Lansing-Dreiden

Hans Morgenstern April 8, 2004 4:00AM

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The anonymous four-artist team collectively known as Lansing-Dreiden has certainly made a name for itself since relocating from Miami to New York several years ago. Their multimedia creations incorporate video, photography, text, performance art, and jewelry into oblique presentations such as Death Notice and Greenscreens. Now the group's 2003 debut CD, The Incomplete Triangle, is being rereleased on indie imprint Kemado (home to Elefant and the Fever). It is a musical picture as varied as the media they use.

Lansing-Dreiden mixes the right amount of progressive rock with Eighties influences such as New Order and the Police while assimilating elements of death metal, freestyle, and indie rock. Yet none of these sounds overwhelms the entire work, and the band ends up crafting a dynamic identity. Many of its lyrics have a cryptic, fever-dream quality. In "Metal on a Gun" the singer's voice emerges from underneath funky guitar licks and machine-gun drumming with the echoing, angelic quality of an early Pink Floyd recording: "Just for security, let us fill out your attempt./(You split, your tongue is forking out.)" The Incomplete Triangle doesn't reinvent rock, but Lansing-Dreiden demonstrates a masterful command of the form.

Lansing-Dreiden

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