Taking parts from hardcore, metal, free jazz, and a DIY ethos, Lightning Bolt’s Ride the Skies became the noise band’s launching pad towards accessibility unlike many would imagine. Forming in the ‘90s as part of Providence, Rhode Island’s iconic art scene via RISD, Brian Gibson and Brian Chippendale climbed the ranks of the city’s thriving underground building a name for themselves one DIY gig at a time. Released sometime in February of 2001 (the exact date seems to be unknown), Ride the Skies was the album that introduced Lightning Bolt to the world beyond their own community and along with releases from Black Dice and Wolf Eyes, made noise a more common and covered part of the indie rock scene.
For their second record, not only was the duo ready to challenge the conventions of what a drummer and bass player could accomplish sonically, they were set to bring their particular blend of furious noise to an audience in a whole new way. Setting up directly on the floor and usually crashing straight into those bulldozering grooves only moments after the previous band finished, Lighting Bolt were ready to shake-up the dynamics and occupied the art scene with fresh and invigorating approaches to their sound. Limited only to a bass and drum was by no means inventive at this point ,and even in the early aughts it wasn’t absolutely revolutionary, but their approach to free-form noise and using unstructured rhythms to create such a controlled chaos felt like being taken aboard an alien spaceship and returned to Earth with a new found sense and fascination for these blaring sounds.
The acrobatic attack on the drums by Chippendale took freestyling solos to new extremes, throwing rhythms and melodies to the wind in favor of textures and sonic themes. Brian Gibson matched with ferocious intensity, his bass taking on the sound of a revved up dirt bike straight from the Terror Dome. Ride the Skies was the Brian’s working deeper with each other and learning how to incorporate their own wizardries to create such a dynamic fusion.
The center of the album holds the majority of the weight and excitement with the most varied offerings and in the case of “The Faire Folk” the least abrasive few minutes of the record. The third track on the album, “13 Monsters,” breaks free from the all out assault as Chippendale opens with his most distinct and triumphant drum solo and chant on record. A pounding beat comes barreling out of the gate as the bass cuts out and only the primitive rhythm pushes through before Gibson comes crashing in like a buzz saw. By the end it feels like a ragged engine grinding away, all out attack mode still set to the highest levels. “Ride the Skies” immediately follows with one of Gibson’s most iconic riffs, the two swapping duties taking the lead. “The Faire Folk” once again breaks form and introduces the most melodic moment on the album as the first two and a half minutes are anchored only by hi-hats and not thundering blast beats. As the song progresses, LB throws some surprise punches and flip the switch to audio-assault before regaining the melody only to hit blast off before the track comes to an end.
Throughout their journeys, the Brians feel separate yet somehow entwined. They always share a basic connection and even when a melody is nowhere to be found, the complexities of the rhythms and sublime volumes are enough to entrance listeners to transport them another realm. Like the visionary spiritual jazz movements in the ‘60s that defied rhythms and rules and found a groove with counter-culture, Lightning Bolt helped usher in noise to the rock kids.
Ride the Skies isn’t the best Lightning Bolt record, but it has some of the band’s strongest moments and its place in their discography affirms its hallmark status as the record that changed the band’s world. The record is a jarring thrill ride and set the band on their path forward as the noise band of the next two decades.