Futurebirds

By Mike Frash

Futurebirds with Diarrhea Planet //
The Independent – San Francisco
July 18th, 2013 //

Futurebirds are one of the best bands to emerge out of the Athens, Ga., music scene in a while, and anyone present The Independent can attest to this notion. Guitar instrumentation was the theme of the night as featured act and conversation starter Diarrhea Planet perfectly mirrored the night’s headliners through layered Southern psych-rock.

With a name that dares you to say it out loud in front of other people, Diarrhea Planet put forth a killer set. Balancing between heavy metal and punk, yet centering around accessible hooks, the Planet would rage hard then let intricate instrumentation create a floaty atmosphere.

The Nashville-based group was there to party and make a scene, something Diarrhea Planet achieved by reinforcing their music with four guitarists and a variety of stage antics. Emmett Miller on guitar led the way with the shenanigans, climbing speaker banks to jump from and by performing on the floor of the general admission area to end the set. They had fun and left a good impression in line with the Diarrhea Planet motto: “Shred till you’re dead, or go to hell.”

Diarrhea Planet

As the stage was being prepared for Futurebirds, tunes from Kurt Vile and Tame Impala rang through the venue. This choice of pre-game music was highly appropriate — psychedelic guitar layering proved to be the hallmark sound of Futurebirds. The group features two electric guitarists, one acoustic and the all-important steel petal guitarist.

The stoic steel pedal guitarist added haunting accents to songs, even though he was the only performer onstage who seemed kind of bored. Futurebird’s music is rooted in alternative country, but every song transformed halfway through, morphing with a pleasant sound-shift into psychedelic-rock territory. For instance, “Death Awaits” is a wavy, country ballad until layered, electric guitar stomps into the third part of the song, adding Syd Barrett-like wails. The steel pedal ended up bringing the song together for the guitar-harmonized, blended outro.

Touring on their 2013 LP Baba Yaga, Futurebirds transformed almost every offering into a Neil Young-like slow burning jam, picking up the pace through layered Southern aural goodness.