@ a Fishtown Garden
text & photos: Dan Cohoon
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
The Renderers' music is for broken hearts. It is for sobbing uncontrollably in one's beer. It is for when you give up. When you know there is no hope. That is when you need The Renderers more than anything else. I was in such a mood when I stumbled shellshocked into a back yard in Fishtown east of Front and Girard in the city of Philadelphia. It reminded me so much of the vibe at another garden, the enchanted one behind the Frankford Compound, where Jack Rose used to hold court, collect money for the touring bands and sometimes, if we were lucky, play. The Renderers are music of broken dreams. It is pain so raw and open that it is beautiful. The Renderers are mainly a couple from New Zealand, Maryrose Crook & her husband Brian (from the band the Terminals). Their music I would describe as if the Dead C started a country band. There is lonesome twang, along with shrieking feedback.
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
When I arrived the back garden was packed with the glitterati of the Philadelphia psych rock scene. There were so many friendly faces - folks I had not seen in years. Jason from Bardo Pond was sitting in with the group. They opened with their “hit”, “Dream of the Sea.” It is the song that Bonny Prince Billy covered. “I can't see beyond the RAGE, this thing we call love is just a cage.” It is so bleak but in the bleakness there is beauty. It features Maryrose's great vocals. 
The Renderers (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
(Chris Forsyth wanders into the frame just as the flash goes off on a long exposure)
photo: Dan Cohoon
Next up was “Great Ships” which features Brian's vocals full of South Island Sneer, except when he is bursting into laughter. The guitars get into this Crazy Horse meets The Dead C build up of guitar squalor. All the while the rhythm section keeps grinding along. 
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
“Low to the Ground” followed. This is a slow burner, Maryrose's vocal full of desperate yearning. Rough-hewn guitar solos and dismantled drum beats. “Black Saturn” is a new song featuring Brian on vocals. It features a stuttering guitar line and whooshes and whines of some sort of electronics, while Brian mutters in the fog. “Out of the Forest” is a churning rocker with Maryrose on vocals. The guitar lines are scalding feedback while Jason from Bardo hammers his drums. 
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
“Assassin” starts off soft but builds with intensity before opening up for Brian's vocals, and the guitars return full force after the chorus. “Mr. Pulse” has Maryrose singing, “Dust, not even something you can hold.” Weird electronics burble in the background. The Renderers makes hopelessness sounds so beautiful. “The distant dream of sleep.”
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
The Renderers know torment, but they do something radiant with it. They somehow take hurt and rage and turn the pain into something that heals.
-Dan Cohoon
The Renderers @ a Fishtown Garden (Philadelphia, PA) 5/07/2015
photo: Dan Cohoon
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