The Black Angels: The Black Angels (EP 2005) + Black Angel Exit (EP 2008) + Directions To See A Ghost (2008)

 

The Black Angels are an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in May 2004, taking their name from the classic The Velvet Underground tune "The Black Angel's Death Song," these Angels are far more than classic revisionists with extensive record collections. This is

heavy-duty psychedelic rock with an incessant primitive beat that echoes the spirit of the 13th Floor Elevators and early Rolling Stones. The sultry neo-psychedelic sound of the Black Angels came together in spring 2004. Hailing from Austin, Texas, they initially comprised Stephanie Bailey (drums), Christian Bland (guitar), Alex Maas (vocals), Jennifer Raines (organ), and Nathan Ryan (bass), and took their name from a Velvet Underground classic, "The Black Angel's Death Song." The band's self-titled debut EP was released in late 2005.
                                                                        

After a string of North American dates in winter 2006, they readied themselves for a performance at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference in March. Their first couple of full-length albums --

April 2006's Passover and April 2008's Directions to See a Ghost -- were both, in the main, recorded at Erik Wofford's Austin, Texas-based Cacophony Recorders, a studio also used by other local and notable indie rock acts such as White Denim and Voxtrot. By the time the second record was issued, Raines had been replaced by multi-instrumentalist Kyle Hunt and the Black Angels were beginning to create a name for themselves on the live circuit among fans of '60s-inspired psych rock.
                                              

In late 2008, they performed as the backing band for former 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky

Erickson on a series of dates across the West Coast of the U.S. In 2010, they recorded a couple of collaborative tracks with UNKLE, one of which -- "With You in My Head" -- appeared on the soundtrack to that summer's multi-million-grossing The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. This large-scale exposure led to their third album, September 2010's Phosphene Dream, becoming something of a breakthrough record when it hit the Top 50 of the Billboard chart immediately following its release.
                                       

Its companion piece, the Phosgene Nightmare EP, arrived in 2011, and in 2012, following Ryan's

departure, Rishi Dhir of Elephant Stone became an auxiliary bandmember, filling in on guitar and occasionally bolstering their live sound with sitar. Released in 2013, Indigo Meadow was produced and mixed by Grammy-nominated fellow Texan John Congleton, and that release was soon followed by its own companion EP, April 2014's Clear Lake Forest.
                                           

As the band busied themselves with live work and helping to organize the increasingly popular Texas music gathering the Austin Psych Fest (later renamed Levitation), four years passed before the group released their next album, although the band didn't lie dormant during that time. They contributed to

Britain's Fuzz Club Records split-single series, providing the A-side "Molly Moves My Generation" to Sonic Jesus' B-side "Lost Reprise" in 2014. The following year they contributed "Waterloo Waltz" to Scion Audio Visual's Riley Hawk: Northwest Blow Out EP. 2017 saw the release of Death Song, which ranked with the Black Angels' heaviest work to date, and unveiled a new lineup, with longtime members Stephanie Bailey, Christian Bland, and Alex Maas joined by Jake Garcia (guitar, bass, and vocals) and Kyle Hunt (bass, guitar, and keyboards).

           

THE BLACK ANGELS EP 2005

                                                         

The Black Angels is the eponymous debut EP released by psychedelic rock band The Black Angels in October 2005 on the Light In The Attic Records label.

The Black Angels – The Black Angels
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 017
Format:    CD, EP
Country: US
Released: 2005
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                           

01. Black Grease  (Guitar – Todd Keller)   4:36
02. The First Vietnamese War    3:33
03. Winter '68    2:41
04. Manipulation  (Guitar – Todd Keller)   5:58

THE FIRST VIETNAMESE WAR

                                                                   

You gave a gift to me
In my young age
You sent me overseas
And put the fear in me
And I ask what for now
Why me, why war?
And I ask what for now
Vietnam War?
Spent my time there by the shore

Oh, we got off that boat
Charlies everywhere
A lotta killin' and dying
And no one seems to care
I ask what for now
We say hell no
And I ask what for
Why me, why war?
And I spent my time there by the shore

Sixty thousand men died
While you were here
You came into our homes
And you took our kids
And you ask for more now
For this new war
And you ask for more now
Vietnam War
I spent my time there by the shore

MP3 @ 320 Size: 42 MB
Flac  Size: 123 MB

BLACK ANGEL EXIT EP 2008

                                     

Black Angel Exit is a limited edition bonus EP given away to those who pre-ordered the Black Angels release "Directions to See a Ghost". It was also sold at live shows on the Black Angel's 2008 North American Summer Tour.

The Black Angels – Black Angel Exit
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 037
Format:    CD, EP
Country: US
Released: 2008
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                 

01. Surf City (Revisited)    5:14
02. Paladin's Last Stand    3:44
03. No Satisfaction    4:56
04. Black Angel Exit/Shine    9:28

MP3 @ 320 Size: 55 MB
Flac  Size: 155 MB

DIRECTIONS TO SEE A GHOST 2008

                                                

Directions to See a Ghost is the second album from rock band The Black Angels. It was released

digitally on April 15, 2008 by Light in the Attic Records. However, it was not until May 13 that the CD and 3xLP were released. Those who purchased the album digitally were given a code to download the album. On or after the date of release, it was to be brought back to the place of purchase in exchange for a hard copy of the album as well as a bonus four-song EP[11] Black Angel Exit. Moreover, Directions to See a Ghost features the song "Doves" also available on the "Doves" single 7" released the same day. Unlike the CD, the 3xLP contains bonus tracks "Surf City (Revisited)" and "Paladin's Last Stand."
                                           

Name yourselves after one of the Velvet Underground's most aggressively amelodic songs and package your second album in an op art burnt orange and chartreuse freakout and you'd better be able to deliver

the psych-drone goods. What's most impressive about the Black Angels' Directions to See a Ghost is that not only does the Austin-based sextet deliver like few bands have been able to manage since Spacemen 3 split -- see the dark, doomy "Science Killer" and the epic 16-minute closer "Snake in the Grass" for details -- but the group also leavens its heaviness with a functioning knowledge of pop hooks and how to deploy them: as a result, songs like "You in Color" and "You on the Run" not only buzz and howl in a manner suitable for nodding along, they're also unexpectedly catchy in a style reminiscent of Love or the Doors.
                                       

The sitar-laced two-chord stomp of "Never/Ever" sits comfortably alongside the post-punky desperation of "Doves," testament to the variety of sounds and moods the Black Angels squeeze out of their chosen idiom. This is the sort of psychedelia that space rockers and Nuggets fans alike can come together over.

The Black Angels – Directions To See A Ghost
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 033
Format: CD
Country: US
Released: Apr 15, 2008
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                      

01. You On The Run    4:53
02. Doves    4:29
03. Science Killer    4:45
04. Mission District    5:12
05. 18 Years    5:26
06. Deer-Ree-Shee    5:49
07. Never / Ever    8:34
08. Vikings    4:38
09. You In Color    5:53
10. The Return    4:31
11. Snake In The Grass    16:13

MP3 @ 320 Size: 164 MB
Flac  Size: 452 MB