Young Gods Deliver a Staggering Sonic Spectrum

Though the Young Gods are generally filed under “industrial,” the term only scratches the surface of the Swiss band’s sound. Over the course of five albums, the group’s music has evolved from stark battering into lush displays of innovative songwriting, electronics wizardry and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll vim.

How does this sound fare with the studio mystique stripped away? At the Whisky on Tuesday, the music proved just as vital, with the contributing factors becoming even more tangible than they are on record.

Employing mainly keyboards, drums and vocals, the trio generated a staggering sonic spectrum, from the more hard-line industrial pummeling of “Envoye” to such succulent rockers as “Skinflowers.” An epic rendering of the 16-minute “Moon Revolutions” moved through its droning, tumbling phases with intoxicating intensity, highlighted by strange, helicopter-like sound effects (accompanied by floodlights) as well as the unorthodox noises that frontman Franz Treichler wrenched out of an unassuming acoustic guitar.

The self-possessed Treichler didn’t so much sing the songs as channel them. His lively stage moves had a kind of interpretive dance quality yet never seemed premeditated--a feat that second-billed Gravity Kills might do well to study. Though the St. Louis quartet’s music was engaging enough--a gritty dance-rock blend that suggested a collision between INXS and Nine Inch Nails--there was something a bit too calculated about it. More compelling were the down-to-earth, rough-hewn grooves of Grotus, which opened the show.