Blonde Redhead are the most beautiful band to have ever played. Seriously. Consisting of Italian twin brothers Simone and Amodeo Pace (both educated at the renowned Berklee School of Music) and lead vocalist Kazu Makino, a breathtakingly gorgeous vision to listen to and watch, Blonde Redhead have been compared—unfairly, really—to various no-wave bands such as DNA (where their name comes from), Can and Sonic Youth (incessantly), who are really to be credited for essentially discovering them in New York. That Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth each know how to use dissonance to enhance their melodies is about where the comparisons end. Blonde Redhead utilize every force in music—melody, sonic dischord, rhythm, harmony—to their great achievement. And their live performance is truly art in movement.
To paraphrase our recently passed Vonnegut, the only existence of God I will ever need is music, and this band's music has been there for me through every love, every breakup, every crushing time I thought I wouldn't make it through and did somehow. When Blonde Redhead's 2004 album, Misery Is a Butterfly, came out, I was at a point in my life where I was certainly miserable, and if I would have seen a butterfly, I would have shot it on sight. But I went, as I always do, to see them play. The three took the stage in front of where I stood—untouchable and hopeless. Kazu, Simone and Amodeo checked their instruments, wordlessly communicating with one another in that way we only communicate with those with whom we've been through very much, those we love. When they finally began playing, the notes soared through that room and into my helpless heart and reminded me of everything music and art exist for. And that night they sang me back to life. A drive to Pomona is worth that at least, non?
Blonde Redhead with Annuals at the Glass House, 200 W. Second St., Pomona, (909) 865-3802; www.theglasshouse.us. Wed., 7 p.m. $20 (sold out).
