new black
biography
New Black are:
- Patti Gran - vocals, guitar
- Liam Kimball - vocals, bass
- Nick Kraska - drums, keyboard
- Rachel Shindelman - keyboard, vocals
Co-lead singers Liam Kimball and Patti Gran have had their share of boy/girl troubles. Echoes of Gran's off/on love/hate intrastate relationship pepper the release. A bulk of the material on the record was written shortly after Kimball's newlywed bride moved away to pursue graduate school. Rounding out the group are keyboardist Rachel Shindelman and drummer Nick Kraska; living in sin, trying to negotiate the ambiguous lines crossed by being lovers/bandmates.
New Black has recorded a record equally informed by darker pop like Depeche Mode and Siouxsie and the Banshees, the classic rock of the Ramones, punks like Wire and no-wavers ESG and DNA. Sultry come-ons collide with the hangover of regret the next morning in what seemed like a great idea at the time. Among all of this the song still remains boss, and experimentation is at the service of melody and pop-song structure. From danceable beats to hand-clapping sections and chant along choruses, this is a record that is simultaneously fun and accessible with the underlying darkness and discomfort of a David Lynch film.
Recorded by Greg Norman (Guided By Voices, Detachment Kit, 90 Day Men) at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio and his own Studio Greg Studios II, New Black's self-titled record expands upon the frenetic energy documented in the band's self-released and self-recorded demo and focuses more intensely on the common ground of missed connections. Norman pulled free from the familiar clinical "documentation" process brought to the forefront by Albini and was heavy handed with the razor blade in analog tape editing. As if in homage to Stan Brakhage, Norman at times willfully crumples the 2 inch tapes in experimentation, as even the magnetic tape which the music is stored on is subject to the same types of misread we find day in and day out.
Don't think of this as the next big thing. New Black's songs of desperation will take root like a parasite on you, and slowly infect you like a cancer.
New Black are: Patti Gran - vocals, guitar Liam Kimball - vocals, bass Nick Kraska - drums, keyboard Rachel Shindelman - keyboard, vocals