Published July 25, 2012
Whoa, someone likes the Velvet Underground don’t they? “Get It Together,” which opens this tawdry album, is—probably by design—exactly like an outtake from that band’s Doug Yule era. You know, where he tries to sound like Lou Reed and almost does, to generally dumb effect because he isn’t him.
And neither is Black Valentine, though they would doubtless love to be. Elsewhere you’ve got B-side stuff like “I Don’t Wanna Go Out With Him,” which is kind of like “Summertime Rolls” by Jane’s Addiction, except played on a Wurlitzer organ. Turns out that’s a high point; sludgy sub-acidy demos like “Until I Saw the Fire” and “Oh My God” recall that absolute twat bunch of self-obsessed dicks, the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Worst of all, “Icing on the Cake” sounds horribly like U2 covering “Every Breath You Take,” with a Bontempi organ burbling away on preset rhythms in the foreground.
To judge for yourself, visit www.blackvalentine.bandcamp.com.