I was gutted to catch only the tail-end of Melbourne supports Three Month Sunset, previously seen around the traps as Gabriel Lewis’ solo guitar project, now backed with dual bass players and vocalists in Lucy Buckeridge and Giles Simon, as well as drummer Anton Jakovljevic. While Lewis’ Milkthistle had caught the attention of many, including Sigur Rós, it’s as a fully-fledged outfit that Three Month Sunset have been exciting the locals recently. Yet to release anything as a quartet, their lush dream pop sounds like Beach House put through a shoegaze blender. An impressive teaser.

After upending my bedroom all day in search of earplugs, with the notorious “New York’s loudest band” tag hovering over all expectations for the evening, there wassa short-lived sense of disappointment as A Place To Bury Strangers initially took the stage. They were simply not that loud. Feeling a little cheated, I took my earplugs out, wondering if I’d wasted an afternoon.

Later, after having my eardrums ripped apart, this conscious decision to open at a more conservative level made sense. Volume in itself is not a virtue, a fact the band clearly understand, having spoken of feeling uncomfortable with the tag that has been plastered over all of their tour posters. More importantly, and despite what they might be able to crank up on a decibel counter, at heart APTBS write pop songs, particularly the type that appeal to the delicate balance of beauty and destruction found in an imploding My Bloody Valentine melody.

Though a tad underwhelming, the quieter start allowed the pop sensibilities that ground APTBS to shine, showing off the influence of the shoegaze gang (My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride etc) mixed with the goth-pop leanings of bands like Bauhaus. Oliver Ackerman’s self-built effect pedals (custom-built and hand-wired with exquisite names such as ‘Total Sonic Annihilator’ or ‘Interstellar Overdriver’) plaster these rather straight-up melodies with slabs of white noise and enough sonic filth to set your heart racing. Drenched in reverb, Ackerman’s monotone vocals sing disaffectedly of love and lust. The lyrics are flat and direct – letting the destructive, howling guitars provide the emotion.

Fix The Gash In Your Head was an early winner, sounding like a choppy helicopter threatening to land on top of you. Swathed in waves of industrial distortion, its clammy beat prickled the skin, making nods to early New Order’s appreciation of taut, anxious rhythms. I Know I’ll See You and Exploding Head further extended displays of the darker Manchester influence, showing APTBS’ ability to grab at the hips, not just the ears, with Ackerman’s pedals used more sparingly to texture Jono Mofo’s catchy, driving bass.

Playing from both their self-titled debut (2007) and last year’s follow-up, Exploding Head, the set was getting effortlessly louder, song by song cranking the volume and testing tolerance levels. Then mid-way, the threshold was breached; naked ears were no longer an option. As an Idol judge would say, the band ‘took things to a new level’, as their visceral walls of noise and hissing, distorted guitars turned ferocious.

One unforgettable song transition rang like an ear-splitting car alarm held up to your ear. People all around held their palms to their ears as the sound became physically excruciating, some looking tortured, others enthralled by this brutal level of noise. It was like masochistic pleasure, and I found myself fighting the urge to conversely rip my earplugs out in order to experience the full force of APTBS’s sonic spectacle. By the time the strobe lights flickered fits of Ackerman ripping at strings, smashing his guitar against the stage, it was impossible not to be captivated and a little awed.

Closing with the magnificent Ocean; the opening drums march like a herald of doom amidst a wash of guitar which builds and soon disintegrates into a blissful maelstrom of fuzzed-up fury. It felt like it all ended too soon, though a faint souvenir rang through my ears all the next morning, thanks to a little tinnitus. Bewildering, terrifying and fucking fantastic.

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