The Black Angels have a style firmly rooted in the rock traditions of the past. Their sound, which they describe as “Native American Drone ‘N’ Roll,” combines dark lyrics, the simple chord progressions of garage rock and 1960s-style psychedelics, giving their songs a throwback feel without sounding derivative.
Although they draw on numerous sources for inspiration, most of them 1960s and ’70s psychedelic rock bands, as well as more modern groups such as The Warlocks, one of the band’s influences is paramount: The Velvet Underground. The Black Angels’ appreciation for The Velvet Underground is so strong that they took their name from a Velvet Underground song (“The Black Angel’s Death Song” from The Velvet Underground & Nico).
“They’re kind of nonchalant; they’re really cool but they never seem like they’re trying very hard,” lead singer Alex Maas said. “In fact, it seemed like they weren’t trying at all, but they were making really cool sounds.”
Like The Velvet Underground, The Black Angels, who will perform at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, make music that is simply structured, thematically dark and occasionally trippy. Their songs are often slow-paced drones, more concerned with tone than melody.
However, that’s not to say their music is sedate — far from it. Their sound is just as suited to tough-guy rock anthems with driving drumbeats and heavy, southwest blues-rock guitar riffs as it is to psychedelic head-trips.
“When you get four or five Fender Twin Amps on stage, and you make a lot of noise … it does something to you,” Maas said.
The Black Angels formed in 2004 in Austin, Texas, a city known for its excellent music scene — a boon to its residents but a curse to underappreciated bands struggling to get noticed.
Consequently, The Black Angels didn’t begin to break through until they started touring outside the city.
“We used to play [in Austin] every weekend … and we decided to go on tour one time, and [after that] we scaled back how many times we played in town,” Maas said. “It was extremely difficult.
There’s so much happening in Austin, if you’re a musician. … Everybody’s brother’s cousin’s band is playing, and it’s an extremely difficult town to break out of.”
The band has since returned and founded the Austin Psych Fest, a three-day psychedelic rock festival. The fourth Austin Psych Fest is this month and will feature more than 50 bands.
After releasing two records with indie label Light in the Attic, the Black Angels signed with the newly reconstituted Blue Horizon label. In the 1960s, Blue Horizon had been the label of bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack, but it went out of business. It was resurrected in 2010, and the Black Angels were the first band to sign on.
“This is the first record they’re putting out, it’s a new label,” Maas said. “Because we’re their first release, we’re getting a lot of attention from them. [It’s] great to hear advice from people who’ve been in the music business for so long. It kind of reminds me of our relationship with Light in the Attic, it kind of feels like an indie label. But we’ve got different distribution angles.”
The album that came from the new partnership, 2010’s Phosphene Dream, was something of a departure for the band. It was marginally less psychedelic and more energetic. The songs were generally shorter and more melodic. The “drone ‘n’ roll” sound was still there, but it was more refined.
Maas gives the credit to producer Dave Sardy.
“We’d never worked with a producer before, and we had Dave Sardy as another creative mind on the record, and that helped us to move out of our comfort zone a little bit,” Maas said.
The Black Angels are known for touring frequently, and their live shows are often as engaging visually as they are musically. Imagery is a key part of psychedelic music, whether it’s imagery in the lyrics, album covers or the visual presentation of a live show.
“Sometimes we roll with projectors, two 15-millimeter projections, like a film. We add that to our show. We can’t always do it, because of money,” he said. “[The] visual aspect is a big part of how we write music, especially lyrical content. Whenever a guitar plays, instantly there’s an image that goes into the songwriter’s mind … and that’s how the song’s created.”
The Black Angels have played the 9:30 Club and other Washington venues before, but often as an opening act. They opened for The Raveonettes at the club in 2009, but signing with Blue Horizon and releasing Phosphene Dream in the last two years has raised the band’s profile, and the members are excited for their return to Washington.
“This time we’re coming back,” Maas said, “[and] we’re headlining.”
The Black Angels will perform at the 9:30 Club on Sunday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20.
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