Wet from the rain and bloated from DJ-ing a mac’n’cheese cook-off at Live With Animals, I opened the door at Glasslands Gallery to find the massive mirrored sheets from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs video shoot still hanging, reflecting a comfortably dense audience. I was a few minutes too late for Standing Nudes but just in time for Artanker Convoy’s setup.

Crowding the tight stage with their six white-clad members, the mighty ‘voy wasted no time spiraling into hazy ambience. The hallucinogenic spatiality of their improvisational journeys belongs less to Silver Apples psych or Tortoise-y post-rock and more to the sort of cross-genre reductionist groove lineage that includes both Ege Bamyasi-era Can and, particularly, On the Corner Miles Davis. I even recognized some jams from their soon-to-be-released sophomore effort, the splendidly fluid and restrained Cozy Endings – which passed both New York Night Train’s roadtrip and late night tests with flying colors the last few weeks.

Next, O’ Death stormed on and instantly painted the room sweaty. Fast, furious, and tight, the quintet’s post-oldtime stomp mesmerized the willing audience into a frenzied snake-handling trance. Not only was their hybrid sound heavier than I remembered, but the songs now possessed heart-stopping dynamics, strategic dissonance, and a general purposefulness that I totally missed the last time I saw ‘em. Not as impressed as the rest of Brooklyn a year ago, I found a band living up to their hype and then some.

Faced with the unenviable position of following O’ Death, Tomorrow’s Friend fearlessly rose to the occasion. Last night’s band included Bayne, a Memphian from the band Esque, a couple of other fellas I didn’t recognize, and Alessandra Maria – the leader and only member still standing from the last time I saw them. While Ally’d been telling me of late that she’d dissolved the old lineup and cast aside last year’s folk in favor of greasier Z.Z. Top hard rock, she neglected to mention that she was now fronting a rough’n’tumble punk rock band. After a blaring breakneck set, she announced:

“This is the last song. You’re all invited to my house for cocaine after the show… Just joking.”