CTRL/ Solemn Assembly
Elysium Nightclub, Friday, Oct. 17

Austin’s CTRL and Dallas’ Solemn Assembly provided
support for Houston’s Provision. The night promised to
be a good mix of electro-industrial and synthpop and
kept its promises. CTRL, the most industrial of the three
bands, surprised some of the audience by featuring guest member Alex (ex-Provision) on keys; the original vocalist, JJJ, hopped on stage towards the end of the set to accompany current vocalist Brad on a few older CTRL tracks. This set showcased newer material from their forthcoming (as yet untitled) album – material that shows more leanings towards a harder electronic sound and less smooth synthpop influence. Another novel thing about this set was the fact that Brad actually stepped out from behind the keyboards and started acting like a front-man. Sure, it was only two or three songs, but normally Brad’s splitting duites as keyboardist and vocalist.

Solemn Assembly have been around the Dallas scene for a while now. They’ve recently emerged as an act more than capable of performing a tight, controlled and professional set. Frontman Joe Virus, like CTRL’s Brad, split duties between keys and vocals. For the most part he was able to bounce around stage front. SA’s sound is a more-or-less updated synthpop-derived sound with a few harder, more industrial edges. These guys have been racking up more and more performances lately because of their polished stage presence and professionalism. I’d like to see these guys get some recognition.

[ brian clarkson ]