I’ve only been to No Problemo twice, but my understanding of how it goes is as follows: The taqueria closes, tables are moved, a P.A. is positioned, lights are turned off, a show happens. Somewhere in there, Roadsaw/White Dynomite bassist Tim Catz arrives. Killer tunes over the speaker, two bands on the bill, you’ll no complaints from me. It’s a laid back vibe, and yeah, the gigs don’t exactly start “on time,” but with just two bands and a free show, I’m not about to argue. Last time I was there, Kind also played, as part of an early October 2014 weekender with The Golden Grass from Brooklyn (review here), so their set this past Saturday accompanied by local bruisers Gaskill has something of a follow-up feel to it, if only because they were in pretty much the exact place I saw them five months ago.

And what a difference five months can make! This was my third time seeing Kind overall, and in roughly half a year’s time, the four-piece of vocalist Craig Riggs (also Roadsaw), guitarist Darryl Shepard (also Black Pyramid, Blackwolfgoat, etc.), bassist Tom Corino (also Rozamov) and drummer Matt Couto (also Elder) have gone from amorphous psych jams to, well, songs constructed out of amorphous heavy psych jams. Admittedly, the vibe’s still pretty open, but Kind‘s material has continued solidifying, and like the last two times I caught them, Saturday night provided an encouraging update of the work in progress. They had a setlist and everything!

That’s not nothing, considering it puts Kind that much closer to making their studio debut, which last I heard was due later this year. Now, Elder are touring in support of their just-released Lore (review here), Black Pyramid are heading to Europe in Spring and have a new 7″ on the way, White Dynomite are supposed to have a release out sooner or later on Ripple Music and Rozamov are headed West in May to play Psycho California, so exactly when Kind might have the time to put together an album is beyond me, but everything I’ve seen them play — from a liquefied effects barrage back in August to the big-riff ending of “German for Lucy” this past weekend — has made me hope they get to it at some point. As much as they’re predestined to be considered one of those bands comprised of dudes from other bands, Kind‘s musical personality differs from anything its component players’ other groups offer. Using a wah pedal and vocal processor, Riggs turns his voice into a melodic drone after verses and choruses give way to exploratory jams, and the mesh between Shepard, Corino and Couto is palpable as they telegraph changes across the stage. Or in the case of No Problemo on Saturday, from where table six might be to where table eight was.

What’s become the core of their sound seems to be that blend between more straightforward parts — an indelible instinct for songwriting — and washes of noise. The end of the four-song set, “Angry Undertaker” found Shepard shredding away in a Dave Chandler-style free-for-all, detuning and resting his guitar against a Marshall cabinet that I’m pretty sure was Gaskill‘s while hand-stomping pedals from his knees before setting up a loop and taking a seat at the bench along the wall of the room. Behind his and Riggs‘ feedback and noise, Couto and Corino held down a fervent groove, gradually deconstructed but never totally unhinged. Between the former’s swing and the latter’s heft of tone, the foundation didn’t need much upkeep.

There were six songs on the setlist, and I’m sorry to say that “Pastrami Blaster” wasn’t aired, but along with “Angry Undertaker” and “German for Lucy,” opening duo “Grogan” and “Hordeolum” — which if I’m not mistaken I’ve heard parts of before, albeit in a different context — helped establish Kind‘s vibe that the band would soon, and gleefully, tear into pieces. Since the root of the band is in jamming, Shepard bridging the gap between his experiments in Blackwolfgoat and more heavy rock-minded projects, it’s welcome to see that side persist even as songs take definitive shape. The chaos they create suits them, and I doubt this will be the last time I remark on their growth as a band. Was good to check in. Hope to do so again soon.

Kind on Thee Facebooks

No Problemo Taqueria

Tags: Kind, Massachusetts, New Bedford

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2015 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.