Music Spectrum went on an unscheduled hiatus in recent months. This review is part of the “basement notebooks”—old reviews written by hand but only being posted online. Enjoy!
On Belgrave to Kings Circle, Black Before Red bounces along on indie rock, horns, harmonies, and electronics in a not-quite-pop structure. It’s like Arizona in their folky, experimental, unpredictable Fameseeker and the Mono. Or perhaps like Meredith Bragg upped a notch from their College/Art Rock explorations.
“Matagorda” marches like the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” Meandering describes the acoustic intro to “Goddess in Trauma” which leads into a driving, building rock, and there’s also a Western meandering acoustic feel to “Finding Peace in the City.” The flavor changes with “Bosa Nova #7,” pop rock/soft rock bossa nova with a spoken-like vocal. Finally, check out how “Our Last Summer” pounds pop with “garange” (garage grunge).
Black Before Red
I Eat Records
