
Look, you won’t be able to get rid of a bad first impression. Yeah, it’s true that the first meeting gets written down in the mind of the person you encounter forever. But frequent meetings are just as important. They’re the ones that set a standard. They’re the ones that create expectations. Once people know what you can do, they’ll demand that you come up with the goods every time.
People who tie explosives around a police station and blow it up don’t tend to end up writing children’s stories in jail. Or, if they do, we never hear of them. Motorhead’s Lemmy never recorded a country & western acoustic album. Or, if he did, that’s best kept a secret. And the next time a tornado rolls into town, I expect it’ll blow everything away, not massage us around the shoulders.
A Place To Bury Strangers make a terrifying, rocking noise, and it’s not something the band just decided to start doing. Nah, it’s a brand. In a world populated by countless metal and punk bands, APTBS are sonic tormentors by excellence. There’s no point denying this or retreating from what the New York/Berlin band has learned to do best. “Have You Ever Been In Love” sounds like a Roy Orbison ballad that’s being covered by people who might kidnap your cat and send you taunting recordings for the rest of its life. It’s bizarre, mean-spirited, and rather beautiful.