Black Country, New Road - For The First Time
First things first. Black Country, New Road seem to be one of the most hyped bands in the UK right now, whether they want that tag or not, but is that media attention warranted? The short answer is yes, yes it is.
BCNR mix post punk, art rock and jazz, with a saxophone, violin and keyboard complementing the usual drums/guitar/bass formula. On paper I really shouldn’t like them, but I do, quite a lot in fact. In the wrong hands the combination of styles and instruments could be a mess, but this is a very good debut album indeed.
Following the release of singles Athens, France and Sunglasses in 2019, plus a series of incendiary live performances (including one seen by yours truly), this album has been hugely anticipated and you have to assume it would have been released earlier if not for the disaster that was 2020.
In terms of the songs, Science Fair has been getting heavy rotation recently on 6 music and more, but is as far from being ‘single’ material as you could imagine. Dark, brooding, difficult, without a hook of any kind, yet all the more compelling for it.
Despite the dark nature of the music the lyrics often make you smile. Standout track Sunglasses (clocking in at just under 10 minutes) references the Fonz, nutribullets, and the latest 6 partDanish Crime drama. The track is a mutating beast, Isaac Wood’s vocal queasy and unsettling, and the interplay between the violin and saxophone in the last quarter is mesmerising.
The band have stated that they are already working hard on new material, and whilst I evidently don’t want to quickly see the back of this album, I’m intrigued to see what comes next.
9/10
