Pompeii. Photo by Lukas R. Truckenbrod.
Local post-rock arena-gazers Pompeii released their third album Loom at Holy Mountain Friday night. A long time coming for the band, this is their first album in five years and you can buy it here. Despite the long wait, Pompeii has been present in the Austin scene over the course of ten years. Friday night they were supported by a wide range of Texas bands including Football, etc. (Houston), Botany (Austin)*, and Pageantry (Denton).
We made it in time to catch the last half of Botany’s set, which is the nom de guerre of Spencer Stephenson, a Western Vinyl label member who has released one EP and one full-length with the enigmatic local label, in addition to one single featuring Father John Misty on vocals. While the songs were strong and his heavy trance was on full-tilt, the inevitable fate of out-of-town DJs in medium-sized clubs was too much and the crowd preferred to listen from outside until the two following acts got started.
Pageantry. Photo by Lukas R. Truckenbrod.
Pageantry followed and bumped the energy with odd-metered dreamy indie pop, drawing folks inside to get a look at the tight Denton trio on at the beautifully lit Holy Mountain stage. Lead singer Roy Robertson’s vocals can be included in the same school as Hamilton Leithouser (the Walkmen) and Julian Casablancas (the Strokes), both in tone and delivery. Their math-y hooks settle into laid-back grooves that the incredibly tight Dentonites use to bolster their minimal arrangements. It is often difficult to make a three-piece sound like more than the sum of its parts, but Pageantry managed to do just that, led by the soaring vocals of Robertson and his multi-toned guitar leads that seemed to effortlessly vibe and precisely jangle over the attacking rhythm section made up of bassist Pablo Burrull (bass) and Ramon Muzquiz (drums).
Pompeii. Photo by Lukas R. Truckenbrod.
Pompeii closed the night of course, bristling with long-awaited anticipation of the release of the third studio album Loom. Lead singer Dean Stafford made sure to point out his mother in the front row taking pictures as the band geared up to unleash an ambient crescendo on the local crowd. Their trademark sound involves slow introductory ambience developing into building dynamics and crushing drums. The introduction of analog synthesizers for this album was a decision made by second guitarist and keyboardist Erik Johnson who said in an interview with the Seventh Hex, “Our producer Erik Wofford had several [synths] in the studio, from old ARPs to Moogs to Roland Jupiters, so we were fortunate enough to experiment with a wide range. I just love the raw, organic sound of them. I was also listening to a lot of ambient music at the time, which might explain the reverb washes.” In addition to the added analog synths, a string trio was added for the set, including two Mother Falcon members.
Check out photos from the night below. All photographs © Lukas R. Truckenbrod & Pop Press International. Click any image to open set in slideshow viewer.
*In an earlier version of this post, we identified Botany as being from Denton, TX, as the artist’s Facebook page indicates. However, the project is based in Austin.
