PHOTO: SU-LING BLOIS
PSYCHOBUILDINGS
Psychobuildings is a psychedelic construction of danceable beats, lyrical splendor, and shimmering dance performance. The group originated with front-man Peter LaBier in 2010, a visual artist with the aim to create not just a band, but an artful experience for all the senses. LaBier joined forces with Peter Schuette (Silk Flowers) and Juan Pieczanski (Small Black) to blend dizzying layers of synth and percussion, creating the band’s upbeat-yet-dark electronic dance sound.
LaBier’s angular vocals cut through the maze, delivering lyrics rich with fragmented imagery. References flash from history to pop-culture to observations on mortality and back offering a glimpse into his twisted sonic landscape. "No Man's Land", explores scenes from George Orwell's book, "Homage to Catalonia" citing both the horrors and drudgery of life on the front lines of war in a dead-pan chant: "A company man until your limbs won't bend in the dugouts / Salvage run with the well trained mobs / Not a shrub left to hug / Not one dumb crumb that you starve for."
Live performances artfully fuse visual, aural, and tactile elements with uniquely designed outfits and stage props. The group collaborates with artist Ryan Johnson to further enhance the visual spectacle. Johnson's theatrical sets colorfully frame LaBier’s wildly fluid dance moves, reminiscent of James Brown, Michael Jackson and David Byrne. His signature blend of choreography and jerky motions sync with Schuette and Pieczanski's stop motion rhythms in a death grip from the first beat. The trio performs with Emily Panic on bass, rounding out the stage show. Psychobuildings will release their anticipated self-titled debut EP of six experimental dark dance grooves on All Hands Electric in July 2011.
The band is currently in the studio working on their first full length with producer Peter Wade (MNDR, Jennifer Lopez) and will be hitting the road soon. LaBier and Wade met at a New York art gallery show in March 2010. Soon after, Wade began a partnership with the band, with plans to grow the project out of the art gallery and on to the pop charts.
DISCOGRAPHY:
AHE-07 Birds of Prey b/w Paradise - 7"
PSYCHOBUILDINGS
Birds of Prey
7”
$5
“Birds of Prey” is the debut offering from Brooklyn’s Psychobuildings, a group that started as a solo recording project by Peter LaBier and has since expanded to include Peter Schuette on synths and Juan Pieczanski on electronic/live percussion and synths. Blending jam-based punk aesthetics with a laser focus on beat and melody, Psychobuildings recalls an era of music when pop, rock, and disco began fusing together to stir up new club sensations like hip-hop and new-wave. These touchstones have provided LaBier with a foundation for his own unique pop sensibilities.
The A side, “Birds of Prey”, merges the work of minimal synth pioneers The Human League with the hard funk loops of early hip hop stars like the Sugar Hill Gang. LaBier’s percussive vocal delivery on the track strides confidently in the mix, displaying a genuine love for rhyme scheme and catch-phrases. With twisted lines like “Birds of prey repopulate/in the privacy of shade machinations stray/warm blood’s dripping in the undertow” LaBier’s lyrics come to life, rather than lay flat like so much of today’s club oriented pop.
The B side “Paradise” might be the real party smash of 2010. It kicks off like the beginning of so many Michael Jackson hits, an electronic beat pulse and a shout to the devil followed by a funked up bass line worthy of Bootsy Collins. The hook is an instant classic, once it bites down it doesn’t let go until you’re ceaselessly humming along to the refrain “We all want to pretend we live forever/no paradise, no afterlife, no limbo!”. Despite the clean pop structure of the songs, the end result manages to sound both abstract and loose, especially with all the percolating sounds that buzz and swirl around the beat, courtesy of Silk Flowers’ synth master Peter Schuette. With Small Black’s Juan Pieczanski in the production chair, Psychobuildings has succeeded in creating a new hybrid, one that brings artfully crafted beats and hooks back to the dance floor.
"Paradise" picks up the trail later, taking DNA from The Cure and Talking Heads and rinsing it in a psychedelic, glo-fi surf. It does fall into the 'undeniably great' category, however, so give it a whirl. Try something new! I promise you'll love it.”
-Kev Kharas (RCRD-LBL)
“Rhythms bustle in competition for space while primary, pastel synths taper around like those streamers inside party poppers, and when Peter sings his words he sounds like a child confused by a dream he just woke up from...”
-Kev Kharas (Viceland) READ MORE>>
“Rather than invoking the chart-busting high-drama of Eurythmics’ ilk mind, he opts for a dance floor dynamic that sounds like a late Eighties ‘jackin’-house style remix you’d get on the B-side to a David Byrne and Robert Smith collaborative single...”
-Jaimie Hodgson (NME) READ MORE>>
“In between yelps and stream of consciousness lyrics sung over a chunky, looping beat, think of a New-Wave dance rock resurgence. Then think about how much sense it makes, and how good it actually is, and how good it would have sounded blasting out of your boom box in 1980s NYC. And then turn it up.”
-Typanogram READ MORE>>
“...what it would have sounded like if Suicide had been produced by Nile Rodgers, like super crisp and clear and still possibly insane but brain patters completely legible. Like “Ghost Rider” filtered through “Let’s Dance.”
-Peter Macia (The Fader) READ MORE>>
TP-015 Portrait b/w No Man’s Land 7” - TRANSPARENT
PYCHOBUILDINGS
Portrait
“7
“[Portrait]features LaBier's elastic vocals and a well-placed pile of skittering synths and drum machines.”
-Larry Fitzmaurice (Pitchfork) READ MORE>>
"We’ve thus far compared Psychobuildings to just about every atmospheric ’80s band we’ve ever liked, and “Portrait” isn’t going to make us stop. It’s pretty much everything that was cool about The Cure and Depeche Mode—which was mainly that they gave a fuck about giving a fuck and were willing to do it over some of the catchiest bass/downtuned guitar riffs around. Same vibe with Psychobuildings—it feels like nothing is off limits for these guys."
-Sam Hockley-Smith (The Fader) READ MORE>>
AHE-14 Self-titled 12”EP/ CD (RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2011)
PSYCHOBUILDINGS
Self-titled EP
12” EP - $12
CD - $8
Tracks:
1. Portrait
2. Paradise
3. Terminal Phase
4. Birds of Prey
6. Terror Management
After releasing two killer singles last year NYC's Psychobuildings unveil their first 12" record in EP format. Just shy of 20 minutes this slab of vinyl showcases the band's already unbeatable dance numbers as well as some finely constructed psychedelic trance inducers heard previously only in their much buzzed about live set. Balancing New Romantic synth explorations with the beat boxing lyricism of Old School Hip-Hop Psychobuildings have come up sounding fresh in delivery and style. Front man Peter LaBier brings the guts back into pop with a feel for groove and and an ear for hooks. His spirited vocals recall legendary post-punk singers like Robert Smith and David Byrne while his frenetic dance moves would make the King of Pop smile. Produced by hit making sound engineer Peter Wade and fleshed out by the synth wizardry of Peter Schuette and multi-instrumentalist Juan Pieczanski, the self-titled EP fires on all cylinders from start to finish.
