Black Before Red: Belgrave to Kings Circle (I Eat)

Black Before Red is from Austin, Texas—a town with a reputation for birthing and housing great bands. Members of this band are tied to fellow Austinites Okkervil River, and while the two bands wouldn’t be mismatched if put in a lineup together, Black Before Red sound more like if The Sea and Cake had a child with Spoon, that then procreated with the lovechild of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Broken Social Scene.

Belgrave to Kings Circle is a delicious mishmash of indie pop and lo-fi rock, covered with a spread of pleasant vocal harmonies and perfect arrangements. The ride begins with “Underneath Gold,” a track that would likely make Sam Prekop weep, and then dives right into the power-pop ballad, “Teenage America,” only to leave you spent and contemplative with the bemoaning but hopeful, “Waiting for the Bang.”

It’s hard to find anything seriously wrong with Belgrave to Kings Circle, but that’s not to say it’s an instant classic. It’s not likely I’ll insist to everyone I know that this is the new album to check out, but that could just be how I feel about it today. A week from now, this may be my favorite album.
To put it simply, Black Before Red have succeeded in making a slow burn album: the type that releases to minimal hype but becomes noteworthy in the end through word of mouth. Not likely to show up in many people’s albums of the year lists, but don’t be surprised when you can’t stop humming along to that Black Before Red song a friend put on a mix for you. When that happens, you’ll probably put the same song on a mix for someone else, and so continues the indie rock hype machine. At that point, it won’t be long before Black Before Red is huge, and I can say I told you so. (www.blackbeforered.com)

By Heidi Antocicco