:: The New Black - A Young Man’s Death

The New Black

The New Black must be the Melbourne music scene’s worst kept secret. The buzz surrounding this band has continued to grow. Not only receiving wide acclaim (and air time) on Triple J but have also been recognised for their talent, overseas. ‘A Young Man’s Death’ almost seems too good for a debut album. This is the kind of album that most bands don’t even get near to producing until they have about ten albums under their belt. So good is this album that there isn’t a weak track to be found. The album kicks off with ‘You’re Changing Me’, a song that recreates that old 1990’s Indie Rock sound that continues to sound great to this day. The New Black’s talent is there for all to hear on ‘She’s Nowhere’, ‘Show Me Love’ and ‘Hot Ticket’. All three of these tracks are catchy (and good enough) to be singles. They consist of infectious melodies and raw vocals that are out of this world. The latter track is so good you’ll find yourself playing it over and over again.

The smooth mellow ‘A Sweet Lie’ is backed p with ‘Getting Us High’ a slow moving song so good that it should feature in the next season of ‘One Tree Hill’ if the producers are doing their jobs properly. The rest of the album is a mish-mash of genres that all work remarkably well. ‘Alwyn Kurtz’ shows that even when The New Black go experimental they don’t lose their melody, ‘Can We Be Like Them’ and ‘Tear It Up’ seem to have some punk influences hidden under the surface while ‘All The Way’ contains riffs that even The Strokes would be jealous of. A stunning debut from a Melbourne band that has promised so much for so long, and now delivered a massive pile of wonderful.