A top grade hit of intravenous garage rock.
We would really like it if bands could just stop releasing albums for a month between August 6th and September 6th. Don’t they know Reading Festival is taking over every minute of our available time???? Take this album by The Black wizards. We first listened to it over two months ago and instantly loved it. Have we had time to do anything about that? Nope.
Anyway, any fan of garage rock, stripped back rock and roll excess or any project connected to Jack White is going to LOVE THIS album. If you have not had enough noodly guitar solos in your life of late they are all in here. If you have not had enough of a drum kit getting savagely beaten in the name of rock it is all in here. The vocals are simple and straightforward, intent on simply delivering THE ROCK vibes.
Clearly garage rock this pure is from the USA. It isn’t? They come from Northern Portugal???? But they sing in perfect English! I am not sure a Portugese band has made such an instant impression on us since we caught punk-band The Parkinsons on one of the most insane bills ever assembled, alongside Ikara Colt and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster down in Bournemouth at The Old Firestation, a lifetime ago.
The Black Wizards put out 3 albums between 2015 and 2019 and then stalled during the pandemic. This new album has taken seven years to arrive, but benefits from mostly being thrown together in the space of a week. Urgent, riff heavy music that comes from an instant experience, not overthought or over-produced.
This is one of those albums that just makes life better simply by its existence. ‘Ain’t Talking’ starts with a heavy, slow riff before then evolving into a proper speed-punk garage track. Different songs turn up after that, all with a thrilling hint of flying by the seat of your pants. Pure rock and roll.
Essential Tracks: ‘Ain’t Talking,’ ‘Killing The Buzz,’ ‘Beat,’ ‘Ain’t Joking’ and ‘Elevator 15.”
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