A Place To Bury Strangers : Synthesizer

Coming into a new album from Oliver Ackermann’s A Place To Bury Strangers you pretty much know that it’s going to be loud, abrasive, and sprinkled with melodic ear worms under all the aural debauchery. Ackermann is a bit of a sound wizard, creating effects boxes with his Death By Audio effects company. His effects want to create noise that is meant for the apocalypse, making noise that seems to be eating whatever amp and guitar is making them. Ackermann has turned decibals and distortion into a fine art. A fine art that can cause Tinnitus.

He’s taken those noise boxes and has turned them into a hefty discography of noise and annihilation; post-punk anthems and no-wave indignation coming together to create a sound all its own. It’s like The Jesus and Mary Chain being devoured by acid-spitting chainsaws. When Exploding Head hit in 2009 Ackermann and APTBS made their mark. Each album afterwards refined the noise and jagged sound violence into something equal parts melody and dissonance.

APTBS has returned with the album Synthesizer. Locked in with the latest line up of Ackermann and husband/wife duo of John and Sandra Fedowitz, Synthesizer continues a streak of loud, unapologetic records that have continually evolved A Place To Bury Strangers’ sound without watering it down.

While this APTBS album isn’t made entirely from synthesizers, for $150 you can get the record and parts needed to assemble your own synthesizer from the album cover. While a little disappointed to find out this wasn’t a three-piece synthesizer noise band record, it doesn’t disappoint in the song department. And, if you don’t want to build your own synth, you can buy the record sans synth erecter set kit.

“Disgust” brings us into the record in a fury of punk rock drums and bass while Ackermann sings over laser gun guitars. This is the DNA of APTBS, evolving and dissolving before our ears. “Don’t Be Sorry” has an almost The Damned sound, wavering in minor keys and an almost dusty, jangly guitar line. The production is tight and the noise explosions are at a minimum here. “Join The Crowd” has a danceable drum beat courtesy of Sandra Fedowitz while the song sits in introspection and shoegaze vibes.

Elsewhere “Bad Idea” sounds like The Stooges being devoured by circuits and hot lava, while “It’s Too Much” is a pretty eloquent pop song under all the wavering guitar noise and transistor radio sonics. Album closer “Comfort Never Comes” has a Joy Division feel to it, building over nearly 8-minutes of melancholy vibes and Ackermann’s most upfront vocal delivery yet.

Even if you’re not into building synthesizers on the faces of album covers, Synthesizer has plenty to offer in earworm hooks, pop intentions, and power drill guitar violence. It’s another stellar record from one of our premier noisemakers.