Pat Noecker's old band, Liars, makes experimental rock too, but it could be bubblegum pop next to These Are Powers' ambitious sonic journeys. TAP's assaults, which display melodies mostly just in passing, maintain a tactile presence and rhythmic drive that keeps them surprisingly immediate.
These Are Powers mesh organic sounds while seamlessly flirting with improvisation. Their songs are hymns over club beats, ragas piggybacking on noise collages, dirges married to dance. Founded by Pat Noecker (ex-Liars) and Anna Barie and joined by Bill Salas (Brenmar), These Are Powers upends traditional stylistic expectations of acts operating in the noise-punk continuum.
Most likely no other band than These Are Powers has enthusiastically been described after a live show as "baby John Coltrane in a stroller" or as having used "all of the buffalo". Pat Noecker's prepared bass creates subsonic frequencies and other worldly noises often mistaken for synthesizers. Bill Salas attacks his electro acoustic drum kit while standing, and accents beats with live loops and effects. These future primitive undercurrents create a memorable pulse to Anna Barie's spectral guitar, banshee vocals and feral performances.
Hot on the heels of their well-received debut LP Terrific Seasons, These Are Powers unleash Taro Tarot, an EP that dives even further into their self-christened genre of "ghost punk". This is their second release for HOSS Records (WZT Hearts, Food For Animals, Atlas Sound) and their first with Bill Salas. Taro Tarot will be out April 8th and the band kicks off their month and a half long U.S. tour in NYC on Valentine's Day.
Relentlessly touring, These Are Powers splits time between living in Brooklyn and Chicago.