Wreck and Reference tours Northern California with Planning For Burial

Sacramento/LA duo Wreck and Reference are playing four Northern California shows to close out September, including a gig on Sunday 22 at Ouija Club in San Francisco with Oakland bands Swamp Witch and Alamoon. (Note that this is an early show, which will start around 6pm and end before 10, with Wreck and Reference likely playing around 7.) The gigs coincide with a Planning For Burial tour, and the New Jersey band is scheduled to join Wreck and Reference for all four shows.

The first set takes place this Friday at Third Space in Davis, where Wreck and Reference drummer Ignat Frege and multi-instrumentalist Felix Skinner once resided. Davis locals Lotion and Dad Punch will perform, as well as Planning For Burial and Sacramento’s So Stressed, who will join Wreck and Reference in Santa Cruz the following weekend.

Wreck and Reference, Planning for Burial, and So Stressed will play a free house show at The Witch Haus in Santa Cruz on Saturday, September 28. San Francisco favorites Deafheaven will replace So Stressed on the lineup to headline the Bane Shows 7 Year Anniversary Show in The Atrium of The Catalyst Club on Sunday the 29th.

The music of Wreck and Reference is deliberately unclassifiable, but words like “dark,” “doom,” and “experimental” definitely come to mind. The duo uses drums, vocals, and a Korg Sampler (no guitars) to create a cathartic, uncompromising sonic realm that’s bleaker than a Cormac McCarthy novel. One might describe their style as a singular spawn of “black metal” influence that has evolved though the lens of self-loathing Internet culture, wallowing in the filth of harsh reality. It’s an acquired taste, but absolutely worth it. I saw Wreck and Reference open for Deafheaven in LA last month, and their live show, while intense, is not to be missed.

The duo’s debut Black Cassette EP initially caught the attention of SF imprint The Flenser. The label reissued the release on vinyl in 2011, followed by last year’s No Youth LP and the subsequent No Content 7-inch (which you may have heard). Watch the video for “Absurdities & Echoes” below.