duggup

I’ve been going through the material that I’ve collected over the months in search of something appropriate for Monday morning. I was looking for something that wasn’t too confronting for the beginning of the working week. After listening to several contenders I found the Austin Texas band – Black Angels.

Now, what attracted me to this band is the label they have given themselves. Their MySpace presence lists them as Psychedelic / Folk Rock / Experimental and I thought to myself – “everything old is new again”.

Why? Because I spent a goodly part of my growing up years listening to numerous incarnations of bands who rehearsed under my roof or the roof of various friends who played in these bands and whose music could also be classed as Psychedelic / Folk Rock / Experimental.

Mind you the Black Angels lack the cheese slicer fender guitar sound and controlled feedback loops (contradiction there that always amused me) that I remember so well. What they lack in that department, they make up for it though in spades with their trippy overdriven guitar and processed everything together with the drone-like vocals provided by Alex Maas.

On balance I like The Black Angels. The band is punchy and uptempo in contrast to the languid vocals and the black lyrics held together with the disciplined drumming of Stephanie Bailey. Listen to “Black Grease” to set the scene.

Update from Thatch: Just spotted “Doves” available for down load. It’s from their album “Directions To See A Ghost”.

jools is a graphic designer who used to front a band on vocals and bass. All evidence of which have mercifully been obliterated or otherwise lost.
Email this author | All posts by jools |