BY BILL BENTLEY
The Black Angels, Phosphene Dream, Blue Horizon Records
Right down to the same type font as the back of the 13th Floor Elevators’ debut album, the Black Angels bask in the eternal glow of that pioneering psychedelic band’s early light. Not to say the Angels are imitators, because they are definitely not that. Rather, the modern group has traveled the same roads but on parallel trips, discovering the infinite allure of endless existence on this planet. And from there, it isn’t a great leap into the stratosphere of sound which defines the Black Angels’ mind-blowing style.
The quintet has been there: they’ve seen the golden dawn, watched the coming light wash over Austin in rays of fire, and run from the melting heat of oppression. They’ve also no doubt found redemption in the darkness of the Texas hill country, before a full moon and skyful of stars saved everyone. And that’s just for starters. Phosphene Dream is the promise of a new sonic life if you’re open to it, as well as a flip side of daring danger. The instruments of Christian Bland, Alex Maas, Kyle Hunt and Nate Ryan, backed by the ruthless drumming of Stephanie Bailey, are not restrained by previous patterns or accomplishments. The musicians went to school on the Elevators and early Velvet Underground experimentations, but then blew up that model so only the seared remnants could be used to create an original attack. And they do. Parts of the new album are not for the fainthearted; the songs creep in from the underworld and stay there. It is the wonder of modern art, applied liberally and often, and then sandblasted so only the beautiful vision of tomorrow is left.
Whether it’s the tribal stomp of “Bad Vibrations,” ballroom celebration of “Hunting at 1300 McKinley” or smashing attack of “Sunday Afternoon,” the Black Angels see things the rest of us don’t. With a third eye and finely-tuned antennae, the results are immortal. Rock & roll is once again imbued with the music of the spheres, fixing our fascination forever.
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