Blackheart Society: Believe

Reviewing local music can make you sound like a broken record sometimes. We find ourselves using variations of the word "potential" to describe a lot of local bands, and we often wonder how useful it is to tell you that a band "could be good if (blank)," or that another band sounds like they "might be really great some day if they did such and such." Of course a mediocre band could be really good some day, and of course certain bands would be better if they made such and such improvements. That is obvious. But in order to be fair, we feel the need to differentiate between a band that just flat out sucks and one that isn't great right now but, um, has potential. We also recognize, however, that there is a great deal of variation in the level of quality amongst bands in the latter category, and those differences must be pointed out too if a record review is really going to be useful to anyone. Some of these bands seem to be headed in the right direction, while some are clearly headed in the wrong direction despite being good musicians or interesting songwriters or whatever. Others don't seem to know exactly where they are headed, which makes it hard for us to figure out where we stand.

Blackheart Society appears to be a band in that third category. Believe, their first release, has all the markings of a new band still trying to find its sound: genres are hopped, influences are clear, and the songwriting is subpar in spots. However, Blackheart Society is also a band that, um, could be really good at what they do once they figure out what it is they want to do. Instruments are played well, production choices are mature, a few of the songs are damn catchy, and the singing is quite good most of the time. In fact, Believe is actually pretty strong in many spots, especially for a first ep, even if it does falter in several respects.

There isn't anything too revolutionary about what Blackheart Society does. You'll hear The Cure, Neil Young, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Stones and the Beatles pretty clearly upon first listen, and you'll probably be impressed with opener "Big Scar," which is surely the strongest track on the ep. "Big Scar" is a good example of the kind of song that Blackheart Society sounds most comfortable playing: concise, poppy, country influenced folk rock with a touch of 60's psychedelic. However, things come close to falling apart on songs like "Say You Want Me," where the band drags on for too long with just one idea, and on "Why Song of 89," which starts off with a dark new wave verse that turns into an unnecessary shout-along chorus that seems terribly out of place on the track. Aside from some cliche and sometimes cringeworthy lyrics, the main problem here seems to be that the band is hoping to be everything to everyone in their attempt to mix and match some of the more popular sounds of rock history. This creates an uneven vibe throughout the ep in which you don't know what you're going to hear next... but are afraid that you might not like it when you do.

But fear not, because its not all doom and gloom. Along with "Big Scar," "Whiskey Railroad" is a truly catchy and well written country pop song that will certainly standout during live performances, and "The Ballad of King George" showcases the band's ability to harmonize (although I can't tell who is actually singing) and branch out soundwise without moving too far from what they are good at. Salim Nourallah's production is also quite strong throughout, showing not only his talents but also the band's good taste in their approach to recording. And again, Ben Flemming is obviously a solid lead singer with good range, which immediately sets the band apart from many other locals, even though he still has some work to do as a lyricist.

Believe is truly a mixed bag, and while it falls short of being something that we would completely recommend, it also has enough strong moments to avoid being something that we would tell you to stay away from. In fact, we can't really figure out what to tell you aside from the obvious: Blackheart Society is new band, and they probably have enough talent to start becoming a good band. But Believe has its share of problems that make it unclear as to where this band is heading next.