For a minute, get beyond the obvious comparison. We know The Black Angels sound a lot like Brian Jonestown Massacre, who themselves sound a lot like every other psychedelic rock band that came before them.
But it’s easy to forget that superficial point of reference when listening to The Black Angels’ dangerous post-battle epic, “The First Vietnamese War,” a song that combines subtle Doorslike vocals with a thick psychedelic drone. This 2-year-old band’s influences are obvious – think the Velvet Underground and the countless bands that sat there, distorted guitars in hand, in its shadow. While there is little new about The Black Angels’ music, it’s still a thrill, especially if you never got to hear the music’s roots the first time around.
The noise is orchestrated beautifully in “The First Vietnamese War.” The voices are stoic and detached: “Spend my time there by the shore,” Alex Mass sings repeatedly as if he’s narrating “Apocalypse Now” with the deadened senses of someone who lived it. He continues: “We got off that boat/Charlies everywhere/A lot of killin’ and dyin’/And no one seems to care.”
The organ is the track’s backbone, rarely veering from its basic yet essential role in the rhythm section, where it’s joined by drums and bass that are equally simple. But as with most psychedelic rock, the guitars are the key here. All the instruments and vocals are solid, but this song’s hero is the electric guitar.
And The Black Angels must know what they’re doing, because guitarists Christian Bland and Kyle Hunt nail it.
The guitar tones are so palatable, so unstoppable, that the pedal maestro is undoubtedly the commander general of this voyage. The band’s “Black Grease” is more people-friendly but “The First Vietnamese War” could be its swan song, especially if, like Brian Jonestown Massacre, this band continues to evolve and write music that pays a sincere homage to an otherwise dead language from the ’60s.
The Black Angels play the Larimer Lounge tonight; $7, bigmarkstickets.com
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
