Algiers at The Earl, Atlanta, June 5, 2015

I have seen the future, and it is called Algiers.

Algiers is an American experimental band formed in Atlanta, composed of vocalist/guitarist Franklin James Fisher, bassist Ryan Mahan, and guitarist Lee Tesche.  Their self-titled debut album was released on June 2, and last night, Algiers kicked off their first headlining tour at their hometown Earl.

Atlanta's Twins opened.

Landline played next.

Algiers took the stage a little after 11:30 pm and ignited the room.

If you think you hear traces of gospel and soul in their distorted post-punk sound, you'd be correct - last night's show simultaneously felt like a church revival, a political rally, and a call to arms, as well as a rock concert.  Genres weren't so much merged or fused together as reimagined and reinvented into a new, cohesive whole.

Since Algiers is such a new band and their debut album dropped just this week, I don't know many of their song titles, but I believe Blood was the second song in their set and that they closed out with Black Eunuch.

Not surprisingly, the show had sold out - on a chalkboard by the entrance someone had written, "Sold Out, Go Away!"  There were a number of Atlanta musicians among the audience, and I spotted The Indigo Girls standing just a few feet away from me.  Unfortunately, and not atypical for The Earl, the audience was loud and talkative through much of the set, to the obvious displeasure of Fisher during one of the few quieter moments, but the show was nevertheless nothing short of a triumph. Even if the band didn't come back onstage for an encore, the audience still stood in front of the stage clapping and cheering for a good five minutes.

Algiers may be too uncompromising, confrontational, and experimental for mass appeal and large-scale commercial success, but I don't think that's what they're aiming for,  Their critically acclaimed debut album and explosive live performances, however, may trigger a raising of consciousness and political awareness in modern rock music, and if that's the case, I think the band will consider their job to have been done.