Lightening Bolt

Started as an art school project, Lightning Bolt has become one of the most popular bands on the underground circuit. Their unprecedented lineup, sound, and live show has earned them tremendous respect and admiration. So much, in fact, that veteran underground rockers Sonic Youth took them on tour.

Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, on independent Load Records, drummer Brian Chippendale and bassist Brian Gibson have taken the scene by storm on the strength of their latest album, Wonderful Rainbow, their DVD The Power Of Salad (and Milkshakes), their undying humor, and their incredible performances.
They insist on playing on the floor, maintaining that it is much more intimate. I asked about this when I talked with Chippendale after the show. “It's like everyone's in the band...all three hundred of us," he said, whose drumming is only a few beats from sounding like it was created by machine.

"If you see bands at the same place in the same place, you walk away with a cluttered amount of memories of some thing that happened. But if you see somebody somewhere else, or something striking about it [that makes it more memorable]," he added.

In addition to playing drums, Chippendale also supplies vocals for the duo. They provide their own system for delivering these vocals, using as much distortion on them as most guitarists use. In order to hold the microphone, Chippendale constructed a mask that, like his clothes, is seemingly made of anything he could get his hands on. "I try to rinse it out every night, or every other night. Last night I f***** up and left in a ball in the bottom of a drum. It was all mildewed," he said.

Inspired by a number of groups, including Japanese experimental groups Ruins and The Boredoms, Lightning Bolt is one of a kind when it comes to America. Centimeters away from being a simple noise band and inches away from being hardcore, they have crafted a unique sound that that has repelled a few but has attracted many more.


Their sound no longer influenced by anyone but themselves, Chippendale pointed out jokingly that “the bassist Brian barely listens to anything. He listened to Rush a long time ago, and then quit listening to stuff." Chippendale insists that their secret is constant practicing and keeping an open mind. Their amazing live show consists of half album tracks and half improvised material, all of which flow together on the strength of Gibson’s guitar-esque riffs and Chippendale’s chaotic beats. Clearly, this one-of-a-kind band has to be seen to be believed.

by Drew Stephan

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