Shore Leave is working on new material with their new drummer, Bob Nisi of The Cha Cha Cha All Stars and formerly of Red Zone Cuba. The new line-up recently debuted some of it's new material on November 15 at the Middle East, when Shore Leave opened for Chicago's Make Believe and Baltimore's Ecstatic Sunshine.
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Pfefftiffuff’s vocalist starts out alone, sort of moaning into a microphone and heavily manipulating it with a whole array of effects in his lap. There is much twisting of knobs, and the range of sounds produced is bizarre and otherworldly. Two guitars come in, one at a time, and very gently. Then the rhythm section, and the overall sound is established that they will work with for the remainder of the “song.” There’s a lot of ebb and flow to it, and some really amazing playing. The drummer, in particular, impresses me: it would be so easy to over- or under-play these songs, but he finds a perfect balance, grounding them without stepping on the more delicate stuff that the rest of the band is doing. Each peak of energy is followed by a more mellow retrenching, until they finally swirl to a close after about 25 minutes. Since they still have more time, they play again, and this seems a bit more riff-driven, which makes a nice change.

Exultation Of Larks plays things that are more recognizably songs, with vocal melodies and comprehensible structure. They are otherwise a good fit, though, with jazzy, complicated playing and many intriguing rhythmic shifts. There are two guitarists, but they very rarely fall into a lead/rhythm division; it’s much more like one lead built collaboratively from two very complex lines. The bassist sings most of the songs, but both guitarists provide occasional lead vocals. They’re not really catchy songs, exactly, but it’s richly engaging while it’s going on.

After all that, Black Bear sounds positively straightforward. But only by comparison; they have a lot of strikingly interesting guitar work and some very cool guitar-and-bass tapping parts on a song or two. They’re a three-piece, with a solid, driving rhythm section and mostly shouted vocals that contribute a punky feeling. But for me, the musical center of gravity is the guitar, and it amply rewards as much attention as I pay to it. This is apparently their penultimate show, so I’m a bit disappointed not to have seen them earlier, but they are very young and will hopefully be heard from in other combinations in the future.

Shore Leave is in the process of losing their drummer, but due to some confusion about whether he could play this show and their attempts to replace him, they have two drummers tonight! I LOVE more drums, and when the second drummer is Steve Budney of Tristan Da Cunha, I am in heaven. The first song has a double-trio configuration—two guitarists, two bassists, two drummers—and a correspondingly huge sound that sets off their highly composed and fundamentally pretty songs very well. Afshin switches from bass to keyboards and/or sitar on subsequent songs, further enriching their sound. The two drummers mostly play in unison, which is pretty great, but when they branch out from this it’s even better. The Lily Pad’s neighbor who invariably complains about noise doesn’t seem to think so, but fortunately he comes in near the end, and since the entire evening has gone perfectly on schedule, they are able to finish their set. (Steve Gisselbrecht)

"I REALIZED EARLY ON THAT WE COULD WRITE A REALLY poppy sort of thing that people might find catchy, but we could also write six-minute instrumentals. There’s no reason why we can’t do both," says Shore Leave guitarist/vocalist Ernesto Gianola. The Boston five- piece demonstrates considerable stylistic range.

This band isn’t afraid to allow their songs to develop naturally. Afsheen Beheshti, who contributes keyboards, bass, and vocals, extolls the virtues of writing music collectively: "Usually someone will bring in a part, and we’ll turn it into a Shore Leave song." This impulse leads them into a variety of stylistic territories within individual songs. Four of their self-titled album’s ten tracks are instrumental, and the others only employ vocals sporadically. All of the members write and contribute music, and guitarist Mike Joy, Gianola, and Beheshti each contribute lyrics.

"We don’t want to decide the direction before we write the song. We work on it, come up with some ideas, and sometimes the song tells you what it wants to do," says Gianola. "A Window Seat" demonstrates Joy’s interest in mid-’90s indie rock á la Joan of Arc; it also recalls the off-kilter melodies and precise single-note picking of Braid or American Football. The largely instrumental three minutes of "Buried Alive (Now You’re Dead)" sees the band at their heaviest, employing dissonant bursts of guitar noise, unsettling keyboard lines, jarring stop/start dynamics, and indecipherable shouting, holding it together with a more melodic chorus. It is followed immediately by "Sunrise," a jazzy post-rock workout that builds gradually over the course of its seven minutes, carried along by a series of pretty, interlocking melodies.

Gianola sees the band’s willingness to draw from disparate sources as an obstacle to overnight popularity. "It’s harder for us, because we’re messing around with so much all the time, that I guess we’re going to be one of those late bloomers, where eventually your fan base finds you." The reality of avoiding easy categorization may deny the band a built-in audience for its sound, but Shore Leave is able to appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners. "If we play for someone that likes classic rock, they might find something they like, and they might come back again. Somebody that likes post-punk might be into it, or someone that likes bands like Mogwai," says Gianola.

Shore Leave are self-described geeks; Gianola and Dan Gillis are computer programmers, Beheshti is a biophysicist (leading him to repeated- ly attempt to label the band "physics rock," to the chagrin of his bandmates), and bassist Charles Morton studies computational biology at MIT.

The band’s formation was kick-started by a five-song guitar-and drum demo put together by Gianola, then passed into the hands of Joy and eventually the other members. Joy and Gianola then played together for half a year preceding the official birth of Shore Leave in May of 2003. Joy soon introduced drummer Nick Gandee (who played his final show with the band as part of September’s NEST festival) into the mix, while Gianola recruited Tallahassee transplant Beheshti to man the keys and also contribute bass. Morton joined shortly after the full-length was recorded, and Gillis replaced Gandee this fall. "We started out as this weird experimental guitar and keyboard thing, and now we have a rhythm section, which is great," says Gianola.

Shore Leave are proud to be a part of the Boston music community. "We have a lot of really good friends who are in great bands, and we’re all sort of united, setting up shows together," said Gianola. They cite Helms, Ho-Ag, Night Rally, and Big Bear as examples of fellow locals doing great things, and receiving recognition for their hard work. "A lot of people have told me after shows we’ve set up that it was one of the best shows they’ve seen in a long time. They get to go and see four completely different bands that are all great, and that they care about," says Gianola. Without a proper touring vehicle, the band is content to continue doing their part to strengthen the scene at home while developing as a musical unit. "We just want to make music that we’re all proud of. Right now, Boston is as good or better than what’s going on in the rest of the country."

The guys cite continued musical growth, with plenty of experimentation, as their main goal. "There’s no reason, with all these people in the band, that we can’t touch everything," says Gianola. Joy adds, "For me, I’m a lot more excited about working on new stuff. There’s kind of been a lull in song- writing, partially because we made the record, then right after that Charles joined the band so he had to learn the songs, then right after that Dan joined the band so he had the learn the songs. We haven’t really had the time to say, ‘Hey, let’s work on new stuff.’"

Tonight’s Shore Leave set is kind of a sad occasion: their last show ever with their current drummer. (I’m told that the new drummer is excellent, but I’m still sorry to give Nick up.) Tonight’s show is mostly sweetly beautiful (with a great mix providing the balance and interplay between the two intricately pretty guitar lines that I find so enthralling in this band) and streamlined---no major technical challenges, which is an achievement in itself for a five-piece band with five microphones and a ton of equipment. The ton of equipment is mostly Afshin’s, and tonight he primarily plays keyboards; he and Charles double up on bass for one song, which is huge, but a bit of tight timing forces them to cut one song, so we don’t get to hear the electric sitar tonight.

I’ve been hearing about Victory At Sea for a long time now, and somehow I’ve just never managed to catch them. I’ve been missing out! A guitar/drums/piano trio, they start out with a slow blues that leans heavily on powerful, driving piano and the singer’s thick, dark alto. She can moan in a way that sounds weathered and infinitely deep, yet still really tuneful, then turn around and belt out a shattering scream. The drummer (who just got the cast off his broken hand!) is a big, scary-looking guy who sings pretty, sweet high harmonies. The pianist handles bass duties and percussive high end, and sings the low part on one song, and the guitar is noisy and strong. It’s dark, raucous, beautiful stuff, and I am thoroughly captivated. (Steve Gisselbrecht)

We all need some shore leave once in a while. If you ever saw the old Star Trek episode with that title, it’s when Kirk and company beam down to a planet for some rest and relaxation, and encounter events not unlike those in a funhouse. This band has a trance-inducing quality on many tracks, instrumental jams a la older Pink Floyd, and a bond that can only mean they’ve rehearsed quite a bit. Some of the odd time signature jams may be a bit jarring if you’re looking for Yanni mellowness, but make no mistake---Shore Leave is a BAND, not a baked guy running the show on a sampler. The judicious use of little electronic bleeps and bloops through the tightly arranged-but-free compositions are enhancing, not detracting. I wish I didn’t have to talk about chemical refreshment all the time, but this album and band should be experienced with an “enhanced” viewpoint. I’m sure the members of Shore Leave would want you to do that. They should teach this type of music composition at Berklee, “Enhanced Music Writing,” and Shore Leave would be the essential text. (Mike Loce)

FRIDAY: Sure, home-town kids Shore Leave are experimental and mathy -- at least one of 'em has a PhD in biophysics, and if you google their name, you get a bunch of Trekkie fan pages. But their ruggedly engineered rock has deep-rooted hooks strong enough to untie shoegazer's laces, cycling through sweeping romantic scenarios and distorto nightmares in the span of a single song.

Vocals come sparingly -- just as well given lines "When you're by my side I am quantified" -- and that leaves more room for their dueling guitars, strange keys (if you're lucky, you'll get a peep at Afshin Beheshti's curly black mop peeking out amid a fortress of keyboards), and tricky time signatures. Max Lord, who helmed the Mister Records III comp, produced the band's homonymous debut in all its DIY eight-track glory, and they'll celebrate the disc's release upstairs at the Middle East, 472 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square, on an A-list bill with Ho-Ag, Best Music Poll Nominees Night Rally, and Tristan Da Cunha. It's an 18-plus show, and admission is $9; call (617) 864-EAST.

After a week of Rumbling-which I enjoyed, don't get me wrong, but enough is really enough-I am totally psyched for an entire evening of bands I have chosen to see. And this bill brings together a bunch of my favorites, in a classroom at Mass. College of Art. It's a weird space, with a primitive, ad hoc PA system, but sounds great, considering. First up are Guillermo Sexo. They are VASTLY better than the previous time I saw them, which was, in fairness, their first show ever. Tonight, the singer seems much more comfortable onstage. In her lower register, she's more confident, and in the upper part of her range it's more punky-screamy, and it works on that level. The guitar parts are wild-these might be straight-up indie-punk songs if some of the guitar lines weren't so twisted. The keyboard adds a clear, spikey high end, and the rhythm section is fierce. It's a strong start to the night.

Sweetthieves are a three-piece from Providence. Tonight it is difficult to hear the bassist sing, which contrasts with the other time I've seen them, when it was impossible. So we're getting better. But my focus in this band is on the strings. It's not that the vocals aren't urgent and interesting, or that the drumming is not fluid and powerful. It's just that the strings are so captivating. The guitarist plays mind-bending chords on a baritone guitar of his own construction, and it has a wonderful dark, warm tone. The bass lines are fantastically intricate and driving, her sound is huge, and it is without a doubt the ballsiest performance I have ever witnessed from someone wearing a pastel floral print.

Any one moment from Paper Thin Stages' set will sound much like that. You've got the heavy, powerful bass playing fascinating lines or huge, thick chords. You've got weird, jagged guitar lines and high-strung, sung/shouted vocals. And you've got the drummer that just won't quit, pounding out steady, complicated, and ridiculously fast drum parts. (They take every song at a breakneck pace tonight.) But what this band add to the mix is amazingly varied, highly structured songs, with drastic shifts between movements taken smoothly and in synch. My only complaint with this set is that it's too short. (But at least they recognize that they're not allowed to skip my favorite song.)

Harris use a drum machine on a few of their songs, which would normally be a real problem for me, but their excellent drummer plays over it and usually manages to drown it out more or less completely. Tonight it's turned up a bit louder that usual, and I can actually hear it while they're playing. There. I found something about this show that wasn't just totally great. Aside from that, their set is pretty fantastic. They have hard-driving yet highly structured songs with beautiful, catchy pop melodies and freaky complicated rhythms. The keyboard player sings lovely harmonies; one of the guitarists roars and screams. It just seems like they can do everything, and they often do it all in one song. They, too, leave the audience wanting more.

Shore Leave provide a fine and fitting ending to a night of advanced and intricate music. I'm a bit disappointed that the keyboards are too loud, since they cover up some of the amazing delicacy in what the guitars are doing. But then the keyboard player switches to electric sitar for one song, and the whole sound of the band is endlessly deep and layered. I'm glad they set up four microphones-no other band tonight has used more than two-as all four of them sing, and the whole that they make vocally is really much more than the sum of the parts. And I'm glad I've heard early recordings of most of these songs, since there's a lot going on here, and it's much easier to follow when it's somewhat familiar. (Steve Gisselbrecht)

Shore Leave has the honor of beginning this incredible night of music at Great Scott. Their first couple of songs are sort of calmly pretty instrumentals, with lots of delicate guitar figures and, on one of them, an electric sitar. Then their next couple of songs add vocals, all four of them trading bits and snatches of melody. As the set progresses, the songs get edgier, more challenging, and more confrontational, in a way that I like. I also like Mike's vocals on the one song where he really cuts loose and gets loud.

There are several ways in which Big Bear's set is like a lobotomy. The most obvious, of course, is the way that it makes thinking impossible and/ or irrelevant. But there's a deeper, more fundamental similarity in the harnessing of such precision and outrageous technical aptitude for such a profoundly brutal end. Having finally heard Jordyn's other band, and knowing that she can actually write and sing lovely songs, makes her starkly terrifying PCP shrieks in Big Bear all the more impressive, if no less terrifying. The incredible intricacy of the two guitar lines wrapping around each other and the speed, power, and dynamics of the rhythm section combine with that unique vocal to make one of the most overwhelming experiences any band in Boston has to offer. And the crowd goes wild!

But not as wild as they will get before the end of the night. Ho-Ag are celebrating three milestones tonight: the release of their new EP, their last show with Dave Dines as their bassist, and their first show with a new bassist, Nicholas Ward. Any one of these would suffice to draw the Ho-Ag faithful; together, they have the room sold out full of screaming lunatics. The band were apparently born to deal with superstardom, as they seem entirely unfazed by the now-familiar chanting of the crowd, by the enthusiastic moshers knocking over pieces of equipment on the stage, by the blood streaming down Matt's face at the end of the set. They synthesize all the elements of all the bands that played tonight: the tunefulness and weirdness, the virtuoso guitars and freaky electronic bleeps and blips, the pretty and the pummeling, the singing and the screaming. The new bassist plays the first half of the set, and then Dave comes on to finish up with them. Both of them are phenomenal, but then everyone in this band is, and needs to be. The music, as written, is so close to being a mess that it wouldn't work if it were performed less than perfectly. It works. (Steve Gisselbrecht)

Tonight is a Halloween show, with bands performing as other bands, so it's tricky to review: is it better to be faithful or entertaining? Besides which, I can't judge faithful if I'm not that familiar with the originals. That said, the first act this evening is Senator Whatley as The Blues Brothers. (Actually, the first act is DJ Donna Parker playing Kasey Kasem introducing Senator Whatley as The Blues Brothers, and she is as dead-on and entertaining as this sentence is complicated and confusing.) They sound good, and are very much in character. The harmonica is pretty serious. I'm a little confused by their keyboard player---at no time does any noticeable sound come from the keyboard, but she just keeps banging away, and her tambourine playing is more odd than good---but the two of them are very convincing. And, of course, they do "Rawhide."

Next up is Crystal Cock over Canada (!) as Phil Collins. (!!!) I have to give these guys credit for dedication: the singer/drummer has actually shaved the corners of his hair into an approximation of male pattern baldness for the event. And if you're going to present this kind of smarmy crap in this context, you really have to do it tongue in cheek, and it's probably best to really massacre the songs. And believe me, they do. And it's hilarious, too; really gaspingly funny. Still, there's no getting around the fact that these are horrible, painfully awful renditions of terrible songs, and I'm soon desperate for them to stop, funny as it is.

Black Tail provide a powerful antidote as Bad Brains. Crushingly loud and fast and powerful, I am told that they are supremely faithful to the originals. What I can tell, without being that familiar with the originals, is that they are incredibly accurate, and that they whip the audience into a frenzy, complete with a tiny little mosh pit.

After the costume prizes are awarded, with Trever from Piles taking first prize for his stunningly in-character star turn as Courtney Love, Shore Leave perform as Television. There's a lot of heroin humor, and a Patti Smith joke from the audience. A couple of sections where all four sing get a bit ragged, but the guitars are fantastic---in fact, all the instruments are fantastic---and I swear Ernesto sounds better as Tom Verlaine than as himself. The one song I know, "Marquee Moon," is a stunning set-closer, with a long, beautiful instrumental meditation marked by some really heroic lead guitar.

Finally, it's the event I've actually come here for: Valhalla Kittens as Human Sexual Response. These are songs I know and love, and they do them beautifully. We get "Land of the Glass Pinecones"! (How many bands ever used the word "portend" in a rock song? And how many of those also had a song called "Butt Fuck"?) Scott is a bit odd as Larry Bangor; Scott's got such a bizarre and unique voice that he only ever really sounds like himself. But Kitten Violet's scorching lead vocal on "Jackie Onassis" is worth the price of admission all by itself. In fact, my only real complaint with this set is that I would have left that one for the grand finale, since they do such an untoppably great job with it. (Steve Gisselbrecht)

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