"Wonderful Rainbow," the band's 2003 release on Load.
Lightning Bolt is an experimental noise rock duo from Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2004, the members are Brian Chippendale (drums and vocals) and Brian Gibson (bass guitar). Chippendale eschews a mic stand and instead holds the microphone in his mouth. This distorted sound is then run through an effects processor to further garble the sound. They have released the albums Lightning Bolt (1999, on which Hisham Bharoocha, later the drummer for the somewhat similar Black Dice provided vocals), Ride the Skies (2001) and Wonderful Rainbow (2003), as well as a two 7 inch records, Conan (often referred to as the tour 7") and a split with the now defunct art collective Forcefield mostly on local independant label Load Records. The band creates the whimsical and colorful artwork on the records. Aside from the Talking Heads, Lightning Bolt is perhaps the most well known of the bands connected to Providence's RISD musical scene. They formed at Fort Thunder, a disused warehouse space in the Olneyville district of Providence that housed a number of different artists and musicians, including Brian Ralph.
Their music takes cues from canonical Japanese noise rock bands like Boredoms and Ruins although Sun Ra is a well-acknowledged influence.
Other similar bands include Hella, a two piece on 5 Rue Christine, and Wolf Eyes, formerly of Bulb Records and now with Sub Pop. Also worth mentioning is the band Mindflayer, a duo wherein Brian Chippendale plays drums.
External Links
Official Website
Lightning Bolt playing live, photo by Ren.
Lightning Bolt is also a 1967 film directed by Antonio Margheriti.  This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
