Search - Black Watch :: Tatterdemalion

The less things change, the more they stay the same.

LA Joe | Fantastic LA | 02/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not sure how the title applies, other than to demonstrate how I facilely can quote people like David St. Hubbins in critical discourse. It sounds an underhanded compliment, like calling a mousy girl "really cute", but the black watch's trademark is their consistency. . .



And yet they continue in tatterdemalion to evolve, to grow (or at least change it up a little bit). Sure, these guys are definitely influenced by the rock-and-roll movement of the early, mid, and late sixties. One might guess in earlier works that their favorite Beatle is George, only I don't mean Harrison. Here, strings and arrangement have given way more to percussion, atmosphere, and distortion. The album's well-produced, but not so's you'd notice -- a good thing.



One might say it's Kink-y, Smiths-y, with a hint of the Edge minus his echo pedal, and the insouciantly suicidial overtones of the Cure, blah blah. One might also be a snarge, just like wine-tasters. Who cares about breaking it down? How good does it taste with what you're eating, and how messed up does it get you? In the case of tatterdemalion: It does go well with the chicken.



Confident, clean yet fuzzy leads compliment the bass: it's a thumping, rumbling, ever-playful rhythm section. Cool lyrics, as always. Ditto some nice acoustic bits. Sure, I like the slow numbers, the ones I can dance to (the "orange trees" song). But only because the ones that rock simply rock, so it all works out. "Ashly" sounds like a song that might come on the jukebox in a bar in which you're drinking the night after a hard night and morning on the drink. You light your cigarette, feel the bass on your soles, and become aware of a dirty, mellow sadness mingled with a vague euphoria."

Magical melodies

KB | NYC | 02/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By the window of a tiny office with velvet green sofa in downtown New York City, Tatterdemalion's melodies and images explode with poetry and sincerity. John Andrew Fredrick's mysterious and endearing vocals backed by fierce musicianship linger still as the first time the band's sound caught my attention. A little like love at first sight. But then, perhaps I am biased. Thank you TBW, for making this record. It's magical. And I think we all need a bit more of that!"

Catchy, but in a good way

Jeffrey Rose | L.A. | 02/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Catchy, dense, and a tad precious, but precious as in metal, not as in "isn't that calculatedly cute?," here The Black Watch does what it always does, but this time does it better. There seems to be a quiet new maturity to the work, as if this new maturity were leaning against a doorjamb and pointing to the song as if it were a person, saying "I'm with him."



John Andrew Fredrick's standard lyrical impressiveness has ripened into a less-flashy but still potent lap around the lexicon, while the music has acquired a textured complexity worthy of the word "composition," as in these songs were composed, not just written.



Forever teetering on the edge of a flowery abyss, The Black Watch never falls in, instead performing a wild reel on the lip, dancing over life's challenges with a realistic dourness that translates into reluctant uplift--yes, these songs actually cheer, despite their post-punk-pop proto-drear disguise.

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