CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Michael Powell writes

Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost

The Black Angels’ latest, Directions to See a Ghost, a poignant title encapsulating their increasingly distinct desert-noir dusty psych grooves, picks up right where 2006’s Passover left off. The Black Angels are neither original nor inventive. But in this case, it’s a-okay, and I’m gonna do something that rarely happens in a world of snarky blogs: make an argument for why derivative can be sometimes a preferred position and why the Black Angels are, in fact, the bee’s knees.

In Captain Beefhart’s Ten Commandments for Guitarists, he decrees that a guitar “is a divining rod, use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over.” The Black Angels take this sentiment to heart, as both their efforts bolster a rather sinister grit bouncing about dark soundscapes, perfect for a séance. Light a candle, dude.

Tom-heavy percussion intros, tremolo-saturated guitar meltdowns, nasty bass rumbles, and Alex Maas’ throat offerings (vocals that, to me, flutter somewhere between Jim James and Gregorian chant) are all still intact from the Passover days. However, Directions to See a Ghost does mature in two distinct ways. First, there’s a very fluid motion to the album, connecting each windswept canticle to the next. By structuring and composing most of the album in a similar vein with slightly altering moods, the Black Angels have created a whole, cohesive work as opposed to simply a collection of songs they dropped off at the studio on the way to the store. Of course, a good psych rock record should have a consistent ambiance as per the clientèle since, you know, Beck albums are not the weapon of choice for the 420 LOL contingent. Secondly, the Black Angels have adopted a deeper sense of melody. Dare I say some catchiness abounds in the major-key call to arms “Doves,” the evil-Beatles sitar raga of “Dee-Ree-Shee,” and the funkadelic first movement of “Snake in the Grass.” This new melodic slant pushes the Black Angels above some of their LSD theater contemporaries like Dead Meadow and Bardo Pond.

Now, onto why derivative sometimes holds a relevant place. Every critic has already name dropped their extremely obvious influences (they unabashedly wear them on the sleeves of their black, black tunics), so I’m not going to sift through them all. As a serious psych rock lover, many of my favorite bands only made a small number of great albums, or simply have a small catalogue entirely. Some of these groups suffered from their brainchild going batshit crazy (13th Floor Elevators, Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd, Brian Jonestown Massacre).

Some of them decided to completely alter their sound to push units (The Jesus and Mary Chain). Some retreated back into their primordial cave (Loop, Flying Saucer Attack, The Left Banke, half of the original shoegazing movement). Some were too drugged out to get off the couch (Blue Cheer). And some decided that all the sudden they like gnarly morphine-included R & B over Big Muff sounds pumped through serious reverb (when Spacemen 3 became Spiritualized). The Black Angels, in some ways, are like the deus ex machina sweeping in (no pun intended) to correct all these wrongs – releasing the album that many of these bands should have but never did. Don’t you want to hear the new 13th Floor Elevators and Jesus and Mary Chain joints? ‘Cause I do.

Ultimately, If you’re going to emulate and lightly interpret bygone music, why not merge the music of the most triumphant groups ever and mold them into one totally epic behemoth? You know, originality often comes at a cost to the listener. Sometimes it works well and makes an urgent statement, but sometimes it doesn’t and is just overly challenging and annoying (Lou Reed and Tony Conrad anyone?). You know exactly what you’re getting with the Black Angels – no frills – just pop on, flip on the iTunes visualizer, take a bong rip, tune in, turn on, and drop out. And honestly, THAT is what I love the most about Directions to See a Ghost. Despite Directions to See a Ghost being released long after the most vital era of psych, it’s essential listening.