Black Before Red (dancing, electronic, instrumental, pop, rock)

[adidasss]

"Black Before Red throws the traditional four-piece line-up a curve. Multi-instrumentalists all, they seamlessly incorporate acoustic, electric and electronic elements and seem to draw on the whole of the history of rock and pop while offering up something entirely new. Enlisting the help of friends from Okkervil River, The Lemurs and Zykos for an even fuller symphonic sound, Belgrave to Kings Circle offers a rich fabric of challenging arrangements captured in a recording that speaks of obsessive perfectionism of the best kind. Despite our love of these elements, we barely noticed them at first, too busy dancing around the living room and trying to sing along before we even knew the words.

In their hometown of Austin, Black Before Red is something of a “bandʼs band.” Their shows look a little like a local musiciansʼ convention, and have at times become de facto I Eat Records meetings. Although this is their debut album, the band can hardly be called “freshman.” They are one of those groups that seems to have been around forever, undergoing multiple lineup changes as members came and went--to join Okkervil in one case--before finally coalescing into an ideal mix and settling in to make their ideal debut album. Recommended!"

www.myspace.com/blackbeforered

Underneath gold is pretty sweet, in the literal sense of the word.