Portland, Oregon is home to many things – big, foggy forests, dark coffee, gray skies, cliffs pounded by the relentless ocean, and now sludge-psych rockers Blackwater Holylight (Allison Faris – bass and vocals, Cat Hoch – drums, Laura Hopkins – guitar and vocals, Sarah McKenna – synths).
Their self-titled debut starts with the bass heavy “Willow,” which somehow mixes goth, psychedelia, and groove rock. The burst of drums and synths about thirty seconds in is exhilarating. You’re grooving with them like a 1960’s super-spy / vampire two-and-a-half minutes later. Hopkins’ guitar work on “Wave of Conscience” reminds me of early Cream, and McKenna’s synths remind me of some of Frank Zappa‘s work.
Faris’ bass takes front stage on “Babies,” and it sounds like she learned the craft from David J. of Love and Rockets. Her vocals and McKenna’s circus sideshow synths give the track a demented touch that you can’t shake out of your head. “Paranoia” starts out with appropriately intimidating reverb on Hopkins’ guitars, and they only get louder and creepier as the tune builds. Everything bursts forth when Faris’ sings, “Here comes the sunrise.” on “Sunrise.” It’s a lovely little gem in the middle of the darker previous track and the sludge metal of “Slow Hole” (which almost does sound like a sinkhole forming in the middle of a forgotten road).
Hoch’s beats are downright danceable on “Carry Her,” while Hopkins’ guitar work at first sounds like something off a mellow Cure record and then turns into a crunchy, distorted wallop. The album ends with the kinky / creepy “Jizz Witch” – a slow burning doom track that seems to be summoning up…something, but ends before whatever “it” is can emerge. Whew.
Blackwater Holylight’s debut is full of these shadowy moments. It works into the back of your mind and lingers there. It intrigues and unsettles in just the right balance, as good art often should.
Keep your mind open.
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