Live performance:***** Times Seen:3
Blueblack (2014)-9.3
Destroy (2016)-9.2
Genre 1:Shoegaze
Genre 2:Post-rock
Genre 3:Instrumental
Genre 4:Loud
For Fans Of: Dear Hunter; Neurosis; Isis; Pelican; Rosetta; Russian Circles; Pallbearer; heavier Explosions in the Sky; loops; pedals.
Formed In:2014
Status: Four upcoming shows, and a late September release for the new album.
Label:Unsigned.
-Discography Review-
So, your first impression of Blueblack will be based entirely off of which way you listen to them first. If you listen to their debut record, you will find an entrancing stoner rock album with lots of pedals, loops and distortion. You’ll be sucked into a post-rock vortex and mesmorized by the bleeting guitar riffs and the precise and powerful drums. If you’re looking for bass, you’ve got the wrong band. Blueblack makes it work without a bass player, most likely because they know if they had one, you probably wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway. So, what I love about this record is that every track is memorable. The intro track is exactly that, an intro. It just sets the stage for the musical agression that is to come. “La Bestia” and “On the Moor” are the next two tracks that utilize catchy effects and powerful bridges. The former track “La Bestia” is probably my favorite song on the album. It’s catchy, heavy, and has a great beat and expert pacing. This song live is heavy enough to make me wanna punch people, which is no easy feat for an instrumental band that isn’t just playing a breakdown. The latter track could make a great movie soundtrack, it’s both beautiful and gritty at the same time. The next track is the longest on the album, and it’s very slow. The guitars seem to be reminiscent of classic rock/Pink Floyd here. This is definitely the most post-rock song on the album. But instead of going for a cliche build up, Blueblack opts for a more subtle approach on this song. After the serenity clears, “Horsehead” begins with what sounds like a wah pedal on loop, then they go all out with their pedals and effects. “Mountain And Sea Changing” is an atmospheric experience in the vein of Explosions in the Sky and God is an Astronaut. Its soothing spacey feel passes by very quick, and before you know it, you’re on the last track of the album. The last track isn’t much different than the one that preceeded it. It’s still a cool way to close off the album.
One of my few complaints about this record, is that some songs don’t sound entirely complete or connected with one another. If the idea is to have autonomous tracks, then that goal has been achieved, and that’s why I don’t have this complaint live, but as a record to be listened to from start to finish it’s a little lacking in that department. Also, all of the energy and heavy tracks are in the beginning of the album. I assume this is known, but the balancing still feels a little off because of it. Despite these things that I only care about because I’m analyzing and rating this album, I love this album for how unique it is. I have a wide range of taste, and I still had to ask my friend Gio if he agreed with the bands I put for the for fans of section. The dynamic and composition is great, and the live experience is an incredible one that I’ll get into in a little bit.
Destroy, Blueblack’s sophomore release, starts off on a similar note to the prior album. The opening track, “Anthem” sounds a lot like the first track of the self titled. The biggest difference between “Anthem” and “The Cloudcage” is how much muddier the track is this time around. Between near-sludge guitar tuning and more prevalent drums, Destroy has only just begun with a great start. The next track is “Don’t Call Me Girl” where Blueblack utilizes their abilities to write a catchy and melodic song. This song is so pleasant that I’m sad it wasn’t one of the long ones. Next up is a song with an audio clip played throughout it. While “Branches Broke” probably isn’t a song that could be played live, it does a good job of breaking up the action in the album, and it’s a tranquil and weirdly cool little piece. “Hawkwing” is the next track, and it’s another diverse one starting off with beautiful progressions. The song just gets wilder and wilder with effects, and reminds me of a movie soundtrack once more. It’s probably my favorite song on this record. “Spaghetti Western” starts off sounding like an 80′s movie theme, it has some cool flashy riffs and solid beat. Essentially, the type of stuff you’d expect from the trio. It’s cool how it still has a Blueblack feel to it. “Against Corners” is an exciting track that comes out of nowhere. Unfortunately, its impact on me kind of wears off after a little bit. This track just seems to fail to grab and maintain my attention throughout. I guess you could say it drags a little. Despite that, it’s still not a bad track. The final track “Jump Up Get Down” however, does everything the track before it couldn’t. It serves as an energetic and satisfying finale. All in all, I’d say if you enjoyed Blueblack’s first release, then you’ll be in for more awesome tracks and you shall not be disappointed.
-Live Review-
My friend told me that Blueblack was a sick local band. At that point, I am unsure if I had heard of them or not, but they left a lasting mark on me on that faithful night at O’Briens in Coram. They were desribed to me as “that band with a shit ton of pedals” and they did not disappoint on that front. Their set was so heavy and powerful, that I made sure to cop their debut self-titled album. They impressed with me with a tight and loud performance. When I got home that night, I uploaded the album to my crappy Itunes account and listened to it more and more. (I’m also big into CDs so I listened to it a lot in the car as well.) Because of this, the next time I saw the band it was an even better performance because I knew all of the songs. Hearing those catchy riffs and stoic drums come to life again at AMH was great. Showing them off to my friends was cool too. My third time seeing Blueblack was at the Evolution Sound Stage and I still didn’t feel bored or sick of any of the songs, and the new song they played was good too. Blueblack’s Dynamic of heavy and soft is cool live, because all of it is still loud. If I can, I’ll continue to catch these guys whenever possible.
Music aside, I have noticed that the 2nd and 3rd time I’ve seen them, some of my friends have felt distanced by the band’s snarky comments while on stage. I think the sarcasm and wit is part of an act, but also who they are. Essentially, the sole speaker for the band during shows is the drummer Christian Phillips, and he has told me “As a band, we mostly just wanna have fun and make sure that at the end of the night, people remember our music.” I’d say his/their mission accomplished in all cases, but perhaps I should warn easily offended readers just in case their skin isn’t thick enough as well. In the end, Blueblack is here to create and play music, and I have a feeling no matter what anyone feels they’re going to keep doing just that, and power to ‘em for it.
You can buy their debut album here at name your own price, and the new one will be released in late September. Get stoked.
Upcoming shows: 8/28/16 - Mr. Beerys - Bethpage, NY
9/2/16 - UCAFE at Stony Brook University, NY
9/10/16 - Village Pub, Lindenhurst, NY
9/14/16 - Brickhouse, Patchogue, NY
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