Pitch Black - This Is The Modern Sound - CD (2005)

Labels: Revelation
Review by: Alex Deller

Citing the likes of Crime, the Wipers and Hot Snakes as influences on their promo blag sets Pitch Black up of a hard, lonely fall; and while they almost make it as second-raters on the occasional intro surge or big ol’ chorus things have the nasty habit of bellying out when it really matters, gutting a song with a listless keyboard run or empty verse and snuffing out any urge to dance you might’ve had. The Hot Snakes influence is held aloft like a totem, but everything making that band so good – the energy, anger and sneering wit – is lacking in the Pitch Black sound, revealing the sham in their cod-revolutionary schtick and begging the question that if this truly is the ‘modern sound’, what exactly is there left for any self-respecting music fan to do but attach a length of rubber hose to the car exhaust and start rolling up the windows?