To fulfill our vicious and shadowy needs, another Club Bête Noire was held at Bar Loose. With two highly interesting, synth-driven bands AUS TEARS and MOLCHAT DOMA I was sold to walk down the stairs of Bar Loose and fall into the depths of post-punk. The dark and cold Sunday night was just its own to get people ready for ecstatic dance and music.
The local duo AUS TEARS was the one to start dragging us to the wells of darkness. I’m going to be honest and confess that I didn’t 100% catch the name of the opening song, but it started with “The Day That Never -“. Whatever the ending to that sentence was, I’m guessing it fitted the gloomy start of their gig. AUS TEARS claimed that they made a few mistakes as it was a new song, but according to the audience’s reaction no one wasn’t too bothered about it.
According to the club’s theme, the mood didn’t exactly change to sunshine and happiness as the duo continued to perform their electric post-punk. They effortlessly switched between being singers and keyboard players for different songs, sometimes doing both at the same time. Their stage presence and energy managed to impress me, even if with their touring experience from all over Europe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The male singer/synth player even reminded me of Trent Reznor from time to time as he was gripping his microphone.
One of my favorite moments was during their final song “Structure of Collapse” (AUS TEARS, please forgive me if this title is incorrect as well). I don’t know if it was on purpose or an accident, but as the show was reaching its highest energy – an effect pedal was pressed during one chorus and the female singer/synth player sounded like a robot for just a moment. Whether it was intentional or not, it captured my attention and fitted the song just perfectly. I believe AUS TEARS are working on their debut full-length album right now, but make sure to catch their show if they’re performing near you. They got at least one new listener from that night.
The highly anticipated guest from Belarus, MOLCHAT DOMA didn’t let us waiting for them too long. In fact, they may have started their set just a bit ahead of schedule. The band didn’t rely on any fancy aesthetics or theatrical ceremonies while entering the stage, Roman Komogortsev played the beat from their drum machine and the show was to start with “Машина работает” (Mashina Rabotaet). MOLCHAT DOMA immediately managed to attain everyone’s focus and attention with their hypnotic playing and presence.
“Hello Helsinki, we have something special for you!” announced Egor Shkutko as the band continued their show with “Тоска” (Toska). As I recall, that might have actually been the only ‘speech’ between the songs. But people weren’t there for speeches, they were there to sway and dance to MOLCHAT DOMA’s dark music – which itself was dancing on the fine line of synth-pop, post-punk and even included some folkish elements. I felt like being sent back in time, but at the same time, I was experiencing something totally new and experimental. The band itself took part in swaying on the stage as well, especially Egor who almost felt like having a mystic haze around him to be in his own little world.
If a band like MOLCHAT DOMA were to have a hit song, “На дне” (Na Dne) would be a great candidate for that. Offering it as the last song before encore fitted perfectly to their setlist, having the audience begging for one more song as they waited in the backstage. The band managed to build up the energy during the show and gave us a night to remember. Helsinki was MOLCHAT DOMA’s 7th stop on their Storm Over Europe tour and didn’t show any signs of getting tired just yet. The concept of Club Bête Noire worked really great, and it’s very likely to see me participating in the upcoming clubs as well.
If you are feeling hungry for MOLCHAT DOMA’s music, they have just released a new song in collaboration with a Russian post-punk band called PLOHO.
Photos and article by Lassi Saarinen
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