ALBUM REVIEW: Black Springs 'Sunrise EP'

Meet Martin Cox, Tony Lopes, Michael March and Tim Story. These Sydney dudes are making some music that you ought to hear. The music is made under the name BLACK SPRINGS and it’s been described as “a spider on acid” by Drum Media, so you know you’re in for something interesting. BLACK SPRINGS have a new EP that they’ve unleashed onto Bandcamp called Sunrise, and it’s a psychedelic treat that is ready to be heard, but just for you guys because we love you all, we’ve given you a crash course through the EP so you know what you’re in for (but if you like surprises, go on ahead).

The first thing you hear on the EP is the boys having a chat amongst themselves. I always think this is great in a track because it’s entertaining and it always gives the track that slice of humanity. ‘Sunrise’, the title track, has a very chilled out vibe with a sort of '60s feel. The track beats through steadily with distorted guitars creating the kind of ambience that you would feel if you were just swaying from side to side, content with everything around you. This is the sort of track you’d play whilst not doing a hell of a lot, even though you know BLACK SPRINGS have done a hell of a lot to create the track.

Sounding slightly more modern than the previous track, ‘Temple Song’ mixes intricate guitars with a beat similar to walking pace and gives you a musical treat. The vocals sound fairly similar to those of JAGWAR MA, but the melodies BLACK SPRINGS create have a more clear influence and just make the track their own. ‘Not Today’ is a track that feels more awake than many of the other tracks and you love the rough distortion on the guitars and the danceable beat.

The EP tends to wake up slowly as it goes a long and it feels like a sunrise – a very crazy psychedelic sunrise. The mood of the EP changes as it goes along as well. You will start listening to Sunrise in a slow, quiet, lazy mood and being not really ready to move a long just yet. Soon the beat takes over and things start to get a little bouncier, crazier and just more fun!

‘Intermission (Springs Are OK, OK?)’ is a quick instrumental that fades in quite slowly and is fairly short running for just over a minute. There must be a trend happening through indie musicians these days because there are a lot of instrumental tracks in EPs and LPs lately. ‘Intermission (Springs Are OK, OK?)’ fells like a bit of a break after dancing to ‘Not Today’ so the track has been put in a very smart place, BLACK SPRINGS thanks for the breather! Although ‘Intermission (Springs Are OK, OK?)’ is short, BLACK SPRINGS ease you back into Sunrise by playing ‘I See The Man’ a seven-minute long track that takes us back to the beginning of the EP, slow, steady and relaxing. Going from short to long is an interesting move but is still quite smart because 1 minute 40 is a very short break. ‘I See The Man’ sounds slightly like a surfing soundtrack as it glides through the speakers. It’s actually quite smooth and just generally blue (in a good way).

Then all of a sudden the boys are back! The beginning of ‘My Knife Never Lies’ has the boys having a giggle and slowly starting to play the track until it kicks in with some deep vocals and a rad '60s groove. ‘My Knife Never Lies’ sounds like it has all the elements of a great '60s track and is another dance track on Sunrise proving my theory on the whole rest thing.

BLACK SPRINGS new EP is one for the people who like to relax to some nostalgic grooves and I would recommend it to everyone! If I didn’t I wouldn’t be writing this story! I won’t give it stars because hey, I’m not in school anymore let’s face it (university does not count!) but I will give it love, because it’s just so darn groovy!

Check the lads out at The Annandale Hotel tonight with friends Dead Radio, or at The Flinders Hotel on Tuesday.

Their EP launch will be at Brighton Up Bar (sound familiar?) June 21.

Words by Lauren Payne

LISTEN TO MORE NEW MUSIC HERE