Tag: destruction unit

Destruction Unit at The Teragram Ballroom

Power Trip & Destruction Unit Leave The Teragram in Ash & Rubble

Rob Shepyer April 11, 2017

Being a music and live show junky has made me a frequent visitor to the Teragram Ballroom. Quite simply- it’s the shit. Big stage. Perfect acoustics. Good booking. Excellent bathroom and bar placement. I’ve noticed though, they don’t have many metal shows. So, it’s a shame for the venue that the one time a metal band gets booked, Power Trip rolls into town with Destruction Unit and just completely leveled the venue into rubble. Power Trip is probably one of the best young bands to carry the thrash torch after the big 4. In fact, along with Iron Reagan, Toxic Holocaust, and Havok, they’re part of the new big 4. That said, I came to see Destruction Unit. Destruction Unit was close to becoming the Berkserktown house band after tearing down the house at 2 but then being unable to play at Berserktown 3. The void Destruction Unit left for Berserktown 3 gave me that disturbed feeling in my gut, that burning desire that you get only when you miss a band you want to see because of circumstances beyond your control. You wait at the edge of your seat, for years sometimes, waiting for them to announce the next show

Lust For Youth & Drab Majesty Bring Dark Vibes To Teragram Ballroom

Brent Smith March 28, 2016

It was a night of dark wave synth-pop acts—musicians whose sounds and performances not only blurred the line between singer-songwriter and producer, but gave us Angelenos an electro beacon for something profound beyond the hypnotic singularity of our cellphone glow. Spearheaded by Lust For Youth, it was a also a night that properly introduced me to the noise/punk/electronica sound coming out of Copenhagen and other pockets of Scandinavia. Just as Ty Segall and cohorts here on the West Coast are constantly collaborating and intermingling themselves into one huge rock ‘n’ roll collective, so is Lust For Youth along with bands like Iceage, Lower, Vår, Puce Mary, and Hand of Dust. While Segall’s sonic quest seems to trace elements of blues, rock, proto-punk and psych, Lust For Youth’s seems one of exploration (and maybe reconciliation?) between post-punk, experimental noise, ambient, and house. The results are both sinister and sublime. The full moon was keeping me going, its light beaming like the sun in the clear, black sky as I rumbled into downtown on fumes. The doorman at the entrance gave me blue and pink bracelets and I went into the cold theater space, mostly empty with a few kids moping around

Small Talk With JS Aurelius of Destruction Unit

Danny Baraz December 17, 2015

JS Aurelius, highly experimental guitarist of Destruction Unit has brought a rageful and introspective creativity to the psychedelic hardcore punk outfit, Destruction Unit. Since the addition of himself and Nick Nappa to the Destruction Unit, unit, the band has blossomed into their highly unique sound like a parasitic plant. I was able to find out more about the Destruction Unit creative process and what motivates Aurelius in our next installment of Small Talk. Danny Baraz: In September, you played your record release party for Negative Feedback Resistor at the Teragram in Los Angeles. The Critical Resistance organization was present to help spread the word about their movement which seeks to dismantle the “prison industrial complex”. It made me very happy to see a contemporary band taking part in political activism. Rock bands have always pushed the political conversation forward to new generations of fans/kids. Why do you think that such a few amount of up and coming and established bands are interested in getting political and why is it important to you and Destruction Unit? JS Aurelius: I think being political is unappealing because politics as a whole are so unappealing. It’s all so far beyond broken that even

Destruction Unit Record Release at The Teragram Ballroom

Brent Smith September 17, 2015

Arriving at the Teragram Ballroom on 7th Street, dodging traffic, skate rats, and the regular stream of Monty Bar freaks, I dipped under the sleek, neon blue marquee, through the main doors, and into the archway of the foyer where Destruction Unit release party event collaborators Critical Resistance had a table amongst all the merch. I was just in time to see the opening acts spew death metal and summon the Devil in guttural tongues. It was the record release party for Destruction Unit’s long-awaited album of concussive rhythm and psychedelic overdrive Negative Feedback Resistor (Sacred Bones Records). In a word? Shit was lit. There were lots of freaks and aliens, but not as many as I expected. Or maybe it was just a perception thing, since the Teragram is deceptively big for only having a capacity of 600. There always seems to be tons of room whenever I’m there, while being intimate at the same time. The Teragram is little sister to New York key players The Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom, and got its name from owner Michael Swier’s late wife “Margaret” spelled backward. It’s hardly a planted flag for New York, rather it’s among the few venues

Destruction Unit with JS Aurelius shot by David Evanko

New Album Review: Destruction Unit- Negative Feedback Resistor

Danny Baraz September 10, 2015

There is nothing in the world like seeing Destruction Unit live, in concert. Nothing. The overpowering and overwhelming sonic assault staggers the senses and literally knocks you off balance. I really can’t explain it but the word literally is used literally. At last months show at Berserktown II at The Observatory, they played a song off their new album, Negative Feedback Resistor that made me feel really weird, physically. As I dug into this new album, I instantly recognized it as “Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight”, track 4 off of Negative Feedback Resistor. Like a self-induced inner ear infection, the Destruction Unit live show is reminiscent of a drug psychosis. The chaotic six string arrangements aren’t just multiple guitars playing the same riffs. Octaves and detuned layers fit in each others jagged edges until a mountain of sound buries you in symbiotic harmony, as one lead guitar varies from the main arrangement with feedback and noise. With 8 LP’s under their belt, multiple EP’s and 7 “ releases, the Destruction Unit lineup whose original cast in 2000 included Jay Reatard and Alicia Trout has been steady with their last 2 releases. With an occasional curveball like throwing in Alex Zhang Hungtai from

Thee Oh Sees at Berserktown II by David Evanko

Berserktown II: Music Fringe Binge at The Observatory

Danny Baraz August 18, 2015

Last year at around this same time, the first annual Berserktown Festival was in the midst of a filthy, sweaty, hardcore but successful mess at club Los Globos in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles. A harder edged alternative to Echo Park Rising, Berserktown was successful enough for a sequel this year. With ambition in his heart and dollar signs in his eyes, Church on York captain, Graeme Flegenheimer decided to take some risks in an attempt to expand and grow his vision. The result was one of the most interesting festival lineups I have seen in quite some time. It was a buffet of musical delicacies and rarities such as Dead Moon, Royal Trux, Lust for Youth, No Hope for the Kids, Destruction Unit and Total fucking Control. When it was announced that the second annual Berserktown would be held at The Observatory in Orange County I thought to myself, this could either be genius or it could be a disaster- like a football coach deciding to go for it on 4th and inches, late in the game, backed up deep in their end zone. The Church on York venture has been disturbing the music scene’s status quo in