Sunday is Matt Schnable's birthday.

Now, he's not gonna go around asking for birthday presents. But I'm here to tell you that if you want to make him feel better about getting older, you will come have your mind blown at the Grey Eagle with the rest of us.

On the bands self-titled debut album (editor's note: #1 on both matt & matty's "top ten of 2007"!) they manage to kick up some of the most ferocious feedback since The Jesus & Mary Chain's classic "Psychocandy". Oh and of course they reference the almighty sound of My Bloody Valentine circa "Isn't Anything" and the "You Made Me Realise" single. Much of the thunderous guitar blast you'll hear on this record is the result of Ackermann's other job, building homemade guitar pedals. He has an online store where you can buy them straight from him and even hear examples of how they sound, the website is www.deathbyaudio.net. I won't name them all here, but some of his clients include Lightning Bolt, TV On the Radio, and Serena-Maneesh (with whom A Place to Bury Strangers share some similar qualities). Another nicely executed facet to the album is the contrast between live drums and drum-machine often in the same track. "To Fix the Gash in Your Head" best illustrates this technique by pitting pummeling Ministry-esque beats against a tumultuous wall of fuzz... -- Delusions of Adequacy

8.4 rating on Pitchfork!
"A Place to Bury Strangers can pull beauty out of eardrum-puncturing bleakness..."