THE BLACK ANGELS
"Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life."
The Black Angels released their fantastic debut album Passover in 2006. Creating an atmosphere and a dark quality that has become their trademark ever since.
With their debut album and the follow-up Directions To See A Ghost, The Black Angels have been gorging on great sounds from American psychedelia, heavy blues and modern shoegazing. References like 13th Floor Elevators, Velvet underground, Spiritualized and The Jesus & Mary Chain are often mentioned when describing the band’s music.
Formed in May 2004, the band's name derives from the Velvet Underground song "The Black Angels Death Song".
In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music called Psychedelica Vol.1 from Nothern Star Records. This, along with the growing popularity of their MySpace page, gave the band a big jump in popularity in the underground scene.
On Friday, August 5, 2007, they played at Lollapalooza in Chicago. Among other venues, they have also played at SXSW 2006 & 2008 and All Tomorrows Parties 2008. Touring partners have included the blues rock blues bands The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Warlocks, Roky Erickson, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Queen Of The Stone Age, The Raveonettes and Wolfmother.
The Black Angels performing "The Return" from their album Directions To See A Ghost
The group's debut LP Passover was generally well received in the underground independent rock community and was noted for its dark tones and lyrical content. A review of Passover described them as "Walking in the shadows cast by Spaceman 3 and Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce" and compared them to The Warlocks and Black Mountain, also invoking "dirges" reminiscent of both The Velvet Underground and the 13th Floor Elevators. Passover included a quote in the liner notes from Edvard Munch; "Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life."
Between October 28, 2008 and November 2, 2008, the band performed as Roky Ericksons backing band on the West Coast; future plans between Roky and The Black Angels are in the works. The band featured on Unkles May 2010 release, Where Did The Night Fall, collaborating on a song called "Natural Selection".
On April 23-25th, 2010, the band presented their third annual music-and-arts festival, Austin Psych Fest 3. Bands topping the 43-band bill included The Raveonettes, Pink Mountaintops, The Warlocks, The Gaslamp Killer, Warpaint, Night Beats and vintage psych legends Silver Apples.
The band's third album, titled Phosphene Dream, was released on September 13, 2010 in the UK and September 14, 2010 in the United States by Blue Horizon. This is the first album the Black Angels have released with their new label, Blue Horizon Records, having previously worked with Light in the Attic Records. The album debuted in the US at #50 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts.
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