You Should Know About: Crippled Black Phoenix

Crippled Black Phoenix is bits and pieces of other outfits brought together to make some seriously awesome aural deliciousness. You have Justin Greaves, former drummer of Electric Wizard, Dominic Aitchison from Mogwai, Nial Mcgaughey of 3D House of Beef, and Andy Semmens and Kostas Panagiotou, both from Panthiest. Really, Mogwai is the only band that we here have really spent a great deal of time with, but that doesn't matter. What matters is the songs found on this debut album, A Love Of Shared Disasters, are a thing of beauty. The music ranges from ambient sounds to folkish ditties and rock freakouts. I picked this up on vinyl, so I haven't spent enough time with it yet to really talk about it intelligently, but I discovered the limited edition 10" vinyl that preceded this filed away in the Mogwai section a couple of months ago and listened to both sides three or four times in one sitting. That's kind of saying something if you are me. The standout track at this point in the listening experience is "Suppose I told the truth (why I had to go)". It doesn't come with a lyric sheet, so I don't know exactly what it's about yet, but let's just say the music and lyrics are just as heartfelt and immediate as the name of the song. The track immediately following this, "When You're Gone," continues with these themes. When the vocals kick it up a notch a few minutes in, going from soft delivery to a gravelly pleading, it makes for a chilling experience. Geoff Barrow from Portishead liked them enough to sign them to his Invada Records label, so that should be enough for you to want to check this out as soon as you can. This first offering is being billed as part one of a trilogy. I really can't wait to hear the other two installments.

Crippled Black Phoenix on MySpace

Buy A Love Of Shared Disasters

Official Site

Invada Records