfway point in Buildings’ set I knew the night was going to be unforgettable. They had thrashed their way through about four songs and had convinced me that they weren’t just another throwaway opening band. Lead singer Grant Kjos had a clipped, rough howl that sounded like David Yow chewing on broken glass, while guitarist Brian Lake pulled and shook noises out of his guitar that I thought only existed in people’s imaginations. The songs bobbed and weaved, took sharp turns into dirge-like dreaminess and seemed like they might dissipate into the ether, but then just as quickly jerked into filthy hardcore squalor, like Mogwai playing ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead covers. At first it was so overwhelming I thought I was going to have to step outside to collect my thoughts, but by the end of their set I found myself wishing they had a couple of songs left to play. They have been flying a little below the radar so far in the Twin Cities but I doubt they will for much longer.

- howwastheshow.com