Popped by Chengdu last week for a quick work jaunt (one that involved hanging out in a Wal-Mart for twelve hours straight) and escaped one evening after hot pot to check out some tunes over at one of Little Bar’s venues. Due to said hot pot wrecking havoc on my bowels and me underestimating just how far out of town I was staying, I only managed to catch two out of the three acts, but am I glad I did. While Colorful Bar doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table, they have a solid grasp on melody and creating some truly affecting hooks. They lean a bit too much into their synth but at the end of the day, these cats do indie rock well, walking the line between earnest pop and dance-worthy indie quite well. However, I came for some Noise Temple, the audio-visual outfit featuring Re-TROS drummer Huang Jin and visual artist Mian. Cold and orderly rhythms layered in noise and projected against psychedelic and zen-like visuals, it hits you like a freight train. It sucks you in and doesn’t let go. The kind of music where I actually heard audible gasps at some of the hairpin turns. Bone-chillingly good stuff. Will need to stick around longer next time Chengdu.
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