For the first time is a purely unsettling and creepy intensity of grooves and glitches, but is also very funny and beautiful at times too. Black Country, New Road are so seemingly unpredictable that they could almost tackle any new style or genre that would hit them.
The new formed UK-based seven-piece band Black Country, New Road have recently blown up in a quick and crazy way. Through the internet it seems, the band have blown up seemingly out of nowhere thanks to singles like "Track X" and "Sunglasses." They have a unique combination of post rock, post punk, folk, noise, and experimental music. Like its simplistic album cover, we as the listener do not know what is across this hill we are climbing. In this case, listening to this record itself. For the first time, the band's debut album, is a chaotic and frantic melting pot of countless influences that seem to be from all over the place. Each of these six tracks range from different styles and genres, as well as different shifts in time signature or tempo. Many of these elements with the band's schtick and quick popularity across the blog-o-sphere reminds me of what another newly formed, young UK experimental band did: Black Midi. Black Midi seemingly came out of nowhere as well with some singles themselves before releasing their debut Schlagenheim back in 2019 (if you can believe it was back in 2019 already): a record that is bold, unique, and quite an amazingly mature feat itself for a group that is so young and new. Fun fact: the two groups actually toured together and often referred to themselves as "Black Midi, New Road," so there is in fact quite a few similarities that aren't just coincidences.
Even with these similarities with Black Midi, Black Country, New Road find all the more reason to rethink your expectations. Going into For the first time (for the actual first time) you listen, it is an absolutely unpredictable experience. Lead vocalist and narrator Isaac Wood has a creepily unsettling charm to his rough, rowdy voice; the squelching horns all over this album can be quite eerie, along with Wood's lyricism ranging from very, very specific ("she hates every playlist she swears she made when she was fifteen") to the very, very meta ("it's black country out there"). The track listing overall is quite a blend of sorts. The "Instrumental" opener and "Athens, France" take on almost traditional post rock-isms and post punk novices with the guitar grooves (not to say that they're performed tiresomely; they're certainly not). "Sunglasses" has the best hooks and grooves on the album, nearing its final minutes of its ten minute runtime. Its quirky dance grooves quite similar to that of a satanic medieval Bloc Party (if you've heard Silent Alarm at least one time in your life). I also wanted to quickly note that I do love the "leave Kanye out of this" line. I sure hope Kanye hears it (finding out that Kanye West loves Black Country, New Road would be a wonderful indie blog article headline).
"Science Fair" is what takes the cake as the album's best track: a song that of course is about a woman being burned alive from a Cambridge science fair incident. Although quite creepy and dark with its themes, the strings are beautifully cinematic and the glitchy guitar grooves are some of the album's best. The electronic beat switch-up in the middle of the song is a wonderful surprise quite reminiscent to that of Tortoise's "Gesceap" from The Catastrophist). "Track X" is the much needed cool down on the record with its gently picked guitar, fantastic backing vocals and a surprisingly soulful swoon from Isaac Wood. A beautiful track that shows that the band can successfully pull off ballads and quieter moments too. "Opus" is in fact the opus of the record and truly acts as the climax of the record. There are huge highs across this pretty quick 40 minutes, but none have as sharp grooves as this one. This eight minute closer has many highs and lows in the own track itself, finishing the album with quite a bang. Its hypnotic guitars and explosive horn section are quite the stunner.
Overall, Black Country, New Road have really left a positive impression on me. They've really shown quite the versatility they can do with just six tracks. For the First Time is a purely unsettling and creepy intensity of grooves and glitches, but is also very funny and beautiful at times too. It is indeed an explosive effort from a seven-piece band and are seemingly an unpredictable group that could almost tackle any new style or genre that may hit them, similar to that of Black Midi. This is currently my favorite album of the year so far, one that is by far one of the most unique and interesting releases I've heard in a while. I am very much looking forward to whatever Black Country, New Road have down the pipe. Hopefully, we'll get down that pipe real quick to the next album!
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Science Fair," "Opus," "Track X," "Sunglasses"
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