Concert Review: Kommunity FK (7/21/13)

Today's Concert Review is of California deathrock act Kommunity FK when they played Infest here in Austin on 7/21/13.

Patrik Mata (left) and Sherry Rubber (right) from Kommunity FK. Photo taken from the Kommunity FK website.

Kommunity FK are one of the founders of deathrock, beginning in 1978 at the start of the post-punk movement where music creativity was highly encouraged and allowed following the first fizzling out of the punk movement. Some fans of deathrock claim Kommunity FK didn't really emerge on the scene in Los Angeles until the early 80s, but most likely were developing their sound (and attempting to get gigs at venues, though without catch words like "deathrock" at the time, this was perhaps a bit of a challenge) before then. While it is probably true that the group enjoyed a large following in the southern California deathrock scene at the time, their reputation never really caught on as extensively outside of that, remaining overshadowed by other deathrock acts such as Christian Death, Shadow Project, Alien Sex Fiend, and so forth. Their main claim to larger fame came in the early 80s when their music video for "Something Inside Me Has Died" received some air play on MTV's 120 Minutes show (yes, for the young ones like me, there was a day when MTV actually played music videos! Imagine that! Video of the song is posted below). Kommunity FK has also reportedly toured along many key acts to the goth scene (a list can be found on their website, but no dates are given, so it's unclear when some of these performances may have occurred).

I first discovered Kommunity FK a few years ago while listening to the Last.fm radio (possibly listening to the deathrock tag station, but I don't recall for sure). Since switching over to Spotify (and now owning two Kommunity FK albums), I haven't really used the Last.fm radio, but at the time they only had the remastered version of "To Blame." (Hopefully more of their music has become available to the Last.fm community, but I am unsure) It was a nice song and got me interested in the group. This all came around the same their latest album, 2010's La Santisima Muerte, was about to be released, to which I promptly went to Waterloo Records (about the only store that claimed to have a copy...and actually did) and bought it. I then went driving around town blasting it from my car as it is one of those kinds of albums (and because I'm still apparently 16, but with a permanent driver's license and better taste in music than when I was actually 16).

Now, while I am a fan of Kommunity FK, they certainly are not my favorite band. I do enjoy deathrock on the whole, but I've always been more of a post-punk fan (or, as many prefer to borrow the media's usage of the term, the original "goth rock" acts). But, Kommunity FK rarely tours and if they do, it's rare for them to visit Texas. So, upon hearing they were coming to Texas as part of their 35 year anniversary tour, I was interested.

Leading up to the tour dates, there was a bit of personal drama that took place (I won't go into details as it was brief, silly, and not critical to this review). As a result, I was very much on the fence about whether I even wanted to go to the show. I literally decided very last minute and randomly at 8:30pm the night of the show to go (basically, I looked at the clock, and went "Oh hell, why not? It's only $8."). Of course, for a 30 minute drive to downtown, $7 for parking, and $8 for the show itself, Kommunity FK had to put on a decent show or I'd be pretty disappointed.

The show didn't actually begin until roughly 10:15pm (Infest claimed it would begin at 8pm). The group first went on stage as Texylvania, a side project band of sorts that is known for doing different covers of other bands in addition to some original material. I hadn't heard any of the Texylvania material before, but it was decent. The audience had grown to roughly twenty by this point, but few seemed interested in this part. I liked Sherry's style of play (she quickly impressed me with her abilities on guitar), but I didn't care as much for her vocals on this project when she took over on mic (I know there were some sound issues, so maybe that's part of it). Neat sound and a cool treat to technically see the members of Kommunity FK perform twice in one night, but there was something about it that I didn't quite prefer. (Below is a video someone took of them playing in the past)

Captive, a local Austin band, took the stage next and played a few sounds. Musically, I liked what they were doing. However, the vocals were not my thing at all. The singer reminded me of Robert Smith, but in a terrible way. Imagine Robert Smith not singing but just yelling lyrics into the mic. That was more or less what it was and didn't mesh very well to the music being played by the other members of the band. It was a good effort, but not really my thing. I also give them credit, though, as we weren't really their kind of audience and only a few people actually stood up to listen to them, so that's got to be pretty tough to play to.

Finally, at around midnight, the moment we had been waiting for (some with more excitement than others) - Kommunity FK! The group opened with the song that got me started with them, "To Blame." It sounded a little different from what I remember of the recording, but it was really solid. I don't recall the second song on the list, but the third was my favorite from their 2010 album, "We Belong Dead." I admittedly am not as familiar with their older material (while I now own a copy of 1983's The Vision and the Voice, this was a fairly new acquisition for me, so I haven't listened to it much, and Close One Sad Eye from 1985 is very hard to get a hold of and thus very pricey), so I didn't know many of the songs. The set also included from the 2010 album "Protektion," which was really nice, but felt a little different from the recording (maybe just a tiny bit slower?). Wrapping up the night, Kommunity FK played their biggest hit, "Something Inside Me Has Died" and played a request for "Fuck the Kommunity" during the encore which people had been yelling for all night.

The set was fairly short (then again, they don't have all that much material to pull from, in the grand scheme of things). Patrik Mata (vocals, occasional guitar, occasional keyboards) sounded wonderful, though seemed a bit stiff and stoic on stage (perhaps not happy with the small size of the crowd). Sherry Rubber (backing vocals, guitar, and occasional keyboards) also sounded great and plays a mean guitar. I didn't catch the name of the drummer or bass guitarist (Patrik did introduce them, but I don't recall them and their website is a bit dated), but both did a nice job on their respective parts. On the whole, I wasn't blown away by the show, but it was still pretty good in the end. A larger crowd would have been helpful in getting the overall energy going more, I think.

Another of Patrik and Sherry. Photo is from some Russian website (http://blog.meta.ua/~specpnd/posts/i202634/ua/)

I'd say Kommunity FK are a band worth seeing at least once. They've still got a nice sound that retains a fair uniqueness to it (Patrik Mata started the band to just be creative and has done a good job sticking to that theme, which is very nice). Just don't expect large crowds outside of the LA deathrock scene (which may not be as alive and well these days, I don't know).


Ratings:

Texylvania - 3 out of 5 (something about it just wasn't my cup of tea)

Captive - 2 out of 5 (yelling Robert Smith vocals that got drowned out by the synth just didn't work for me)

Kommunity FK - 4 out of 5 (longer set would have been nicer and bigger audience would have helped get the band a bit more engaged in the show)

More Information: Official Site of Kommunity FK Official Home of Texylvania

Concert Review: The Bellwether Syndicate 4/20/13

Back on April 20th as part of Convergence XIX (alt.net's large party of all things goth that travels from city to city every year for the last 19 years) in Austin, I had the pleasure of seeing The Bellwether Syndicate perform.

The Bellwether Syndicate. Left to right: Mike Skull (bass guitar), Scary Lady Sarah Rose (guitar, backing vocals), William Faith (vocals, guitar), Philly Peroxide (keyboards, percussion)

Many of you reading this have heard of William Faith. He has been an instrumental figure in much of the goth music scene having been part of Rozz Williams' Christian Death, Shadow project, Mephisto Walz, a one-off performance with the Sex Gang Children, and, of course, Faith and the Muse (that one seems fairly obvious). Faith returns with a new kickstarter project (literally) with Chicago's infamous DJ Scary Lady Sarah Rose, The Bellwether Syndicate.

Currently, the group have only released on their own Bellwether Underground label an EP of five songs entitled the Night Watch EP. Without turning this into a music review, I will go so far as to say the first three tracks on the EP are similar to each other, fast paced deathrock influenced tracks that are catchy as can be. The fourth track is very different, a bit slower, yet still impressive. The final track showcases both Sarah Rose's guitar work and vocals. It's also quite a bit different from the other four tracks, but demonstrates the immense talent the group brings to the table.

For the performance at Convergence XIX (which was apparently the third or fourth live performance for the group ever), the group began with track one from the new EP, "All Fire." Mind you, I was excited as could be for this performance because we're talking William Faith here. The way all four members took the stage was telling in of itself. They were humble. Smiles all around, ready to have a great time sharing their music with us. No air of arrogance like they were entitled to everything. Just good nature fun ready to take hold. Once they started into "All Fire," I was hooked. It was some small fortune that the dance floor was a bit packed, for if it hadn't been, I would have been the definition of "bat shit crazy."

Following "All Fire" came my favorite off the EP, "Night Watch." The song is just incredibly catchy. What I find so interesting in the manner with which Bellwether Syndicate performs is that the music and words give off plenty of energy. Playing guitar and singing, both William Faith and Sarah Rose are a little stuck with where they're at on the stage. Yet, you could tell both were incredibly into their performances. They wanted to be there. Philly Peroxide, while in the back, was still a strong force to be reckoned with (though similar to Faith and Rose, he was a bit stuck where he was while performing on the keyboards). Mike Skull was about the most mobile of the four, moving a few paces here and there while absolutely rocking out on the bass guitar. By this point I was fully sold.

A photo of Bellwether Syndicate roughly a week later at the Whitby Gothic Festival

"101 Go" was next, another solid and catchy song. From here, Faith took a moment to thank everyone for coming and for allowing Bellwether Syndicate to be part of C19. He then introduced the next song as one in the memory of a good friend and that we truly all are souls in isolation. That's right, a cover often done with Faith and the Muse, the Chameleon's "Soul in Isolation." Often, I am very critical of cover songs. Rarely do I find ones I enjoy. Even rarer are the ones that are just as good, and sometimes even better, than the original. This is an instance where I think the cover might just be a tiny bit better than the original and I personally love the Chameleons! Suffice to say, we all went a little bat shit crazy by this point.

The group finished their set with track four off the EP, "Translucent." Personally, I would have loved for the set to go on all night. Five songs simply was not enough. Once the group left the stage, I quickly snagged the one and only copy of the setlist with the hope of meeting the band members and getting it signed.

Allow me to say that William Faith is probably one of the nicest and most delightful people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. You saw all those bands I told you he was part of? Let's just say this man, much like Peter Murphy, is a gigantic name in the goth scene. He could be arrogant and rude and no one would think twice of it. Instead, he was very nice, glad I enjoyed the show, happy to be there, etc. He also happily signed my setlist.

Additionally, Scary Lady Sarah Rose is another wonderful person. She seemed almost confused as to why I'd want her autograph! After signing the setlist, we talked some about the show. I told her she did a fantastic job (which I thought she did, and she seemed so happy to be on stage!). She was then telling me how she was actually incredibly nervous and how this was about her third time ever to perform in front of an audience like this. She also mentioned how the fifth track on the EP was one where she sang and played guitar, but that they didn't play it that night since it's a bit hard to sing and play guitar at the same time. I was just amazed at how chill and honest she was about everything. I thanked her again and told her they should come back to Austin again soon.

All in all, five songs is an incredibly short set. But, to be that catchy and engaged in such a short period of time is a talent alone. And to play wonderful music, too!? That night I became a big fan of this new project and have since found myself getting more into Faith and the Muse. I really do hope they return to Austin soon with even more music to share. There is something truly special in this group and I'm very happy to have witnessed it during C19.


Rating: 5 of 5

More information: Official site of the Bellwether Syndicate