Pitchfork Music Festival 2011, Sunday: HEALTH

The art-noise acts HEALTH, The Mae Shi and XBXRX—all birthed by D.I.Y. venue The Smell in Los Angeles—have historically had a very polarizing effect on audiences, not so much drawing a line as digging a deep-ass trench between hater and super-fan camps. I fall in the latter category, for the record, but totally understand why this music isn't universally adored: Not everyone enjoys a good face blasting, particularly when it's 90 degrees outside. HEALTH blasted my face at Pitchfork in 2008, where it seemed like it was met with far more crinkled-up noses and hands over ears than mosh boys losing their minds, which sort of surprised me given their association with critically and universally adored bleep-bloopers Crystal Castles. The people who like them LOVED that show and the people who hate them or didn't know them HATED that show.

Fast forward to HEALTH at Pitchfork 2011 where the audience odds are once again stacked against them as they were slotted against super-palatable Aussies Cut Copy and, because the band's set started almost 25 minutes late, TV on the Radio as well. As I stood there eagerly awaiting lift off, I look around amazed at the crowd that was amassing and kept growing as the set went on. Singer/guitarist Jake Duzsik played it as cool as his airy and indiscernible (on purpose, natch) vocals, which sound like a less-enuciated Brian Molko from Placebo though, at times (and I hate to say this) also that melodic dude from Linkin Park, as they were turned up far louder live than they ever are recorded. The quartet played tracks primarily from the //NOISE portion of their catalogue, driven by the insane, otherworldly drumming of Ben Miller who is as beastly in ability as he is in stature. Per usual, John Famiglietti provided a dose of flamboyance whipping his long hair back and forth as he jumped between the bass, zoothorn (Duzsik also takes a turn at this) and percussion. There was a fair amount of danceable stuff too, which was a nice change of pace in between thrashings. Like it or hate it, these guys are super tight. They do what they do well, and there were zero missteps throughout this 45-minute set, which held it's own against the blockbuster sounds wafting from the main stages. HEALTH was a good blasting, indeed.