BEAR EMPIRE at Parts & Labour, Monday September 2. Rating: NN
When Bear Empire guitarist Eric Pentz walked onstage with earplugs, it was a sign of things to come: the local three-piece ground through a very loud set with very loud screaming and very loud banging that shook Parts & Labour’s subterranean concrete den. At one point, this reviewer let her hair down – not to rock out, but to create a makeshift barrier.
Noise levels aside, Bear Empire show immense promise, but seem like they’re still hammering out a signature sound. The songs with discernible melodies, catchy bass lines and guitar riffs, accented by Tan Arcade’s reverb-effected vocals, were by far the most interesting. Plenty of songs, however, would take an abrupt turn, descending into distorted breakdowns, accompanied by Arcade’s staccato shrieking, that sounded more like 90s alt-rock.
Although Bear Empire bill themselves as a “psych-punk” band, their live show encompasses a lot more than a fusion of those two genres. Sometimes more is better, but not in this case.
