By TEMPLE A. STARK, Casa Grande, Arizona. RSS FEED
Power to the people. Rise up against conformity. Fight Against The Man.
That's the muzak message I get from the cover art of the four-member Pitch Black's "This is the Modern Sound." (Revelation Records). Despite the auspicious cheesy cliches evoked by the raised fists behind barbed wire motif, the band does better.
Much better.
Expectations of growling death metal aside, these guys are impure melodic punk. The music gives off an aura of intelligence - hard to explain that one - as if you could sit down and enjoy long conversations about anything with these guys.
Just like the first song "Tonopah" - at least the sound, if not the subject - they would probably step up and talk to a stranger with a "Are we not men?" attitude - laughing, casual, and an undercurrent of intensity. But it's too early in the meeting and they're not too sure if you're ready for it so they hold back.
Toponah refers to mining interests in Nevada, Arizona and New Jersey among others; most famously known for its Nevada operations which main-lined silver lode for more than 50 years. Another song is "Mine Shafts and the Laws of Gravity" which brings strong imagery of surviving a life often without the benefit of a warning canary: "Around here the kids don't grow too old / The mines were black and gold / And every day breaks on the graves / Way down in those holes / Like the ghosts of those that no one knows
Mining seems to be a theme -which probably means they're all claustrophobic.
"Lovelock," an "us against the world" anthem, and the call to arms of "Toothcutting" both strike the right chord of finding a bright (black) light in a swirling, overwhelming set of circumstances - like Dorothy's cabin coming down after the tornado and crunching bone.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Hah - Saving the review above on my computer I found this one which I'd started but obviously didn't remember starting. Glad to see a couple of the main themes are still there ... The woulda been review :::
""""New music, new bands means never knowing what the next second will bring.
It’s an obvious thing to say it, but Pitch Black’s “This Is The Modern Sound” is decidedly retro. All punk is. There’s a certain sound you’re going for when you become a “punk band.” That sound is late-70s, very early-80s. Anything else is not punk. You can have a punk band which tries a different style " but for that moment, they are something else.
So Pitch Black, cover " all fists raised, all riot and protest behind a barbed with barrier. That tells you something about the band (or sometimes how the band is being arketed). So do songs that come in at under 3 minutes. All but the last come in at under 3:40.
But for the most part, new bands are usually presented as they really are.
It’s easier and rookie players don’t have to keep up a pretense. Audiences are able to detect fake and, usually, they don’t like it. Male or female extreme hotness allows a certain leeway, for a while. Maybe just long enough to get filthy rich.
But the primitive, bare-boned incomplexity of punk doesn’t spin that way. Neither does Pitch Black. It seems they genuinely like their music; however retro is the sound, however tinged with a commercial edge (oxymoron?) they like what they’re doing.
“Satured Heart” (TR.6) is the first departure from a great punk sound; the first idea that they aren’t The Stooges redux or the Green Day cover band.
Not one swear word ... .""""