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HOT OFF THE PRESS – Blackout Beach’s Skin of Evil
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for Nick Courtright’s weekly first glance at music discovered in the last seven days, whether it be just-released, just-leaked, or some long-lost gem that has remained under the radar. Click here for other recent editions of Hot Off the Press, featuring acts such as Deerhunter, TV on the Radio, M. Ward, Deerhoof, Juana Molina, Crystal Stilts, White Denim, and Grizzly Bear.
Released on January 27 on Soft Abuse
Report Card: B+
In regards to sanity, Carey Mercer could go either way. The prophetic declarations of times past that mark much of his work have established his position as heir to the throne of Scott Walker and Current 93’s David Tibet—like those men, he breaks many of the unwritten rules about how to be a successful vocalist, while also lending a healthy push to the question of whether the guy in charge is a genius or merely a madman. And while Mercer seems a little reined in by the full band nature of his primary project, Frog Eyes, and even more tempered by Swan Lake (the super group à la eccentric of Mercer, Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade, and Dan Bejar of Destroyer and The New Pornographers), his Blackout Beach project gives him the opportunity to go, without checks and balances, absolutely apeshit.