With their 1930s musical Babes in Arms, composers Rodgers and Hart were certainly aiming to put on a show in the longstanding image of American culture, evoking an innocence and naivety that brings to mind the small town feel of Americana. However, it is doubtful whether they had the danceable, feedback-drenched tunes that reverberated through the wooden walls of Cornell’s Big Red Barn in mind. Instead, the three bands that performed Monday night, Blissed Out, Ho-Ag and Health, boasted the noise and sophistication that is telling of a new America, one that is loud and proud, and in your face.

The show started suddenly and without any fanfare. As the radio faded out, the feedback turned up, and without introduction Blissed Out started to play. With only a newspaper with their name scrawled on it to announce who they were, Blissed Out launched into their one half-hour long piece. Perched over a table covered with enough knobs and flashing red lights to resemble a mad laboratory, the duo from Brooklyn started out their show with ambient feedback music. Thankfully, unlike most other ambient noise bands, the music actually went somewhere, building in intensity as it progressed by adding heavy, distorted bass and two sparingly used cymbals into the mix. These danceable beats got the artists jumping around, while the audience stood around subtly nodding their heads and tapping their feet. At the peak of their set, Blissed Out’s music was a juxtaposition of catchy electronic riffs and screeches that sent shivers down your spine even as it made your head ache. After they climaxed, something that few ambient bands ever do, the band finished with class, building down their sound and finally introducing themselves at the end.

Next on the bill was Boston’s Ho-Ag, a punk band in search of a sound. From their request during their sound check for “more bass, less vocals” it was clear that they were a dance band. While the group played several very interesting and enjoyable songs, employing heavy bass lines and punchy guitar riffs, they jumped around a lot stylistically. The keyboard emerged as the centerpiece of Ho-Ag’s sound, adding well-utilized synthesizers in the opening number and digressing into demonic circus music or horns in subsequent pieces. The vocals also provided as sharp contrast, with harmonic, dare I say anthemic choruses on some songs juxtaposed with frantic screaming on others. One of the highlights of their set was a twisted and jarring, though oddly sensual, version of Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” This song stripped away much of the distortion the band employed throughout the show, highlighting the power that lies at the core of their music.

The highlight of the show was headliner Health. Hailing from Los Angeles, the band has made a name for themselves as one of the staples of a scene centered around noise-rock venue The Smell, which also counts No Age and Abe Vigoda among its regulars. Starting off their set with the shimmer and shake of a guitar, Health created a unique sound that separates them from their L.A. peers by blending high, soaring vocals with an intense, layered guitar sound and a pounding, polyrhythmic drum attack that was amplified from having all four members pick up drum sticks and bash the percussion throughout the show. Hidden from anyone who wasn’t at the front of the mosh pit was a row of pedals and knobs that distorted Health’s sound in melodic and creative ways, giving new sounds to the guitar and vocals.

The band was always moving, whether putting down guitars to wield some drum sticks or fiddle a knob, or jumping across the makeshift stage and getting the crowd energized — and the audience responded in turn with their own energetic dance moves, always being careful to respect the musical equipment in front of them. The crowd screamed for more throughout the set and Health gave it to them, supplying songs that seemed to build on themselves even when the instrumentals were isolated and simple. By the end of the show, there was no one who wasn’t going home with their very own personal reminded of the show: ears full of ringing feedback.