Preoccupations played the Middle East Upstairs – 6/29

Calgary post-punks Preoccupations hit Central Square with LA’s Goon.

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We all know there’s not exactly a shortage of bands out there making an angular racket you could accurately describe as “post-punk.” It’s a crowded field, and as a guy who loves an angular guitar (yeah I’m throwing it out there twice), I’m here for a lot of said bands. Still, some attack this loosely-defined subgenre with a force that sets them apart. Since they broke through to acclaim and adoration with their 2015 debut (under the moniker Viet Cong at the time), Preoccupations have been one such band.

That first record is an all-timer of anxious, industrial-brushed, rhythmically-punishing bangers, and the band has continued to hone in on and toy with that sound over four subsequent LPs. May’s Ill at Ease is their latest, and brought them on a lengthy North American tour that wrapped up at the close of last month in Cambridge.

It’d been nearly six years since I last caught the foursome live (pandemic’ll do that), and I was pleased to hear their punch had lost none of its power in the interim. Their set was a lean, no-frills, no-encore affair that hammered their tight, hypnotic songs home, and landed especially well in the intimate confines of the Mid East Upstairs (which kind of, almost, makes up for missing them at Great Scott way back when).

Los Angeles quartet Goon opened things up with a set of dreamy psych-rock, previewing their then-forthcoming, now-available third record.

Scroll below for photos from the evening.