For The First Time
by Black Country, New Road

From Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/05/2021 19:15 | #265830 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

(An awesome mix of post-rock and post-punk and post-otherstufftooprobably, with consistently awesome rhythmic explosions, wild horn solos and just a little something for the whole fam.)

This album is really, really cool. It reminds me of Slint and King Crimson and a little of Talk Talk (the parts of Talk Talk when they really fucking explode). The musicianship is on point and while not next-level virtuosity, it more than suffices to create these big, huge multi-parted somewhat experimental rock songs. The horn parts steal the show throughout. The drummer is clearly a badass. The riffage and the build ups and breakdowns are all so cathartic. It's just a freakin rock solid album.

The vocalist is hit or miss for me. He has that Conor Oberst, perpertually-on-the-edge-of-a-nervous-breakdown style that can wear thin, but generally he nails the intense shouted and screamed vocla bits. The lyrics aren't great, but not bad either, they are kind of purposefully mundane. Mundane but expressed in such an intense way they almost trick you into thinking they are quite deep and ominous.

There is not a bad song here. Haven't heard the earlier single version of Sunglasses, so can't comment on whether the band made a mistake re-recording it (apparently the single is more intense and brilliant than this album version, per the loud fan outcry) but I have heard this version and its amazing and epic and just builds up so logically yet frantically. The propulsive, mind-blowing rhythmic explosion of the opening instrumental served to get me very VERY excited for the album, and that closer is an instant classic if ever such a term should be used. "Opus" is one of the most hypnotic, gorgeous and, idk another word for it, maybe "authoritative" or "assured" closing statements I've personally heard. That is how you close your much anticipated debut album.

From timtooky 02/22/2021 18:30 | #266613 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

What do we have here? Is this the new "Pavement"?
A likeable group with humble and talented musicians making music, that is complex, demanding and interesting, Nice.

But in my opinion its also a typical "reviewers band". A band everyone has to adore, because its so overhyped - one cannot escape them. First single - best band in the world. Really? Or is it just a group everyone has to like, because everyone seems to like them? Everyone thinks: Hey, the cool reviewers like them and maybe I'm not cool, if I don't like them. So I like them, too.

For me it's a nice first release of a promising group, but no reason to freak out.

From pjohnsongolf TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/07/2021 04:48 | #265943 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I think I’m finally starting to get this album. After my first listen I decided to listen to some more of the post rock genre so I could better judge this album. After listening to some of the iconic records of the genre I can now see how Black Country, New Road is paving their way not only in post rock but in music in general. The elements of post punk and jazz make this album a special listen. This album will continue to grow on me as time passes. I’m excited for this band’s future!

From AvalancheGrips 02/05/2021 21:28 | #265839 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I'm at the point where I hate to make very obvious comparisons to older bands, I did that a lot with black midi when Schlagenheim came out. With this band, I actually find it a lot harder to pin down the influences like I was able to with black midi.

I listened to all the singles just before this album came out, mostly because I only just heard about this band two days before this album released and I wanted to see if it was worth listening to the album. What I can say is that I was somewhat disappointed when I saw there would only be six songs on this album, and two-thirds of them were already released in some form. That is why I must say that I am not disappointed in this album, but a little underwhelmed compared to the hype. Not to mention that I believe that the album version of "Sunglasses" is inferior to the single. This is why it is probably a good idea not to spoil yourself with singles when the album isn't out yet. However, I still think this is a very good album and I think it will probably be top 5 for the year. My biggest gripe is just that I think more material would have been better. "Opus" and "Science Fair" are bangers tho.

Hit or miss. There are times the layering of music builds in an inspiring way and the spoken lyrics fit the feel of the song. Other times, instrumentation and vocals get in one another’s way, much like a car crash.

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