Even on the notes for this, I had “Finish Tonight/Tomorrow” scrawled, but my world’s been thrown into disarray over the past month and a half.
And in no better fashion to introduce a group that I had come across in the mentions of one Anthony Fantano…the band is Black Ends, an electrifying group with a certain mystique owed in part through the anonymity of the modern web. Yes, I am writing this knowing that another music blog covered them now.
Their 4-track EP, Sellout, gives you a front seat ticket entry to some of the most hook-transparent post-hardcore music since the mid-2000’s indie blog explosion.
First off, I am going to say it: this album’s sounds are as psychedelic as they are grunge (and the 90’s grunge is STRONG, dude). There’s such an implosive energy amid these frenetic child-like wails of vocal, my mind immediately went to No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, but idk. This shit is hard, dude.
The title-track opener ‘Sellout’ puts a lucid quirkiness on full display as a bipolar strumming of guitar licks joins frenzied drumming and bass notes. It’s soothing with an undersway of the vocals, as a hook of “I’m a fool” brings the track upwards. It teems, it is raw, the voice just rocks with a maddening tension…all this is brought to a close with chirping needlings of synth notes. Beautiful, man.
Again, there’s another hit with ‘Peak (Lost Ya in the Silence)’, where you get these curling, robust notes weighted in with a simple declaration that “the giving tree is out of leaves”. The coffeeshop twang of the intro is deftly evolved as a heavier sound bursts through. I’d love to have heard this one extended, as it did end a bit before expected – but it’s still an absolute banger.
Black Ends’ writing incorporates strong contrasts and a skillful sense of movement, seen especially in the later half of the EP.
See ‘Maybe When’ in which a slower square dance swing morphs into a buzzing vulture of a string solo by the end, or ‘Tongue Turned’s closer thrashing before reclining to close the EP out.
In all of these songs, the lush becomes grotesque, beauty is found in despair, and a voice hypnotizes in continuum within the shifting landscapes.
The imagery and instrumentation alone are worth checking this project and band out. There’s a buzz in every action and with equal parts enunciated pop hook and tungsten-flavored vocal drip, this 4 track release has enough in it to feed you a solid taste of a welcome surprise in the scene.