USAISAMONSTER ::

USAISAMONSTER / VIALKA
fluc_mensa / vienna, austria
15th feb. 2005

before i go into this review there's a little story i need to tell: in vienna there's the ERNST KIRCHWEGER HAUS. about 14 or 15 years ago a group of enthusiastic and zealous autonomous anarchists and turkish kurdish communists occupied the building, that was in the possession of the austrian communist party, and renamed it after ernst kirchweger, who was an anti-fascism activist that was manslaughtered by neo-fascists in 1965. since then the EKH has become a focal point for various anarchist, communist and social political agendas as well as cultural exchange and events. my own feelings towards the EKH are very ambivalent. i've spent some time there and had some very frustrating as well as enlightening encounters in there, played some of my very first gigs at the EKH, but over time became ever more jaded towards their whole standpoint as it became clearer that they were just as full of bullshit as those they opposed. but one thing must be stated clearly - the work that people within the EKH are doing is vital for the cultural and social atmosphere in vienna. alone the positive things they have done towards asylum seekers and foreigners in vienna are worth mentioning.
now the head of the austrian communist party (KPÖ) has sold that house to an anonymous buyer without conferrign with either his parties administration or the occupants of the EKH - of course they are not willing to go, therefore a series of beneficial events were and will be organized to help them defend their position.
the USAISAMONSTER concert was one of those events. that much as a lead in. on to the real issue.

it was a bloody busy day. JAMES BLUNT was in town for promotion (nice guy really and his manager is ravishing, gotta track down her phone number) and after that there was the monthly monkey.lounge (informal biz get-together). so i was pretty tired and hectic when i finally arrived at fluc_mensa at about 23:00. fortunately the show hadn't started yet. i also was lucky enough to see the support band, VIALKA. first time i ever heard of that act, but was impressed. not unlike USAISAMONSTER, VIALKA consist of drums and 1 guitar and some effects for guitar. who's thinking of WHITE STRIPES, BLACK KEYS or DEATH FROM ABOVE now is off. VIALKA is highly experimental in their strcuturing of songs and tend towards the more extreme application of voice and beats. a very intriguing show.

USAISAMONSTER are also only a 2-piece, with drums and 1 guitar and some effects, with the addition of a clanky keyboard that the drummer plays. and other than VIALKA, who rather use dramatical and theatrical songs and structures, USAISAMONSTER are clearly coming from the rock end. similar perhaps to LIGHTNING BOLT, only not as noisy. unfortunately i was so beat that i could barely keep my eyes open and sometime halfway into their third track i just had to go home and crash. of course i bought their latest cd on my way out. and it was worth the exhaustion all the way: supported EKH, got to know a new exciting band (VIALKA) and have seen USAISAMONSTER for the first time and was not disappointed. nice.