Live music review: Japan’s Acid Mothers Temple at 29th Street Ballroom with The Macks and ST-37
Japan’s Acid Mothers Temple returned to Austin for their fourth local appearance in two years at the 29th Street Ballroom in the University of Texas campus area on Sunday, marking another stopover for the band’s constant touring schedule that often has seven shows in seven cities per week. Acid Mothers Temple is a prolific force in the world of psychedelia, bringing their noise-infused brand of the genre through the crossbreeding of progressive rock, drone, and krautrock. For this stop, Acid Mothers Temple enlisted the help of Portland, Oregon garage rock outfit The Macks and local Austin psychedelic institution ST-37.
The Sunday after Halloween likely left a lot of psych rock fans out of commission after Levitation’s Halloween Freakend in South Austin, showing a thinner crowd at the Ballroom for Sunday night’s show. Local mainstays ST-37 took the first opening slot, an outfit that has remained a fixture in Austin’s psychedelic community. With an ethos that dabbles in post rock and ambient undertones, frontman and bassist Scott Telles brings an underground variety to the forefront with ST-37, assembling a cinematic vibe that overlaps with his other projects My Education and SoundMass. A six-piece ensemble, Telles and the backing players produce a sound that captivates with mind-bending drones and jangly guitars, a formative movement that further paved the way for Texas figureheads like The Black Angels and Holy Wave.
Portland’s The Macks have played in Austin before, though this year’s tour stop marked a first for many of Sunday night’s attendees. The Pacific Northwest garage rockers felt right at home in the scene that’s all about the weird, taking on a garage rock angle that drifts between punk and full-on early 2000s New York City rock and roll revival. With a blend of fuzz, blues, and jammed-out sections that made each composition unique with bombastic stage antics, this felt like a welcome presence in a star-studded procession that packed the heavy-hitters from front to back.
Founded in 2015 by Sam Fulwiler and Windheim brothers Ben & Josef, The Macks feel like a tight unit that’s been looking to make their mark on the touring circuit for a decade now, and their statement in Austin didn’t go unnoticed. Frontman Fulwiler took time to hang upside down from the stage rafters while working the microphone in a simultaneous manner. Look out, Andrew Cashen (of Tear Dungeon and A Giant Dog), you might have some competition.
Acid Mothers Temple appears in Austin regularly, but their progressive, noisy brand of psychedelic revivalism is always a sought after, unstoppable force. With a live experience that’s based on improv around their gargantuan recording output, the Japanese underground act haven’t missed a beat in their thirty years of relentless tenure. Founding members guitarist Kawabata Makoto and synthesizer madman Higashi Hiroshi have seen many different iterations of the group throughout their history, maintaining a creative streak as an underrated force whose musical blueprint could be compared to that of California legends like John Dwyer or Ty Segall.
To some LSD enthusiasts, AMT takes the route of an actual trip. Some parts are grooving and dance-like, while others are so deafening and extreme that you’re fighting through the noise to get to the next phase. Still, the structure feels perfectly placed to build sonic tension before collapsing into a cacophonous tsunami of screaming guitars and instrumental climaxes that only plateau to prepare the tension for the following section of audible mayhem. Telles of ST-37 could be seen vibing out at the front of the stage, often harder than most of the younger attendees at the gig. Age is just a damn number.
Acid Mothers Temple continues down the road before wrapping up in California on November 9. Ticket info can be found via the Acid Mothers Temple website.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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