Hysteric Picnic

Hypnotic, noisy and quite unsettling

The band don’t beat about the bush but act on the principle ‘why not light it on fire ‘, roaring straight into a wall of noise and distortion. The first few songs are pure noise rock, both guitars snarling and dripping with distortion. The second begins eerily, electronic ghost licks of distortion settling uneasily against humming bass, powerful drums and raw vocals. A simmering cage of chords wraps its way around the next song, with vocals crawling after them and the bass and drums happy to sit in the cage until the song just ends abruptly. The band then throws the audience headlong into a racing torrent of noise, melody and rhythm, leaving them to sink or swim. Sou’s vocals remain downbeat but slightly unearthly.

The set takes a twist then, with the sound changing to math rock mashed up with drone. Shigeki’s guitar combine with Daisuke’s bass to repeating and loop a sequence at one another, Kensei’s vocals babbling over it as the song collapses in upon itself. The following continues the psychedelic theme with warping guitar tones and a loop of the same passage repeating like a bad dream. This second half is decidedly weird and eerie, with the song’s atmosphere actually quite unsettling. The best example of this was the rhythm section setting a churning heartbeat rhythm and looping it indefinitely for the last song. The set ends with no warning and with a quick thank you, the band leaves to applause.

It really was a set of two halves, the noise rock of the first fifteen minutes and the drone-rock explorations of the second fifteen minutes. For me, the second half proved stronger but both proved well-received. With overseas tours under their belts, these guys are ones to watch out for in the near future.