Black Country, New Road

For the first time

Dear The Independent:

Fuck you

Sincerely,
August

Not only will For the First Time easily become a favorite for the 2021 rankings, but this treasure has the potential to become a benchmark for the future. In other words, this is not a day like any other. Black Country New Road is the symbol of these new groups of genius who point the finger at the misdeeds of today's society, while redrawing new musical contours, as if they were invested with a mission to care for the future.

It's fascinating how Black Country New Road brings out something ... read more

“I met her accidentally
It was at the Cambridge Science Fair
And she was so impressed I could make so many things catch on fire.”

Anxiety:

The predator that is ever growing and only gets stronger over time if left unkempt. Does it hunt you? Are you the prey?

For the First Time *is* that beast. It *is* the stress. It is the building of the calm until the thunderous storm. You begin in Athens, but there is a flood that knocks you away. Crashing waves of a tsunami flings your body ... read more

This album is so much more than adequate.

Sounding like a twisted fusion of crazed experimental rock combined with sweet and instantly catchy pop melodies, with each song sounding as exciting, unique and aggressively experimental as it does sound extremely accessible, danceable and fun, this album feels both outstandingly fresh but densely refined. This is a record that feels new and exciting, but at the same time extremely thought out with honed in and direct lyricism paired with off the wall ... read more

Black Country, New Road have been quite an anomaly within the industry leading up to their debut album. Despite only originating in 2018, deriving from a malfunctioning act that was broken apart due to allegations, and only possessing a very compact catalog, composed of a mere collection of 4 singles, they have acquired a sizeable following, especially within a rather particular subsection of music listeners. This swiftly obtained fan base is only merited, as they have proceeded cautiously into ... read more

For the first time in my life, love at first sight isn’t such a wild idea to me anymore. Loving a specific piece of music, dare I say thinking of it as a modern classic just upon the first few listens is something that I never would’ve thought of. Before you even consider giving something a high score, let alone a 100, you need to settle down and think about it. You have to relisten to it multiple times, look deeply into the lyrical content, background, and everything. With all of ... read more

“The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.” ~L.P. Hartley

Guess what? No, I still haven’t gotten over my obsession with the best ska band of all time, Streetlight Manifesto. And no, I still haven’t gotten my retainer to fit on my teeth, mostly because I haven’t worn the damn thing in roughly eight months. What I’m about to tell you, is totally mind-blowing. It’s something that not even the highest authorities in the world know ... read more

Under the guise of heavy anticipation, Black Country, New Road is on heavy expectations from many users and listeners including myself, after the infamous "Sunglasses" track that debuted more than a year back the excitement around the band grew to a frenzy, who was this intriguing and interesting band that managed to blend elements of spoken word, jazz, math, and post-rock all in one single track? The results were astronomical and any news and information about the band were scoured ... read more

edit: 91 -> 94. just keeps going up

Black Country, New Road, a seven-piece band who have only been around for roughly 3 years and have only been releasing music for 2, crashed onto the scene amid a wave of hype around their first releases. Their first single sold out on vinyl in just days, and their following ones were hyped up by critics and listeners alike. Understandably, there was a lot of hype around their debut project, and it’s finally here. Spreading 40 minutes of material ... read more

as advertised: ‘for the first time’ is the pinnacle of british engineering. these six tracks encompass an odd type of flawlessness. this record really cannot be any better.

‘for the first time’ is mind-boggling, especially when isaac wood shouts the term “black country!” during the shockingly excellent outro to “science fair”.

the regular mixture of saxophone and violin with the guitar/bass/drums/keys combo creates a unique fusion. the striking ... read more

Coming at this album from a complete outsider perspective where I have never heard of the band, don't care about the history of the album, didn't hear any singles leading up to the release. Coming from that perspective I can safely say I do not understand what you're hearing. It's not even an "I don't get it / I think it's boring" type thing. I genuinely think this album is pretty damn bad. Just filled with all these flaws that keep piling up and piling up.

Starting with the simple ... read more

2021 MUST HEAR ALBUM #3

Post-punk is a genre close to my own heart, but recently I've seen myself finding it a little over-saturated with albums that, for me personally, do only the bare minimum and fail to push the genre in any new or compelling direction. Just last month we got albums from Shame and from Viagra Boys, both of which were decently enjoyable, but left me sorely disappointed by an overall scarcity when it comes to any inventive and forward-thinking moments. 'For the first time' ... read more

Black Country, New Road's debut album may have captivated many with its rambling song structures and pretentiously obtuse lyricism, but personally, the novelty of these sprawling songs, and more importantly, the novelty of their lead vocalist, leads to a thinly-spread aesthetic by the album's end. Over six lengthy tracks, the band's MO is clearly presented, but nearly every moment has an unshakeable air of ironically amateurish navel-gazing and trend-hopping. At points, Black Country can borrow ... read more

"for the first time". A daring, groundbreaking debut that doesn't only break boundaries, but also creates new roads to explore on the ruins of the previous dividing line that holds back so many other bands from releasing a bold debut like this one. All represented by some dudes running uphill.

Black Country, New Road's debut studio album is unimaginably vast in terms of how i can describe it. There's many ways of explaining my appeal for it, yet i can't pinpoint a good enough ... read more

MASTERPIECE

I'm writing this without much prior thought about what to write. I was completely overwhelmed during my first listen. I confirmed to myself that this is a very important and decade defining album on my second listen. I am currently on my third listen; I will write what I think - unfiltered - as I listen:

1. The opening track is playing and drawing me in, once again, with its southern european sounding luscious instrumentals. This is one of the best opening tracks i've ever heard. ... read more

500 Followers! Thank you so much for helping me achieve this goal. Some People I'd like to Thank are @TreyLikesBands : Trey has always been such a kind person to me and he was one of my first followers! Thanks, Trey! The next person I'd like to thank is @Phillip and @MickyT Both of them are really funny and are really good friends of mine and have always been really nice to me.
I also would like to say thank you to @CLJesse Charlise has always just been really nice and pretty cool to talk to! ... read more

Whenever I heavily praise an album at the outset I feel like I'm risking being hyperbolic, but there are rare occasions where you come across a record that is so evidently a modern masterpiece in the way that For the first time becomes immediately. The debut record from Black Country, New Road exhibits features of both past acts as well as modern, but accomplishes an incredible amount in terms of crafting their own unique take on music that never fails to give you the sensation that it will be ... read more

really enjoying the Klezmer-influenced moments in here - you can tell these kids listen to a lotta Zorn. especially those old Masada records (listen to Live at Tonic 2001 if u want more sexy sexy sax melodies)

people seem to reference Slint and black midi when discussing this record, and i could if aswell i really wanted to, but honestly i dont particularly hear much of either in this music - especially bm. honestly, with the varied instrumentation and layered production + composition, along ... read more

For the first time has easily been one of the most anticipated releases of 2021 so far. Black Country, New Road have gained a lot of popularity in 2020 and 2021 and had everything marked out for their debut album. The hype, the inventive sound, this was going to be the shit. I'm new on the bandwagon myself. I essentially had a mental crisis trying to figure out if I liked Science Fair, and I eventually came to love it. But, that's the only song I heard before this album. I'm going into this ... read more

https://unsplash.com/photos/vRQmBBsJspo

BCNR had, surprisingly, remained under my radar up until now; before a few days ago, I hadn't heard any of the singles off this album, and I had no idea what to expect when listening to it. "Spiderland" by Slint is one of my favorite albums of all time, and after seeing all of the comparisons with this album, I figured I would either love this album or be severely disappointed. In the end.... I absolutely love it. This will almost certainly be ... read more

Worst affected vocal style/contrived lyrics combo I've encountered in a while - kills some sporadically enjoyable instrumentals.

The music isn't inspired enough for me to put up with that failed 'faux (amateur?) dramatic/posh boy's first attempt at a Conor Oberst quaver' vocal style.

Take the carnival/Mariachi referencing 'Opus' - the fun parts of the instrumental are never when he's singing anyway. His contributions are totally superfluous and jarring.

Ditch the 'flat' tyre chaps. Pip pip!

Like their influences before them, Black Country, New Road aims to achieve something big in the more Slint-inspired portion of their scene. By adding jazz elements to their roster, the band received plenty of attention from their extensive touring and single releases. After a couple years of waiting, BCNR released a record "For the first time". I've definitely heard the name here and there, but it wasn't until a friend showed me "Science Fair" that I instantly hooked myself ... read more

+2 points the outro got me like N U T

This is the best band in the world? Y'all slandering 100 gecs big time.

Once again, it's a culmination of weird factors that enticed me towards listening and reviewing this record, and most importantly, it's the M83 font-face used on the album art, also credit goes out to them for giving credit to the original photograph used to make the cover, because even though the little text on the bottom triggers my OCD, it's a kind gesture to say the very ... read more

PHEW, this one is definitely a grower, took me few listens to truly appreciate it!

Black Country, New Road with their debut album smashed my expectations from what I first thought of them, just being a semi decent band that won't make a good album, but I am so glad I was wrong.

The opening track "Instrumental" brings you to the ground, enlightening the sounds you're about to hear from the band, in such a fun and unique way! I really loved it on my first listen and definitely a make ... read more