Pharmakon playing two SF shows in June, joined by Lust For Youth @ Elbo Room, 6/19/13

Sacred Bones Records label mates Pharmakon and Lust For Youth will team up for a show at the Elbo Room on June 19, and the former will also perform at The Lab on June 21 as part of the Division of Labor Festival 2013.

Pharmakon, the gorgeously abrasive and disturbingly confrontational power-electronic/noise project of New York City performance artist Margaret Chardiet, will headline the night at the Elbo Room and be joined by O.P.P. and Gerritt Wittmer two nights later at The Lab. Her proper full-length debut, Abandon, was recently released on Sacred Bones to critical acclaim. Pharmakon’s post-industrial cacophony of sounds is deeply engrossing, like an alarming piece of art that’s impossible to turn away from. This shit is certainly not for everyone (and may even come across as pretentious), but as far as dark, electronic noise music goes, this is as fresh as it gets. Upon first listen of the album I tweeted: “listening to Pharmakon is like… cute little gummy worms tunneling through my corpse.” Pharmakon, who has virtually no internet presence, is an act that demands to been seen live (however uncomfortable it may be).

It’s fitting that Lust For Youth hails from Gothenburg, Sweden, as the moody post-punk synth project of singer/producer Hannes Norrvide adopts a dark and foreboding tone. His third full-length, Perfect View, will be released on June 11 and will explore new means of incorporating an uplifting pop sensibility into its stormy ambiance. The album’s lead single, “Breaking Silence”, is available for streaming below.