Oh no, you have got to be joking, please do not compare this band to that nonsense...thank you. Of course your opinion and I do respect it.
I’m running the risk of over playing the vinyl. It gets better with every listen. Does anyone else hear a demented Jeff Buckley on some of the tracks?
Ha! Colin Hay is a great songwriter, with a really cool voice that has only gotten better with age. I don't listen to Men At Work often, but when I do, it's always a fun time. Obviously the opposite end of the cool spectrum from the black midi boys, but it's all rock and roll, right? There are definitely some similar vocal mannerisms going on. And "demented Jeff Buckley" is a fun description as well.
Glad you responded...I have nothing against Men At Work, its just that personally I do not hear the comparison which lead to my initial response, which was all in fun. Its also that because of my line of work, when their first album broke, it was played in the stores I covered so much that I over dosed on them if you will...
No worries at all. Men At Work need to hit my ears once every 1-2 years. That about does it! Black Midi will likely join them in that type of rotation many years down the road. For now, it's weirdly great summer music for the car!
Have to keep this thread active... Picked up the 12" 45 of Talking Heads/Crow's Perch yesterday at my local store. I love both songs and this is easily one of the best new bands to come around in a while. Does not surprise me they are from England. Turned another one of my son's on to them (who happens to be a drummer) and he has already listened to it over 4 times and enjoying it big time. He is very impressed with Morgan Simpson's playing, but who the heck wouldn't be!
While they are one of the more interesting acts around, as it their debut album, I'm finding the vocals put me off more than they should. It strikes me as a stupid voice put on by the "singer" to obtain a certain tone, like a cartoon character. Normally it wouldn't bother me that much, but there is SO much of it throughout their material, like the words matter or something? Hopefully in future the vocal and lyric patterns will drop away less in future material. I've listened to many obtuse vocalists before, Perry Farrell, Slint etc. but this black midi one pushes me too far, its very up-front and overbearing. Put simply, too much vocals in this album.
Damn, that "talking heads" track is awesome. Made me check out a couple of others which don't strike me as quickly, but I love the sound. In addition to all the other bands mentioned (especially Pere Ubu), I hear a skosh of "Drums and Wires"-era XTC. I'm fine with the vocalist, meself.
I'm fine with him too, his voice suits the music, much in the way that David Thomas suits the music that Ubu makes.
I might like it more if it didn't remind me of stuff I was listening to in 1987. I can understand why people might deride this kind of talk, but if that's what I hear..........
A couple more random observations: 1) Naming a song "talking heads" if you're a in post-punk-influenced band is a bit on the nose to me. 2) Geordie Greep is a hilariously awesome art-rock frontman name. 3) That drummer really is sick. (The good kind of sick.)
Hadn't listened to this album in a couple of months and took side 1 for a spin yesterday. Still enjoying this very much and the song "Western" just continues to grow on me, might be the most accessible song on the record to listen to. I will agree with @englishbob that the vocals can be a bit much, but the more I listen, the more they just fall back into the music. Side 2 coming up this afternoon. Will be up high on my best of 2019 list, if I decide to make one this year...
Yeah I forgot about this for a while...still haven't sat with it properly as since it came out I've been in the throes of a Grateful Dead fit. Listening now though, it sounds great. I like the vocals. Today they remind me of Dave Thomas/Pere Ubu.
Now that's a good idea, some Dead! Think I will go pull out "Anthem" and Garcia's first solo for a listen later this afternoon...
Bumping this one to say that I saw black midi tonight in Nashville in a small, sweaty little room that holds about 250 people. It was sold-out and just a glorious mess of geeky little bodies flailing around in the crowd and on the stage. These kids (and they really are kids; they look like pupas) gave 110% up there and were just perfectly pure and uncorrupted by outside influence of any kind, be it corporate interference, A&R input, or even the expectations of the crowd, which was lapping up every moment. They did what they wanted to every step of the way with a perfect balance of precision and pure mayhem. It was awesome. And good gravy, that drummer! That kid drives the rest of the band so hard, I thought the force of his playing might push them off the stage. He destroys those drums. No exaggeration, he removed his shirt within the first 30 seconds of the very first song! Literally, he should never wear a shirt. He should just spend his entire life in workout shorts and tennis shoes always ready to annihilate a drum kit at any moment. The lead singer looks like a premature baby version of Mark Wahlberg, but moves with the herky-jerky bizarro confidence of David Byrne. His voice sounds like an inside joke and his guitar sounds like liquid nails. The bassist extracts mounds of chunk and fuzz from his Rickenbacker, while the second guitar player seems like he's one bad trip away from becoming Syd Barrett 2: Electric Boogaloo. Throughout it all, that drummer is back there curb-stomping the notion of subtlety in percussion. It's a master class in "too much" and a perfect example of what super-talented, ambitious young rock bands should be doing. I had a smile on my face for 80 minutes.
Bump, no talk about this recently. Listening to this and it's something, anyway...I like it but I don't know if I'll ever love it. It's engaging music and I'm curious what they'll do next, though.
The talking heads song sounds like captainbeefheart fronted by David Byrne which doesn’t really grab me.
They’re definitely unique....but a little too “punk” to be a guitar band per se. I certainly don’t hate them!
I lile what I'm hearing and will check out the KEXP set. Does sound like Talking Heads meets K Crimson or what have you. I like the vocalist. Doesn't sound like a whiny teenager or an overly emotive phony which is common now.
