Make a Rising

Fri., March 28, 9 p.m., $5, with Pterodactyl and Off the International Radar, PiLam, 3914 Spruce St., myspace.com/thepilam.

by M.J. Fine

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Published: Mar 26, 2008

rock/pop

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Careful what you wish for. If you listen to Make a Rising's second album, Infinite Ellipse and Head with Open Fontanel (High Two), hoping the avant gentlemen will obliterate your brain, you might not be prepared for how they achieve the desired effect. Rather than fill every space with noise, they overwhelm and then pull back, leaving you alone with the thoughts you were trying to escape in the first place. Opener "Sneffels Yokul" combines restless percussion, hard-rock pomp, digital manipulation, birdsong and a spooky choir to distill your darkest dreams; a prescient (if slightly giggly) children's chorus sings the disc to a close a moment after the moody keys and muted horns of "Woodsong Part Two" fade into the ether. "How 'Bout a Love Supreme" builds slowly from a wistful piano melody to a kitchen-sink carnival of grunts and clangs. But when the noise drops out, all that's left are piano, chimes and a quiet voice. It'll clear your mind of everything but the existential pain that will dog you until you die. The West Philly collective, led by Justin and Jesse Moynihan, just got back from a three-week tour, so their homecoming show should be even more gloriously sleep-deprived and manic than usual.

Fri., March 28, 9 p.m., $5, with Pterodactyl and Off the International Radar, PiLam, 3914 Spruce St., myspace.com/thepilam.

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