I’ve been avoiding listening to The Black Angels’ new album until I got my vinyl copy and I was hoping that it would come before the show. It’s in less than a week and I was getting nervous. You don’t want to go to the show not knowing the new music.
This will be the third time seeing The Black Angels and that establishes them in a certain club of only a few bands I have seen multiple times, let alone 3 times.
https://auralretentive.com/2017/05/15/the-black-angels-majestic-theater-madison-05-13-2017/
I have Otis to thank for turning me on to The Black Angels via our fledgling music exchange of old and convincing me to go to the show in 2014. I needed no convincing in 2017.
Fortunately… it arrived today.
Got mine pre-order exclusively from Bandcamp on clear/red vinyl !
The Black Angels have been pretty consistent in having very cool covers and packaging and this album in no exception. The dazzle cover is hypnotizing. I left it in the shrink to preserve the spine wrap around.
The sleeves have the logo on one side and the phrase on the back. Each in its respective color.
And the color, or lack of color is on translucent vinyl. Looking sharp.
So, at the time of this writing I haven’t yet listened, but I will add it to my Black Angels vinyl collection…
… and oh no! I swear I ordered a copy of Passover, but when gathering everything for this shot, I couldn’t find it. Which led me to Amazon and I had my finger on the button, but held off. They might be selling it at the show? Perhaps not since it is their oldest one, but if they did have it there it would be cool to buy it there, like I did “Directions To See A Ghost”. If not Amazon will be there when I get back.
Update Post-Listening:
From the first moments of “Without A Trace” I knew this was going to be worth the wait. The guitars were grindy and fuzzy and Alex’s voice was mesmerizing.
There is a bit of a echo throughout which of course I love, bolstered by some incredible jungle drums in parts that really hit home. The Black Angels are superb at bringing you in and out of the rhythm and pausing before crashing back in, making you want to smash your air drums and bang your head.
The 60’s psych vibe is strong but not sounding dated, another thing The Black Angels excel at.
I loved it.
Now I am psyched (no pun intended) for the show on Friday. See you there.
The Aural Retentive 