I am a glutton for punishment. Time and time again, I am adamant on staking out a front row spot for NY's very own A Place to Bury Strangers, eager for another dose of their brand of industrialized shoegaze. As always, that's where I was early Friday evening, anxiously awaiting their prominent South Street Seaport appearance.

Again, the threat of showers loomed overhead, but held off through the band's blistering set. The lights sunk down low as they took to the stage, the only source of illumination hailing from the hand-run projectors which flashed ancient and sometimes sexual images behind them. Just as Mission of Burma's tape delay is an important element to the band's show, the same could be said about these projections, which make an A Place to Bury Strangers gig a feast for both the ears and the eyes.

The band's fifty minute set consisted of several numbers from their 2007 compilation, their first official release on Killer Pimp records. The throbbing, muffed out bass of 'Don't Think Lover' washed over the outdoor venue with finesse, and the slow drone of 'The Falling Sun' broke their fast and fuzzy set apart for a brief moment, complete with a dose of JSpace's electronic percussion. The band also performed two newer cuts, 'Deadbeat' and 'Gimme Acid,' which will hopefully see the light of day soon.

The final climactic moments of the show came complete with flashing strobe lights, an otherwise seizure inducing light trick that adds an extra dose of catharsis to their final numbers. During 'I've Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart,' singer/guitarist Oliver Ackermann proceeded to thrash his guitar, which yet again made me wince and shiver equally, both with the excitement of well-executed stagecraft and the fear of impending doom. I've always felt bad for those guitars, thrown about like ragdolls during the electrifying conclusion of those final numbers.

But everyone knows guitars don't have feelings...right?