Black Moth Super Rainbow at Paradise Rock Club on 12/3. Photo by Charlotte Holley.
I stood alone at the Paradise on Monday night, waiting in a relatively small crowd where the pot smoke smell was strong and the energy mellow. We waited through semi-hot mess Casket Girls, a sort of glamour-electro meets rock band, until the lights went out. Then a shaky videoscape of a cat-like creature on a forest path appeared before us…
Pittsburgh’s psych-pop group Black Moth Super Rainbow has been busy since their first album, Falling Through a Field, came out in 2003. The band has put out nine other albums since then and, with each new track, they have taken their fans further and further down a somewhat evil, psychedelic rabbit hole.
BMSR is made up of unassuming members who, at the same time, couldn’t appear more different from one another. BMSR’s music is made even more alluring by the fact that the band is composed of extremely ordinary-looking people. The band keeps a pretty low profile, maintaining anonymity by using bizarre stage names, wearing masks, and remaining unconcerned with the music media sphere. It quickly became apparent Monday night that, for BMSR, it is all about the experience of their music, rather than putting on an affected, gimmicky electronic show. The group appeared serious, dedicated, and professional.
The show can really only be compared to some sort of child-like dream, weaving syrupy, complex synth with frontman Tobacco’s demon-esque vocals. With a heavy, constant bass added into the mix, the show had an almost trancelike effect on the audience. The band played better-known favorites from previous albums, such as “Sun Lips” and “Iron Lemonade,” but also sampled from the newest album, Cobra Juicy, with tracks like the melodic “We Burn” and the more rock-focused “Windshield Smasher.”
At a show like Black Moth Super Rainbow, because the music is so strange and experimental, you are surrounded by true music fans who possess a curiosity and appreciation for artistic sound. BMSR’s unique sound provides less of an opportunity for the traditional concert experience, and is more of a lesson in appreciating the complexity of music as art — the importance of each sound. BMSR’s music is anything but repetitive and drone-like. It is unpredictable and pretty trippy, which makes it hard to sing along, but impossible to stop listening to.
By: Charlotte Holley