Lip Critic played O’Brien’s Pub – 6/27

NYC digital hardcore miscreants Lip Critic played a wild Thursday night gig at OB’s with support from Cherubhead and Cohort B.

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Pressing play on May’s Hex Dealer, the manic second LP from New York foursome Lip Critic, you’re in for a pretty quick crash course on the band’s whole deal. Their post-dance-punk collision of percussion, electronics and samples is a pedal-down, in-the-red maelstrom operating on its own internal logic, and the live show they brought to Allston last week followed suit.

At a sold-out or close-to-it O’Brien’s, it took about 5 seconds into Lip Critic’s first song for a member to storm into the crowd and stir up a pit that essentially never stopped churning for the remainder of the night. With a double-drummer situation backing the table of noisemaking gadgetry at center stage, the band’s instrumentals walked the line between groove and chaos, atop which vocalist Bret Kaser gleefully played ringleader. The crowd went off from start to finish and the band clearly appreciated the energy; it was the most exhilarating set I’ve seen at dear old O’Brien’s in quite a while.

The night’s supporting cast also gave a strong showing, between the animated grunge-punk of locals Cherubhead and the muscular, no-wave-y post-punk of Lip Critic’s NYC neighbors in Cohort B. Check out a gallery of the whole evening below.