Gosh Pith and Fascinator at Baby’s All Right

Gosh Pith Photo courtesy of Gosh Pith

I knew the bands I was going to see were all sort of “experimental.” I knew that. But I still wasn’t quite prepared for what I walked into when I arrived at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg on a quiet Sunday evening in October.

The lights were flashing, a drum machine was kicking beats, an electronic sitar was channeling sounds and a voice was singing through a distorted microphone, all together producing an electro-psychedelic fusion. Beyond the music, the presence of the band Fascinator was bewitching.

Johnny Mackay, the front man of the group, stood with a laptop and drum pad to his right, peddles at his feet, and was switching between a sitar and a 12-string guitar between songs. Like the rest of the band, he was wearing a patterned gown of sorts that extended to his toes. They all were fitted with billed hats that had cartoonish eyeballs on the top of the cap and a veil extending from the tip of the bill to their necks, hiding each one of their faces, as if they were a spooky gang of psychedelic ducks from both the future and the past. What’s more, Johnny was the only one actually playing an instrument—the drummer sat at the drums and hammered away, but never actually made contact. Likewise, the second guitarist wielded an air guitar and strummed along on the side of the stage, sitting on an amp.

Fresh from Detroit, Gosh Pith, made up of Josh Smith and Josh Freed, headlined the evening. Though their outfits were not as elaborate as Fascinator, they brought a medley of sounds to the stage that was far from simple. Their sound was rooted in the sort of early Animal Collective-style raw electro indie pop vibe, with songs showing a wider influence reminiscent of everything from King Krule to Girls to trip-hop.

Gosh Pith has only played a handful of shows—Baby’s All Right was their first in New York—and it still seems as if they are experimenting and discovering what they want their sound to be. With that said, they are gigging at an increasing rate, with November shows in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, and of course, Detroit. Further, the duo just released their second single, Smoke Bellow, via a debut with the music channel Noisey, bringing more hype to the band. Check them out here and stay tuned for more Brooklyn shows.