2010-09-26

Listen to The Black Angels

When I returned to listening to new music a few years ago I was hooked by The Black Angels. With their name based upon the song name by The Velvet Underground and featuring the image of Nico on the drum kit, the Black Angels were one of the first bands that I was impressed by when listening to Last.fm's "sounds like" stream. Basically it goes like this:

  1. I was a fan of Ride.
  2. In the early 2000s, I discovered that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were fans of Ride, so I became a fan of BRMC.
  3. After subscribing to Last.fm, I played the streaming channel for bands that "sound like" Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
  4. I then became a fan of the following bands: The Black Angels, The Warlocks, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dead Meadow.

Of course as I searched backwards I discovered that Anton Newcombe founded the Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM) partly upon the influence of British Shoegazing music, of which Ride was a major contributor. One member of BJM was Peter Hayes who left the band and formed BRMC. Another member of BJM was Bobby Hecksher who ended up forming the Warlocks. The Black Angels were influenced by BRMC and Dead Meadow were influenced by BJM. To top it all off, Mark Gardener, one of the members of Ride, wrote and performed on one of BJM's recent albums.

So essentially it goes back to Ride and The Brian Jonestown Massacre - although both bands owe their existence to The Velvet Underground as well.

Anyway, The Black Angels' star has been rising recently and they have appeared on David Letterman. Here is a song from their latest album. Please listen to it and buy the album.

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