LIVE! ONPOINT (0n901n7)

Artist: ONPOINT (0n901n7)

Link: https://www.facebook.com/onpointtheband

ONPOINT (0n901n7) is a massive attack of guitars, an onslaught of fingers flying over fretboards. At the middle of two lead guitarists is rock goddess Olga, bringing it all together with a skillful blend of forceful lyrics and soothing, wordless entreaties (or non-lexical vocables, if you prefer). There's beautiful symmetry in Flying Vs flanking such a lithe female front. Not knowing the etymology of the ONPOINT band name, I'll guess it references the undeniable fact that their guitars are perfectly in synch, or on point, with both each other and with their beats, which are custom-built and run through a laptop. Any guitarist worth his or her salt will tell you that precisely splitting beats becomes progressively more difficult the faster you play, and these guys are beat-splitting at blistering paces. Fortunately for us, it's all symphonic interplay, rather than fatalistic dueling where everyone loses. And they absolutely nailed a Nine Inch Nails cover ("Wish") where the guitars properly cut out so we could fully absorb the lyric, "fist fuck." ONPOINT's originals are filled to the brim with riffs, so much so that chords and cut-outs are minimally used to maximum effect. Just feet away from ONPOINT's perfectly coordinated guitar riffs, we were floored.

*** The author of this review, Fred Wood, plays the hira-daiko for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8