A TASTE FROM ABROAD #1: HEALTH

Each week we’ll be profiling one of the bands from outside of Alberta playing Sled Island ‘09.  If Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations was about club shows instead of street food, and viewed online instead of on TV, and being made by a bunch of over-worked nerds instead of a world-renowned chef, well, it still probably wouldn’t be anything like this…but don’t let that keep you from devouring a nice big plate of awesome.

Download: HEALTH - “Crimewave” (MP3)

Mark our words: if you miss these guys at one of their many shows at Sled Island, we will personally hunt you down and reprimand you!  Emerging from the noise-punk scene based out of Los Angeles, HEALTH are blowin’ up thanks to a Crystal Castles’ remix of the song “Crimewave.”  But don’t let that be the way you know them…

They play an ungodly good live show: one of the most stunning and hyperactive sets in music today.  Alongside No Age (who slayed (sleigh’d?) at Sled Island ‘08), Abe Vigoda, Mika Miko, the Mae Shi (who also slayed at Sled Island ‘08) and a score of other acts centered around the all-ages venue known as The Smell, HEALTH are helping LA seem cool again.  They offer up jagged shards of guitar noise, ear-shredding shrieks, and pummeling percussion from an absolute juggernaut of a drummer, all the while still providing an absolute dance party.  Radder still, HEALTH even have a Calgary connection: their “Heaven” 12” was released last year by our friends over at Flemish Eye Records.

To see a Pitchfork-made doc on the band, or to see footage of their mind-melting live show, head on over to: http://www.lpurecords.com/healthpress/