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Pinkish Black
Bottom of the Morning
Relapse Records, LP or CD
“
Everything’s the same again,” sings
Daron Beck on the title track of
Pinkish Black’s third album. Then
he finishes the thought: “But
everything is not the same.”
And he doesn’t just sing it.
He stretches out the word “same”
for a good 13 seconds. He’s a
crooner, and one that cites Tom Jones as an
influence. However, hunting for the source of
Pinkish Black’s sound isn’t advised. The Fort
Worth, Texas-based duo disorients on a regular
basis. By the time Beck sings himself into circles
on the title track, he and bandmate Jon Teague
have put the listener in an aural dryer and hit spin.
MUSIC
It all begins innocently enough:
A jazzy late-night groove followed
by a relaxed synthesizer that feels
like it’s out for a casual stroll. But
by the time the nine-minute mark
passes, the song’s synthesizers
become doomy and go haywire,
like a plasma globe about to
shatter the glass.
Pinkish Black invites such
metaphors. Sprung from the
South’s indie metal scene, and
from the ashes of the Great
Tyrant, which ceased to be after
bassist Tommy Atkins committed
suicide, Beck and Teague keep it
trippy. Bottom of the Morning is a
gloomy record, one on which life’s
foibles figure so much so that the
work begins with what could be a
haunted-house organ. “Goodbye,
so long,” Beck sings, and it’s safe
to say he’s probably not out for
a quick run to the grocery store.
Then, over the course of seven
songs, the pair keeps everyone
guessing. Like the band’s prior
works, the record manages to
be both intense and guitar-less.
Pinkish Black employs drums,
keyboards, and synthesizers, save
the sparingly utilized horn or violin.
Cinematic in scope and full
of elusive sounds, Bottom of
the Morning doesn’t feel like an
electronic record so much as
a textured one. A thunderous
rumble, a typewriter beat, a
militant march, a metallic gust of
wind—the sonic effects all take
on a melodious character when
wrapped in layers of Pinkish
Black’s otherworldly synthesizers.
(continued)
50 TONE AUDIO NO.75
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November 2015 51