Words and photography by Pete Legasey

“[…] RIBS, the only local outfit on the bill, set the table and showed why they’ve been generating so much momentum in recent months.

Formed by Atlanta transplants and longtime pals Keith Freund and Blake Fusilier, RIBS has earned a steady flow of positive reviews and radio play (both terrestrial and webcast) since releasing their debut album British Brains earlier this year. Far from being the dinner-themed band I imagined them to be when I first heard their name, the group’s moody-but-dynamic brand of atmospheric rock has garnered comparisons with Joy Division, Queens of the Stone Age, and Deftones.

RIBS played an ideal opening set for a chilly October night in the middle of the workweek – far from cheery, but hardly a bummer. This was my first time seeing the guys in concert, and the live setting definitely allows for a much bolder contrast between their moments of murky ambiance and frenzied ruckus. It was those latter moments of chaos that stirred the crowd’s blood to an adequate consistency for the blitzkrieg that awaited. Fusilier’s bass was a much more grisly and battle-ravaged creature than anything that roams the album, and Justin Tolan (reportedly a touted shred prospect before joining RIBS) let his chops fly with a goody-bag of arpeggios, resonant speed picking and rain-soaked chord combos.

Although the two bands could not be mistaken for one another, RIBS and Intronaut struck me as an ideal match in retrospect. Like RIBS, Intronaut’s sound is rooted in the post-metal experimentation of bands like Isis. But whereas RIBS’ style is also informed by a mix of (mostly British) alternative and post-rock elements, Intronaut’s deviations take us in a brazenly hellish direction, falling much more in line with Mastodon than Muse….”

FULL ARTICLE: http://playgroundboston.com/2010/11/01/helmetrev/