Last night at Potential Life Studios (34 Elton St), the duo Insects with Tits (from Richmond, Virginia) generated raspy, reedy waves of noise, that, even when they built in volume, sounded thin and insect-like, as though millions of its namesakes were about to take over the audience. The duo pushed and pulled, twisted, and subtly bent their bodies as they pressed buttons and turned knobs. By the time they'd worked me out of the trance I'd been sucked into, I had unwittingly (as always happens at these sorts of shows) created a shifting series of pictures in my mind. This kind of music easily translates that way; a soundtrack to a film only you can see.

The Norwegian duo Nemes/Skagen that came next was intense as all hell. Though many show-goers came equipped with earplugs, I found myself without, and wasn't sure I could take the over-the-top levels. Thankfully, my guy was on the same page, and he made a trip to the car to grab us each a pair. From then on, we enjoyed the heavy (yet muffled) sounds without fear of blown eardrums.

The guitar almost became a different entity, an other-side-of-the-mirror version of itself, when inserted into this noise act. Throwing aside all convention, it was more an instrument of agony than melody, helping to create the low, deep, loud vibrations that, when I turned around at the end, had shaken one of the gallery's framed works sideways on the wall.

Next up: Sonic Youth and The Feelies in Battery Park