There’s no denying the fact that polarity, whether in relationships or musical performances, generally makes things more interesting. If you let things get too out of sync, you just wind up with a messy divorce, scarred children and a terrible concert, but Boondocks gets it right by double-billing local sludgesters Linus Pauling Quartet and the near-ethereal Hearts of Animals. Both acts are in the throes of a serious love affair with noise, and lean pretty heavily toward psychedelia, so there’s enough common ground for the match to make sense and enough friction to build up a good charge. LP4’s blunt-force take on stoner-psych — with its joyously reductive, riff-heavy jamming and delirious sound vortices — provides the yang, while Mlee Suprean is the definitive yin, contemplative and understated even when her pop charm is overtaken by waves of caustic feedback. Together, the two promise a unique sensory experience.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.
