SF Weekly

Openers: Get There Early For High Castle

By Ian S. Port, Tue., Mar. 2 2010 @ 11:43AM

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2010/03/openers_get_there_early_for_hi.php

​We've had it with pretty. We've had it with cute. We've had it with autoharp, vocal harmonies, and the acoustic guitar.

This week, we're arriving early for punk -- the fuzzed-out, gutter-pitched mayhem of Oakland trio High Castle, who are opening Abe Vigoda's show Sunday night at Bottom of the Hill.

Lots of bands are out there giving the p-word a bad name, but High Castle's music preaches the chaotic faith with rabid devotion.

The boys smash their tom-toms and down-tuned strings into blunt, sludgy rhythms that sound like an Olympia-bred Mission of Burma, or a clumsier Sonic Youth. All three members sing -- well, shout -- in a cacophonous racket that's both abrasive and wry in the way Gang of Four was. "Are Fixed Gear Tricksters...?" opens with a punishing, pounding confrontation that bumps into a blown-out post-punk groove before stopping to slap you in the face. Trust us -- their grit will feel good after all that so-called Noise Pop.

High Castle
at Bottom of the Hill 3/7
with Abe Vigoda and Lovvers