The Blacks Go Out With A Bang
Tiger Songs, their final EP lives up to hype.
The Blacks
Tiger Songs
Released on Jul 21, 2009
I love gimmick bands. I couldn’t
tell you why; I’ve just always been attracted to them in a strange
unexplainable way. In this way, I suppose the gimmick has served
its purpose, attracting schmucks like me. The Blacks, however,
are not your average band with a gimmick; they also fucking rock.
Never had I heard of a tambourine driven band. In fact, not often had I ever even seen a tambourine put to much practical use other than convince some lucky audience member that they really are adding to the song or getting a pretty girl to come up on stage and dance. Alas, those naive days have ended for me, as I have just experienced The Blacks.
But with all good news, bad news usually manages to tag along with it, and believe me, WHAT A BUZZKILL! The Blacks broke up before this EP was even officially released. With the recent departure of JDK Blacker, the remaining two members have decided to call it quits as well, effectively ending the reign of this magical tambourine troupe.
What could be mistaken for a Yeah Yeah Yeah’s song if not for the tambourine showmanship and subsequent clapping breaks, is actually the premier track of the album, “Tiger Song.” With a moderate tempo and laidback vibe “Tiger Song” was a nice choice for an opening track as far as the rest of the EP goes. I might have enjoyed a little more liveliness for my first taste of the band’s last release, but all things considered it’s a solid song.
Things begin to pick up with the following track, “Gravitas.” Luisa’s vocal styling in this song make her hard to ignore and the song hard to forget. Her lusty, angst-ridden delivery really makes this song. Self described as garage rock, “Gravitas” is just a decent straight forward rock song.
“Walking Through Walls”
really stuck out to me. Again the main focus of this one is on
Luisa’s vocal delivery, which has been driven trough effects at several
points, but to terrific results. She often takes almost a spoken
word approach to her singing, which is accompanied by a barebones drum
beat. The final track is almost a polar opposite of this however.
“Ammunition” is a somber, almost gloomy ballad, achieved through
dreamily delayed guitar, soft drumming and serenading vocals.
This album is kind of a downer all together. They give me a taste of great music, but take away the possibility of ever seeing them live, which I bet was a real treat to those who paid witness. They also introduced me to tambourine driven rock, although never provided quite the intensity that I had expected (picture Christopher Walken’s “More Cowbell” juxtaposed with my now insatiable need for tambourine). May the grass always be greener and the black always be blacker.
High Point
“Walking Through Walls” was the most interesting track on the album. I wish they would have done more like this.
Low Point
For those who have listened to this band it probably goes without saying that they were probably more of a live band than anything. While doing some research for this review repeatedly all I managed to find were fantastic accounts of their live show.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Aug 06, 2009 @ 6:00 am
