Small Black
Best Blues
Reviewed by: Ziggy Merritt
“Yeah we blew it back then, this time we practiced everything perfectly.” These are the lyrics found in the final track on Small Black’s latest album, Best Blues. They’re fitting for a band that has played on the margin of success ever since their debut in the chillwave scene of 2010, but these lyrics also display an assured confidence. Small Black has often flirted with ambient noise, a sort of spectral static, in their recordings. For Best Blues they’ve focused this predilection toward a more texturally complex production, one that succeeds much more than it stumbles.
Part of this success is a blend of their well-groomed chillwave sound and a dolorous, post-punk blend. Tracks such as “Big Ideas, Pt. II” are fittingly titled where the sound resembles a darker, B-side version of “Free At Dawn” from their 2013 album Limits of Desire and the infamous synthesizer refrain from New Order’s “Age of Consent.” It’s something I would not have expected from the band five years ago, so entrenched in their previous sound as they were.
Certain tracks share that heritage of course. “Back at Belle’s” and “Between Leos” are both worthy continuations of the sound we might expect from them. Yet these too are marked by points of effortless elegance with the latter including a mumbling layer of saxophone, which as anybody who’s anybody knows immediately amps up an album’s style points.
Best Blues additionally has the distinction of a much more vocally forward production thanks to frontman, Josh Kolenik. His voice, normally distorted under layers of ethereal electronics, is much more present and justifiably so as the lyrics take on more of a central role than they have in the past. Tracks like “Personal Best” and “Boys Life” are fitted with unpretentious angst and longing, themes suitable for the darker path that Best Blues rides upon. This album comes at a time when artists from that oft-mentioned chillwave era seem to be taking worthy risks with their sound as can be heard on Neon Indian’s latest release. Kolenik and Small Black have found something within themselves that was worth that risk. Practice makes perfect after all.
Rating: Bad-Ass
