Black Nite Crash – Array
Black Nite Crash are lovers of the grittier, scuzzier side of shoegazing. Petrol-head bands like Swervedriver and Ride were, and are, this bands choice of listening. And man, doesn’t it show. The name is pinched from a Ride title and track after track here is a homage to a Ride peer or forerunner band – a family tree that takes in JAMC, Spaceman 3, Suicide and Phil Spector.
There is a lot of neo-psychedelic drone on Array. Spaceman 3 were arch exponents of the art which is why it comes as no surprise that memories of Spaceman 3 and early Spiritualized regularly surface listening to Array. The opening track ‘Revelator’ is a good example of a wannabe lazer-guided melody. I dislike knocking artists for the ‘crime’ of sounding like someone else. Originality isn’t everything. The bottom line is usually whether the music is good or not. Also whether anything is that much of a blatant copy that listening actually jars. Array is merely competent. It gets its pass by being listenable from start to finish. There is only one poor track among the 8 (the juvenile ‘Wanna Die’) The rest is played with a good deal of energy and professionalism. If we’re looking for performance then BNC never once break character. You can almost smell the lived-in leather trousers.
At times yes they fall foul of my ‘copyist’ fears. ‘I want you’ is so Psychocandy while ‘Soft Focus’ bends it like MBV’s Isn’t Anything album. Neither track is terrible though. And redemption is found on ‘Nothings Frozen’ and ‘Perfect Blue’ which both take the effect pedal thing and run with it in a slightly different direction for once. With the agonised (agonising) vocal I’m thinking Film School. I‘m thinking The Cure.
I’m thinking ‘I wish Black Nite Crash did more of this’
Expect plenty of tremolo, dark glasses and a hint of gospel. But right now BNC aren’t adding much to the genre.