Headliner:Comets on Fire
Opening Acts:No Doctors, The Hospitals, Residual Echoes
When: doors 7:00 p.m. / show @ 8:00 p.m.
Where: Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
Ticket Prices: $12.00

There are various ways to make noise. Thursday night's Noise Pop shows at Cafe du Nord, a speakeasy-flavored basement bar right off upper Market Street, worked as a lesson in noise that works, and noise that gives the word its rancor.

The night's headliner was Comets on Fire, a Santa Cruz, CA outfit who mix space rock, psychedelia, and metal when most bands are still whining their emo hearts out. I liked the band's recent full length, Blue Cathedral, and I'd hoped the band's festivities would be a full space rock mini-fest, all droning grooves and overworked effects pedals. Hey, it's a matter of taste.

Starting things off were Residual Echoes (Pink Floyd reference probable), a trio also from Santa Cruz, who chug out very passable, and at moments, downright promising space rock. The Echoes reverberated with all the essentials of the formula: churning blues riffs; somewhat fey, trippy drumming; and lines of guitar feedback pulled like rainbow taffy. The Residual Echoes would remind you of Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd, depending on what bit of a song they were in and just what corner of the room you were swaying in. That is, until the lead singer starts barking out incomprehensible lyrics with punk rock enthusiasm. It's a nice idea, but he needs to fix his mic amp or keep his head from bashing long enough for his words to hit the sound system. The band ran into one glitch where the guitar lost all its pedal effects, but all told, Residual Echoes had me jazzed about the evening, and that much more excited about Comets on Fire.

Unfortunately, my high (musically induced, mind you) wasn't going to last. Next up were The Hospitals, a guitar-and-drums duo who sounded as if they'd formed earlier that morning and just figured out how to make nasty over-amplified feedback before rushing down to du Nord to let us all have it. The drummer bashed a relentless four-four beat and shouted what sounded like human syllables while the guitarist made as much noise as possible. Clumps of people began heading away from the stage to get another drink or head up to the street for some air. I'm not sure quite where the Noise Pop folks dug these guys up, but The Hospitals haven't learned yet that a throbbing wall of sound - as beautiful and cathartic as it can be - still takes some context and basic talent. This was all noise, no pop.

If The Hospitals sounded like they'd floss their teeth regularly before they'd actually rehearse, No Doctors sounded like they were all rehearsal - technically sharp, ambitious with their two guitars and two drum kits - but to the point where no one stopped to listen and let them know whether any of it made any sense. I think the No Doctors were trying for some kind of angular, what-time-signature-is-coming-next experimental feel akin to Gang of Four or, more recently, arty bands like Deerhoof. I will say that these boys kept me guessing, but more as to when they'd get around to saying anything musically instead of just impressing each other with how difficult their music was. There's a point where difficult just becomes garbage, and that point isn't hard to reach.