CATCHING A BUZZ: RUSTLER

By about the time the fourth person on Friday asked us if we we're going to catch Rustler's set at Rudyards', we knew something was amiss. These weren't randoz or street team messageboard posts either - we're talking tight cats whose bands you have read about on this site. If a tipping point was needed, certainly it was the moment that we learned that the engine behind the talk-up was none other than scene savior and man of aces taste Levi (he who needs no other name). Taking a quick sneak-away from an in-progress birthday bacchanal, we headed up the oak steps to hear what was vaguely proposed as semi-mathy instrumental metal.

Glad we did.

During what was only their second show, this trio of Katrina-resettled New Orleans did not disappoint. If Golden Axe is the Girl Talk of metal (everything you love about the genre hyper-concentrated into ultra-dense chicken nuggets of whip assedness) and Pelican its Orbital, Rustler sneaks along the dynamic somewhere in between. Songs creep out of the gates and build with unnoticed ease till you realize they're trying to blow the acne off your face, but yet they don't schlep along with the bombastic girthyness that is the low-point of many a Pelican record.

They've got an EP out on iTunes, but we join the chorus in strongly encouraging you to add Rustler to your 'must see' list. Unfortunately, they don't have any shows scheduled for the 713 at present, but we'll be sure to give up the secret when word comes out. Stoked.

Stream: Rustler - Various Tracks