The three gentlemen and two ladies of The Black Angels live and work in Austin, the city where the 13th Floor Elevators originated some forty years earlier. The spirit of this legendary psychedelic band certainly blows over Passover, The Black Angels' debut album, from the first slow and deep reverberation drenched bass notes of the opening track Young Men Dead. The Black Angels build their songs
… around hypnotic drones of bass and drums, complemented by minimal guitar work and the mesmerizing mantras of singer Alex Maas. In his complaining and monotonous vocals, Maas (who lost a friend in the Iraqi war) more than once lashes out at fellow Texan George Bush and his War On Terror. And so are The Black Angels, with a sound that goes back through Joy Division to sixties psychedelics (they named themselves after The Velvet Undergrounds The Black Angel's Death Song) with this dark and mesmerizing album with both feet in the twenty-first century. (MR)more
