Wednesday, January 07, 2015

The Black Watch - The End of When (2013)

We've finally reached the end of the 2013 reviews, and we've saved one of the best for last.

I'm not sure how this happened, but this release was not on my radar in 2013 at all.  My everlasting love of The Black Watch is best articulated here, here, or, most descriptively, here.  (The latter post can give you the band's entire sordid history.)

Before we get started, there are two things you need to do when you listen to this album:  1) listen to it with good headphones, and 2) (since you're likely a bit dim like myself) LISTEN TO IT WITH GOOD HEADPHONES.  Case in point:  I initially tried this album in the car and it didn't work.  (Please note:  when you convert this album to crappy, lowest common denominator mp3s, then listen to it with your iPod earbuds and complain "it doesn't sound great," I'm going to hit you over the head with a tire iron, as that is not even close to following instructions.  You've been warned.)

The album opens with "I Don't Feel the Same," a fuzz rock anthem that's worth the price of admission alone.  The guitar tone alone makes me feel happy to be alive to appreciate it.  From the get-go, the band sounds super tight -- it's a lush, rich, fully cohesive sound.

Then they go straight into "Meg" -- a dreampop contrast, a classic Black Watch offering with a freshness I can't quite define but definitely appreciate.  It's relaxed, confident, and unhurried; a conspicuously languid counterbalance undercuts the song's unrest, and the "Hey!" background vocal punctuation somehow propels the song to the next level.  By "Hardly Nothing Never Ending," it's clear that this album is a precisely produced, expertly arranged masterpiece.  And by "Oh Oh" I was texting and emailing music pals to pick up this album.  So damn good.

The Black Watch - "Meg"

It's dreamy rock that's smooth and smart, emotional and poppy.  It's a rare "album," complete from front to back.  It's a must pickup:  my immediate thought (based on pure speculation, not on any sort of a factual basis) is that this is the culmination of the long road back from the sudden departure of J'Anna Jacoby a decade ago.  It's not as if John Andrew Fredrick has failed to produce great albums in the intervening years; this is just the best, most fully realized expression of the group since that time.  Simply great.

As a bonus for fans who don't know the band, there's a bonus disc that gives some highlights from their previous albums (although I do have an issue with some of the songs that were left off).  So quit procrastinating and go get the CD.

CD Placement rating:  Car iPod.

- Snilch

2 comments:

Craig Williams said...

Thanks for a great review of a great album by a great album. It's still getting regular play by me over a year after purchase. I only have one quibble and perhaps John can settle it. I always thought the background vocal was saying "Meg!".

Snilch said...

Craig, I reached out to the ultimate authority -- John -- and he says that, in fact, they are saying, "Meg!" I love the album too... and look for an interview with John to appear in this space soon!