"That's the most intense fear and feeling-when you go to a show and you're actually scared," says frontman Oliver Ackermann, guitarist and frontman of Brooklyn trio A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS. "Or you can palpably feel the danger in the music," adds bassit Lunadon, "Like it's going to fall apart at any moment and the players doing it are so in the moment they don't give a shit about anything else. They're just going for it. It's a gutter kinda vibe; everything about it is icky and evil and dangerous." The same could be said for A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS' fourth album, "Transfixiation". Rather than fixate on precious recording techniques and minute details like they may have done in the past, the group, rounded out by drummer Robi Gonzalez, trust their instincts and try to keep things as pure as possible. Music is much more exhilarating when it's unpredictable even on repeat plays. Gonzalez makes his recording debut with the band here, and it's obvious that he's helped pushed the band's recordings closer to the level of their infamous live shows. From the tortured straight-to-tape transmission of "I Will Die" and molten funk melodies of "Straight" to the violent guitar spasms, cannon-like drums and not-so-idle threats of "Deeper," this is very much an unpredictable record. "The one thing we have in common is this fire when we're playing," says Gonzalez. "I don't know; it's real intense." "It's not rocket science," says Lunadon, "but rock 'n' roll shouldn't be. When you start to do bluesy scales or try to be too fancy, it doesn't work for us. You gotta keep it simple and rock it fucking hard."