The Black Angels “Phosgene Nightmare”

sfilzen — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 16:50:28 +0000

The Black Angels “Phosgene Nightmare” 2011. Blue Horizon. Limited edition 10″ on white vinyl. We saw The Black Angels, along with Black Lips, this past weekend at the Majestic in Madison. The Black Angels show was amazing, overwhelming. I was telling a fellow yogi friend about the concert and referenced the yogic practice of pratyahara (sense-withdrawal) where you turn the naturally outward-seeking sense organs inward to become more conscious of the true self. A Black Angels show is pretty much the exact opposite. Nonstop psychedelic sound waves crash through you, vibrating your body at a cellular level while video loops of hallucinatory images and strobes play behind the band and the smell of weed fills your nose (the only input missing was taste but I’ll go ahead and count the too-strong drink the bartender poured me as the assault on that sense organ). Perpetually sleep-deprived, I ended up having to close my eyes for awhile to shut some of the bombardment out (falling asleep briefly while standing up, then later headed up to the balcony where there was seating, curled up and fell asleep for real for a few minutes).

Phosgene Nightmare is a bit less of a heavy hallucinogenic assault than many of The Black Angels other releases, with more bright 60′s Byrds-guitar sounds (i.e. on “At Night,” “Choose to Choose”) and some country flavor (“The Boat Song”). The most Black Angely tracks are the Velvet Undgroundesque “Ronettes” and “Entrance Song (Rain Dance Version).” (“Entrance Song” appears in its original format on the 2010 full-length Phosphene Dream.

Black Lips played before The Black Angels. I’m ambivalent about the Lips but their show was solid and entertaining southern-fried garage punk. I got pretty distracted, though, when I first noticed that guitarist/vocalist Cole Alexander was a dead-ringer for Orlando Bloom’s hillbilly little brother, which in turn made me realize that drummer Oakley Munson resembled Jason Segel in the Freaks and Geeks era with a full-on ‘fro and saxophonist Zumi Rosow looked like a melding of Laura Dern and Juliette Lewis. Joe thought Jack Hines resembled a shaggy Steve Zahn. Neither of us could come up for a good celebrity doppelgänger for bassist/singer Jared Swilley who has so much of his own look going on.

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The Black Angels “Watch Out Boy”

sfilzen — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 15:28:23 +0000

The Black Angels “Watch Out Boy” b/w “I’d Rather Be Lonely” 2012. Limited edition on orange vinyl, Blue Horizon.* Side A’s “Watch Out Boy” is sweetly despondent, the string section and slide guitar filling in fuzzy spaces while Side B’s title, “I’d Rather Be Lonely,” is a juxtaposition to the tune’s light 60′s-flavored sun-drenched psychedelic jangle. The single is far less stoney and shoe-gazery than the full-length LP’s I’m more familiar with, brushing the edge of late 60′s Beatle-esque pop, yet still retains the echoey and atmospheric flavor that is The Black Angels’ sound.

*The Blue Horizon label piqued my interest: it originated in the 60′s as a British blues record label, releasing singles by Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist), John Mayal and Eric Clapton. After striking a deal with CBS it landed Fleetwood Mac, releasing some of their late 60′s singles, but the label ceased production in the early 70′s. In 2010 the founders of Sire Records reactivated the label and issued several Black Angels LP’s, EP’s and singles, including Phosphene Dream, Clear Lake Forest, Indigo Meadow and one of my favorite singles from Indigo Meadow “Don’t Play With Guns,” as well as, weirdly, Dion’s Tank Full of Blues as well as Dionne Warwick’s 50th anniversary album Now.

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The Black Angels “Phosgene Nightmare”

The Black Angels “Watch Out Boy”