Dropped down amongst the knobs and dials of Penguin Studio in San Diego, rogue avatars Justin Pearson (Dead Cross, Deaf Club, The Locust) and Luke Henshaw (Sonido de la Frontera) have created Planet B with the shared purpose of creating music both mischievous in sound and sobering in message. The two had worked together in varying capacities prior to Planet B’s formation, including Luke’s remix of Justin’s “A Pig’s Orphan,” contributions to the soundtrack of Asia Argento’s film Incompresa, as well as “Variations in the Key of Afterlife,” an otherworldly opus featuring Gabe Serbian and Luke.
Planet B, however, marked the beginning of a full-on melding of these preternatural minds, successfully integrating key aspects of these musicians’ stylistic strengths and playing off of one another with purpose. After solidifying their sound, which lays somewhere just out of reach of genre with aesthetics rooted in hip hop, hardcore punk, turntablism, and 70s-80s horror movie scores, the duo expanded their lineup to include not one but two crushing drummers, Kevin Avery (Field Day, Retox, Mop Buckets) and Scott Osment (Deaf Club, Glassing, Volente Beach).
What results is catchy, heavily percussive, and eerie all at once. Henshaw’s fantastical sci-fi accompaniments utilize Justin’s caustic vocals, and are applied to dark and distorted electrical hums, claps, and perfectly timed, intricate dual drum beats that add to the rhythm section already emitting from Henshaw’s double MPC setup. This results in not only the most powerful of sounds, but a visually captivating performance with both drummers working in tandem.
After releasing a solo 7” as well as a split 7” collaboration with legendary turntablists Invisible Skratch Piklz, Planet B’s debut album was the impressively imaginative outcome of all their interdimensional efforts and collaborations, with no shortage of assistance from a slew of incredibly influential and unique musicians including Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head Wound City), Gabe Serbian (The Locust, Head Wound City), Sonny Kay (Year Future, creator of GSL Records), Martin Atkins (PIL, Killing Joke), and Joseph Karam (The Locust). Their latest collaboration comes in the form of a split EP with Detroit dystopian synth-punk legends, ADULT.
The band has also formed a satanic offshoot in the form of Satanic Planet, which is an ongoing collaboration between Planet B with the addition of co-founder of The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, as well as Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Testament, The Misfits).