Black And White World
Blonde Vinyl Records
1991
Okay, so… Black & White World was a band that were one of the first bands signed to Mike Knott’s (R.I.P.) Blonde Vinyl Records label. They had a more funky style of the alternative style, and utilized some witty humor in their lyrics and music, resulting in energetic and introspective moods. They were formed in the 1980s some time, and released a couple of independently produced demos before signing to Blonde Vinyl. They also have the distinction to be on the label long enough to produce two albums, and filmed a video for one of their songs (“Love Is The Law”).
Their first album, Black And White World, was released in 1991. Produced by Christopher Colbert, I didn’t become aware of this album or this band until my musical journey expanded in college to include trying out this new-fangled “alternative” music that had supplanted metal as the dominant form of pop music in the early 90s, which was around 1993 or so. I also didn’t really listen to this until this was reissued through The Lost Archives in 2020 on Bandcamp. Let’s go ahead and give this a listen, maybe see what I had missed out on.
- “Ocean” Guitar-driven, fuzzed-out alternative rock; catchy hook, vocalist goes for a unique sound; bit on the funky side…
- “Captured” Laid back and funky vibe…
- “Love Is The Law” Good driving hook, with some interesting rhythm shifts, funky alternative rock, good solo…bongos…yeah…
- “Wonderful World” Another laid back alternative coffee house jam, imploring us to “chill out and have an iced tea”; pretentious neo-hippie pap…
- “Committed” Jangly laid back Alternative Radio friendly cut; Blind Melon style; good bluesy solo…
- “Stronger” Funky and upbeat track; gets chaotic midway through before going back to “sippin’ on iced tea” vibe, then ends on the chaos..
- “All Christ’s Cons” Laid back, brief one minute free association something or other…yeah…
- “Elvis” Funky bass line, psychedelic freak-out guitars, ruined by overbearing slam poetry lyrics; tries to go for a King Missile thing, but falls short; about Elvis, obviously…
- “Captain Of The Scow” Laid-back psychedelic trip, like chilling in a hookah bar…
- “Lip Sweat” Chill funky bassline and rhythm, mostly that, and sound clips montage, and whispering the title of the song creepily…
- “Heavy, Heavy World” Ending the album with acoustic guitar strumming and crooning, with some minimalist synth keys at times; coffee house alternative…
Overall: Well, I have to admit there were some things I liked about Black And White World, namely the melding of funk and blues along with a psychedelic style that appealed to me. There were instances where they were really experimenting, throwing alternative to the wall and seeing what sticks that didn’t seem to work too well. Not too bad, but I probably wouldn’t have liked it very much back in the early 90s. Fans of Dig Hay Zoose, Hot Pink Turtle and King Missile would dig this.
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