Small Black :: "Search Party"

Rock music got officially confusing a few years back. Last spring during the recording of debut LP, New Chain, Brooklyn's Small Black insisted on using absolutely no guitars. James Murphy summed this up tension in 2002 when he drew the parallel as, "I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables/I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars." And with that rock music found its soft center, a second layer, whereby its rebelliousness would no longer be contained in a single aesthetic, but rather in the abiding challenge to the prevailing aesthetics, whatever they were. Of course, despite the shimmering brilliance of "Search Party," the latest mp3 off Small Black's above-mentioned LP, they are undeniably part of a movement of synth-wave bands that have pushed listeners underwater and out into space. Meaning this is the moment before the twist, the second before the chain turns back on itself and destroys everything that built the new New Order.

Listen :: Small Black - "Search Party"
Listen :: Small Black - "Photojournalist"
Listen :: Small Black - "Despicable Dogs"