Lightning Bolt
Ride the Skies


Released 2001 on Load
Reviewed by Brian Turner, 24/04/2002ce


Two Providence RI gentlemen arrived on the scene and moved down EVERYTHING in site a couple years back. Brian Gibson plays bass, through about 20,000 watts worth of amplifiers, stacked and plugged together allowing for a variety of textures and weird effects with volume so ridiculous that he wears giant Mickey Mouse headsets like airport dudes on the ramps have. Brian Chippendale plays drums like a free-wailing Animal from the Muppets, with a bunch of rigged up, bizarre electronic devices duct-taped to the front of his face, and the two of them bug out like they're from Pluto. Post-hardcore or whatever it's called, LB derive their existence from a very noisy, arty scene happening in Providence and have elements of some of the weirdos that have passed thru: Mens Recovery Project, Pleasurehorse, Olneyville Sound System etc., but the 'Bolt shear through walls like cheese with a giant rock sound so bowel-moving that Earth and Khanate fans will smile. Gibson even has a few Eddie Van Halen tricks up his sleeve, playing hammer-on leads on the bass, showing a definite love for ZZ Top cruising lines, that is if they were 70 times heavier. And then when they're not clobbering you, they'll sound like a bunch of chipmunks hopping around (thanks to Chippendale's voice-rig) with playful little melodies, until the pedal hits and you get clobbered once again. Totally insane. www.loadrecords.com


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