A Place To Bury Strangers With Wax Chattels

New Zealand is still reeling from A Place To Bury Strangers' 2013 Laneway Festival performance, when they blew the Auckland harbour adrift with a blistering set of melodic noise and chaotic danger.

Shards of glorious swirling feedback, and a flying bass, left a sonic imprint burnt into the memory of anyone who witnessed their first Auckland show. One of the legendary Laneway sets in the festival's history.

The Brooklyn based trio return to New Zealand in 2019 for two shows, on the back of their explosive 2018 album Pinned and the subsequent remix record Re-Pinned (featuring remixes from Slowdive, Trentemøller, No Age, METZ, Eric Copeland, Roly Porter, Davy Drones, and TBO).

For well over a decade now, A Place to Bury Strangers— featuring New Zealander Dion Lunadon - (formerly of North Shore punk band Nothing At All! and The D4) - on bass, founding guitarist/singer Oliver Ackermann, and, officially, new drummer Lia Simone Braswell—have become well known for their unwavering commitment to unpredictable, often bewildering live shows, and total, some might say dangerous volume.

They don’t write setlists. They frequently write new songs mid-set. They deliberately provoke and sabotage sound people in a variety of cruel yet innovative ways. They can and will always surprise you.

“When something goes wrong on-stage, a lot of bands will crumble under the pressure,” says Ackermann. “We like the idea of embracing the moment when things go wrong and turning it into the best thing about the show.”

The release of Pinned brought their fifth full-length and an album that finds them converting difficult moments into some of their most urgent work to date. It’s their first since the 2016 election, and their first since the 2014 closing of Death By Audio, the beloved Brooklyn DIY space where Ackerman lived, worked, and created with complete freedom.

“After DBA closed, I moved to an apartment in Clinton Hill,” he says. “I couldn’t make too much noise, couldn’t disturb my neighbours. I would just sit there and write with a drum machine. It had to be about writing a good song and not about being super, sonically loud.”

Tickets will not last for these shows, so do not delay.