Rockin' Our Turntable: Black Moth Super Rainbow

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 19, 2009 5:40PM

Black Moth Super Rainbow follows the proud tradition of bands that sound as if they've grown up with nothing but latter period Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev records living on the tape deck of their tour van. Their latest album, Eating Us, is produced by loooongtime Lips / Rev producer Dave Fridmann so we feel it's safe to assume the band has zero problem with anyone drawing a sonic comparison between them and their obvious predecessors.

And why should they? Eating Us is delicious on both headphones and through massive speakers. Take the track "Dark Bubbles" for instance. It begins as a thundering rock steamroll before gently sliding into what feels like Euro space-rock anchored by a Bonham drum beat. This duality proves pervasive throughout the album as the band mines the deeper reaches of inner space to create a soundtrack that is both celestial and solidly physical. One minute your gently footing on lysergic cloud of bits and bytes; the next minute you find yourself spiraling back to the crust on the back of an oscillating drill bit, drifting apart before ever penetrating the surface.

The album as a whole is a delight, though in our opinion its plethora of spacier moments would be better served by a dash more of the physicality inherent in the group's heavier tracks. But it is what it is -- and it's one of the more engaging albums of neo-psychedelia to hit our turntable in quite a while.

MP3: Black Moth Super Rainbow "Born On A Day The Sun Didn't Rise"

Black Moth Super Rainbow plays with School of Bells at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W Lake, Wednesday, May 20, 8 p.m., $12, 18+