What you say
No-one has reviewed Better Off Alone by The Black Angels yet.
What we say
 This record left our Maggie feeling happy.
Now the Black Angels with Better Off Alone on Light in the Attic Records. A cool sounding drone guitar with hypnotic qualities and spaced out vocals. Very psychedelic and sounding like an exact cross between the Velvet Underground and Jim Morrison/The Doors. Not terribly original but I'm digging the whole trance like vibe they got going... coooool
What the label says:
TRACKLISTING:
1. BETTER OFF ALONE
2. TOMORROW ALWAYS KNOWS
“THIS
PSYCHEDELIC JOURNEY IS FRAUGHT WITH NIGHTMARISH IMAGERY; HEAVY IN THE
BEST POSSIBLE WAY, PASSOVER IS A COMPELLING CREATION.” MOJO
FOLLOWING
THE RELEASE OF THE SUPERLATIVE DEBUT ALBUM, PASSOVER, TEXAN ROCKERS THE
BLACK ANGELS HAVE LINED UP THE WOOZY AND WONDERFUL BETTER OFF ALONE AS
THEIR NEXT SINGLE. IT FOLLOWS THE BAND’S WHISTLE-STOP
COMMAND-AND-CONQUER TOUR OF THE UK WITH THE BLACK KEYS IN FEBRUARY.
PLAYING A LONE SOLO SHOW IN LONDON, THEY PACKED THE HOUSE AT SHOEGAZER
MECCA SONIC CATHEDRAL AND DAZZLED ALL WITH THEIR QUASI-CEREMONIAL
PERFORMANCE. MAYBE IT WAS HYPNOTISM - THE BLACK ANGELS’S MUSIC IS BUILT
ON LONG, MIND-BENDING DRONES INSPIRED BY BOTH THE BAND THAT GAVE THEM
THEIR NAME (THE VELVET UNDERGROUND) AND THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE
TEXAN DESERT. THEY CALL IT NATIVE AMERICAN DRONE ‘N’ ROLL.
WITH ITS
BLUESY RIFFS AND POUNDING JUNGLE DRUMS, BETTER OFF ALONE FINDS THE
ANGELS BEMOANING WOMAN TROUBLES AND WHISKY (OR THE LACK THEREOF). THINK
OF AUSTIN’S OTHER GREAT PSYCHEDELIC BAND, THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
JAMMING WITH JIM MORRISON, AND YOU MIGHT GET AN IDEA OF HOW IT SOUNDS.
THE
BLACK ANGELS WERE BUILT IN THE BIBLE BELT BUT OCCUPY AN OTHERWORLDLY
SPACE – THEY HAVE THE KIND OF REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT THAT YOU JUST CAN’T
BOTTLE. IT COMES FROM THEIR UNUSUAL PASTS (BASSIST NATE RYAN WAS BORN
ON A CULT COMPOUND, ‘DRONE MACHINE’ PLAYER JENNIFER RAINES GREW UP IN A
MORTUARY IN A TOWN CALLED GUN BARREL CITY AND VOCALIST/GUITARIST
CHRISTIAN IS THE SON OF A TEXAS PREACHER), FROM LONG NIGHTS ON PEYOTE
AND WHISKY AND FROM THE CHEMISTRY GENERATED BY A BAND THAT HAVE FOUND
THE PERFECT LINE-UP OF LIKE-MINDED SOULS. AS SUCH, THEIR ANTI-WAR
MESSAGES AND APOCALYPTIC VISIONS COME WITH THE FULL WEIGHT OF THE BAND.
“ALL SIX MEMBERS HAVE THE SAME VISION, AND IF YOU HAVE SIX PEOPLE
WITH THE SAME GOAL THEN THINGS WILL NATURALLY PROGRESS STEADILY,” SAYS
BLAND. “OUR PHILOSOPHY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WAS THAT IF WE AREN’T
MOVING FORWARD WE'RE MOVING BACKWARDS. WE WANT OUR MUSIC AND MESSAGE TO
BE HEARD BY AS MANY EARS AS POSSIBLE.”
FITTINGLY, FOR A BAND WHOSE
MUSIC INSPIRES AND FRIGHTENS IN EQUAL MEASURES, THE BLACK ANGELS LIVE
AND REHEARSE IN WHAT THEY CLAIM IS A HAUNTED HOUSE. “THE PEOPLE WHO
LIVED HERE BEFORE US ACTUALLY DIED IN THE HOUSE,” SAYS DRUMMER
STEPHANIE BAILEY. “YOU HEAR RANDOM INSTRUMENTS GO OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE NIGHT - THE TAMBOURINE, YOU'LL HEAR IT GO TSS-TSS-TSS.” |
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