What do you get when you combine pop rock with a '60s psychedelic component? You get the Black Hollies' sophomore album, Casting Shadows.
Touring the country to promote their newest endeavor, the band, named after an old street-slang term for amphetamines, remembers their roots. "A couple of us were in an attic listening to old soul 45s and were inspired to embark a journey of our own," said lead singer Justin Angelo Morey. With a pretty poetic start to their career, the Black Hollies' first album which came out in 2006, Crimson Reflections was well received, described as '60s soul and pop strucutres with rave-up rock results."
But this newest album is definitely not a repeat of the first. Casting Shadows is definitely amped with those hallucinogenics that powered the music of the flower people. Morey said, "The first record was merely the debut ... Casting Shadows is a closer step in the right direction."
Citing influences as '60s soul, Jane Birken, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and Kate Moss, the Black Hollies keep themselves tied to the 1960s. Were the foursome born a few decades too late? No, rather they have the uncanny ability to make old music new. Morey interestingly describes the sound as, "freakbeat and psychedelia with northern soul overtones," which frankly doesn't seem to mean anything, but with a listen to their latest album, you almost begin to understand what he's saying.
With lyrics ranging from poetic love letters to bubblegum repeats to bluesy ballads, Casting Shadows reveals a number of external influences. Although each track has similar components such as fuzzy vocals, tambourines and catchy guitar melodies, each song is very distinct. However, one might wonder at the organization of the album - there are a few songs that begin with Hebert Joseph Wiley V, the band's lead guitarist, playing sitar, which is a refreshing addition, but somehow they all ended up grouped together in the middle of the album. Some of the albums best songs include "Autumn Chateau," which uses the introductory notes of the sitar to become more rock-influenced than the anticipated Asian-influences, "Hamilton Park Ballerina," a Beatles-like ballad, and "Running Through My Mind," a more bluesy, rockified-Muddy Waters piece.
The liner notes also provide insight into the sort of image the Black Hollies wish to portray. Not only does it contain the lyrics for all the songs, but also gives definitions for a number of words supposedly correlating to the band such as Acidhead, DMT (or dimethyltryptamine, a short-acting psychedelic that is injected or smoked), Flip and Psychedelic. Some interesting word choices are: "bum trip," a bad LSD experience, "to drop a cap," to swallow a capsule of LSD and "a guide," someone who babysits for the psychedelic user during a session. One can't be sure if the Black Hollies are just a little too into their '60s drug persona or are just plain promoting LSD use.
In order to record the perfect sound for an album, or, "a captured moment in time" as Morey describes each LP, the band regiments every sound and movement and rhythm. Practicing "until the gear runs out," the Black Hollies' live performances have been described as seamless and fluid with almost not talking between songs - it is after all, in the style of Clapton collaborations like the Yardbirds and Cream: all about the music. Even their outfits, haircuts and general aura are reminiscent of the era they reincarnate on stage.
However, sometimes the Black Hollies seem to imitate just a little more than recreate, and there is the song or two you feel like you've heard before. Regardless, Morey and his bandmates, Wiley, rhythm guitarist Joe Gonnelli and drummer Scott Thomas Bolasci have managed for the most part to take music from one of the most creative and musically forward-thinking eras and redefined it for the 21st century.
Morey said, "I'd prefer to not describe our sound and allow people to have an open mind when forming their opinion about us. Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation. If anything, the greatest feeling I could receive is to know they walked away satisfied."
The Black Hollies will be performing on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Talking Head Club at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door.
