Brooklyn Bassist Brings Game Face To Crown Street

Midnight was approaching. Gowanus, a rock quartet hailing from and named after a ​“toxic Brooklyn waterway” and neighborhood, launched into its third (or maybe it was its fourth) number after having finally plugged in all its gizmos and cables. As dreamy strains emerged from the keyboards and the guitar, Matt Domser keep the music grounded — with his bass, and with his face.

As the band roamed through a six-minute-plus instrumental piece onstage at Stella Blues on Crown Street, Domser alternately grinned, grimaced, gritted his teeth, pursed his lips, and nodded while traversing the cluttered stage.

You wouldn’t know that this was the first performance by the former trio in its newly reconstituted line-up (with Duke Kurick on guitar, Alan Maginn on keyboards, Brandon McClaskey on drums). The playing was loose, improvisational; and yet tight at the same time, shifting tempos and shifting into new chord progressions without a misstep or a moment’s hesitation.

“Urban rock,” the bouncer had described the music at the door.

“Experimental rock,” proclaimed the group’s website.

“Jam rock with an electronic bent,” concluded one patron (this patron).

Click on the video, give the song a listen, and decide for yourself.