Black Elephant Release Cosmic Blues July 20
Took me frickin’ forever to write the bio below for the Black Elephant record. Like, two months. Just ridiculous. I finally banged it out after I got back from Planet Roadburn last month, but yeah, it was embarrassingly long in the making. Not the record’s fault by any means. You can hear in opening track “Cosmic Soul” that the Italian outfit have their game together on their third record, Cosmic Blues, so yeah, the lag was all on my end. Turns out I just suck. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Lehman, was right all along.
Second grade was a real killer.
Anyhoozle, Black Elephant‘s Cosmic Blues, complete with a bio by yours truly, is out July 20 and available now to preorder from the ultra-venerable Small Stone Records. The PR wire brings release info, art, and some familiar words — which is doubly fortunate, since the document with the bio was on my stolen laptop. “Hooray for cloud backups,” he said far too late.
I just made myself sad twice in the span of one post. Quitting while behind:
BLACK ELEPHANT: Psychedelic Fuzz Rock Unit To Release Cosmic Blues Full-Length Via Small Stone This July; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available
Italian psychedelic fuzz rock unit BLACK ELEPHANT will release their third full-length, and first under the Small Stone Records banner, titled Cosmic Blues, this July.
One would be hard-pressed to come up with a better descriptor for BLACK ELEPHANT’s Cosmic Blues full-length than the title of the album itself. Based in Savona, Italy, the four-piece have conjured ghosts of ’70s heavy fuzz and ’90s riff mongering offering up a sonic brew that’s both potent and thoroughly modern. Cosmic Blues follows 2014’s Bifolchi Inside and 2012’s Spaghetti Cowboys (get it?) and marks their debut on Small Stone Records. Comprised of lead vocalist/lead guitarist Alessio Caravelli, rhythm guitarist Massimiliano Giacosa, bassist Marcello Destefanis, and drummer Simone Brunzu, BLACK ELEPHANT makes their mark in their home country’s booming heavy rock underground with memorable songs and a sound that’s just as comfortable getting funky on “Chase Me” as it is reimagining Soundgarden as a riff rock outfit à la peak-era Dozer, rolling out huge grooves en route to “Cosmic Blues For Solitary Moose,” loaded with fuzz and scorching solos.
Given a brisk, live sound in its production – fitting for a group with hundreds of shows under their collective belt – Cosmic Blues comes across natural and at times maintains the intensity of BLACK ELEPHANTS’ earlier work (closer “Inno” walks by and waves), while simultaneously exploring more spacious realms in the not-a-cover “Helter Skelter” and the takeoff jammer “Baby Eroina,” which eases into and out of its nodding rhythm with a smoothness worthy of a group’s third album and a fluidity that typifies the record’s entire thirty-four-minute run. Leaving their own tracks in the footsteps of bands like Small Stone’s own Isaak, BLACK ELEPHANT hits a new level of craft with Cosmic Blues, and if the righteous drive of opener “Cosmic Soul,” the flowing progression of the LP that ensues, and the name they’ve given the whole affair are anything to go by, they know it for sure. All the better.
BLACK ELEPHANT’s Cosmic Blues was recorded and mixed by Giulio Farinelli, mastered by Maurizio Giannotti, and cames wrapped in the cover design of Robin Gnista. The record will see release on July 20th on CD, digitally, and limited edition purple vinyl.
For preorders, go to the Small Stone Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION where you can also sample opening track, “Cosmic Soul.”
Cosmic Blues Track Listing:
1. Cosmic Soul
2. Helter Skelter
3. Chase Me
4. Walking Dead
5. Baby Eroina
6. Cosmic Blues For Solitary Moose
7. Inno
BLACK ELEPHANT is:
Alessio Caravelli – lead vocals, lead guitar
Massimiliano Giacosa – rhythm guitar
Marcello Destefanis – bass guitar
Simone Brunzu – drums
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http://www.smallstone.com
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