The Black Angels
Indigo Meadow
**** out of *****
The tripped out Austin Texas based late night rockers are back with their newest release Indigo Meadow and while not exactly a mainstream effort they have reigned in the psychedelic tendencies just a bit.
Don't get me wrong the guitars are as fuzzy and mammoth in their reverb while still deceptively snakelike as ever and there is that magical Doors like organ that still shines through ("Evil Ways"). Their just seems to be a (slightly) more positive tone to the proceedings; not every song sounds like the bowels of a drug trip and that is a plus.
Always retro looking even in their band name the group seems to be experiencing a bit of the sunshine 60's with Indigo Meadows and it fits them well. "Don't Play With Guns" has a pop feel to it before an extended/repetitive outro that screams classic Black Angels. "Holland" finds the organs in fine form with a bubbling bass line running underneath the track while "The Day" is straight up pop from '67 breezily addressing the relationship between the moon and sun.
The garage rocking "War On Holiday" has a ghostly jangle to it as does the eerily possessive "You're Mine" which mixes obsession, sex and dream worlds with Nuggets era perfection. These 13 tracks slightly manage to cheer up The Black Angels sound without destroying what fans love about the act, a winning combo.
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We have dug these guys since their first release and have reviewed them live for Glide before. The band has a style that we just really dig, granted at times it becomes too much, but on Indigo Meadow they are moving in a more Garage Rock direction and it works nice-like.
Support the band here, catch them live here, and peep a few samples below, you can also stream the full album here via Pitchfork for a limited time:
"Don't Play With Guns"
"The Day"
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