I heard Black Midi
the first time in the video
for “John L,” a.k.a.
“John 50,” which
must have been the
first single from the
2021 Cavalcade album,
the band’s sophomore
effort. Visually insane,
a group of dancers in
nude-beige body suits, in
clown-like white face,
wearing wigs, cavorting
and contorting wildly around
some obelisk figure with arms
and a single eyeball.
Musically, it was like a
marriage between
King Crimson and Primus,
but weirder, noisier,
a kind of progressive
punk rock jazz, surprising
in its sonic messiness
while showcasing some
phenomenally gifted
musicianship and one
of the greatest young drummers
in recent memory. The singer,
guitar player, de-facto band
leader, one Geordi Greep, some
kind of love-child between
Frank Sinatra, Les Claypool, and
Humphrey Bogart, mostly
speaks really fast, and sometimes
croons, sometimes hollers
like an injured animal.
Their debut album, Schlagenheim
almost unlistenable, but intriguing,
like a train wreck. Their
second, Cavalcade, a more
beautiful, tuneful mess,
but still sufficiently nuts
with a few quiet moments
and some actual melody
to give the ears a rest, the best
place to start for the curious
and adventurous listener.
Their third and last album
before a sudden and acrimonious
break up, Hellfire, is a return
to a more difficult listen,
a challenging set of songs,
Greep’s rapid-fire spoken-word
absurdities, punctuated by orchestral
maneuvers and breakneck
riffs, insane grooves and fancy,
chaotic ensemble hits.
I find, oddly enough, that I enjoy
this band immensely at low
volume. I can appreciate
the subtlety without
feeling like my ears
are bleeding. Despite
their difficulty, they’re one of the
most exciting new bands
to emerge in this third
decade of the twentieth
century. Nearly too good
to be true, and now, after
a few short but intense years,
they’re gone.
Notes on the vinyl editions: Schlagenheim, Rough Trade Records, 2019, black vinyl. Cavalcade, Rough Trade Records, 2021, black vinyl. Hellfire, Rough Trade Records, 2022, opaque red vinyl.
In case you’re just joining me: I am listening to (almost) every record in my collection in alphabetical order and writing a poem-like-thing in response to each artist represented there. It appears that my collection in the letter B is pretty vast! I will “be” here for a while!
michael jarmer 