Labels: Keystone Ember
Review by: Andy Malcolm
The singer from Braid was wearing a Blacktop Cadence t-shirt when I saw them, so they must be a cool band. They are! But they’ve split up. Boo. This is because their singer is also in Hot Water Music, and he wanted to go back there. Oh well.
Due to the Blacktop sharing HWM’s singer, you get the gruff vocals. They even have similar backups. But while HWM have a predeliction with hardcore influenced rock, Blacktop give it more of a slower, less heavy sound – mixing up their emocore type guitar with much lighter sections. Their use of thumping drums n’ driving bass on the noisier bits really carries them a long. And boy is it powerful stuff, some of the songs on here are really crushing. When I was listening to this earlier when lying on my bed and having some other stuff to get on with, I found myself unable to move, transfixed by the songs. Tracks like “Are You My Angel?” wrench at you and don’t let go. Beautiful. Which is also the word for “Sinker”, check out the violins on the ending. Woah.
Gripping stuff, just be careful when you listen or it’ll rip you in two. Is there no end to the bands that make astoundingly good music?