Here they are again. Black Market Karma continue to churn out albums one after another. This latest one is practically the third within seven to eight months. The tour de force opened with 'The Sixth Time Around' at the end of 2015, followed by the release last March of the kaleidoscopic 'Plastic Hippie'. Now it's the turn of 'Animal Jive' (also via Flower Power Records), which is the third installment in the series and was released last July 15th, and like all the other albums by the band, it's available for free download from their website.

I don't find it particularly useful to talk again about whether it's a good thing or not for a band to be so prolific. Many believe this is a negative aspect and would affect the overall quality of individual albums. Too little time available to dedicate to each track. Others, however, feel this is one of the consequences of modern times and the easier ways of recording and distributing music. Therefore, consequentially of the devil, because rock and roll would be dead, and there would no longer be anyone making good music, bla bla bla.

Of course, I don’t give a damn about all of this. I think of a great Italian singer-songwriter like Edoardo Bennato. The release of 'Sono solo canzonette', which was and still probably is his most successful album, was announced long before and was preceded fifteen days earlier by the release of another album, 'Uffà! Uffà!'. This was somewhat of a novelty in the Italian music market and sparked much discussion. But Bennato on his part preemptively responded to the criticism by striking back with a strong and intense song, provocative, like, 'Allora, avete capito o no?'

'I like it two at a time.' Let's make it three this time and focus on the album's content, which is the only thing that truly interests listeners, especially fans of the band and the neo-psychedelic genre, and what can be defined as shoegaze ballads.

Less kaleidoscopic but equally colorful, less cosmic than 'Plastic Hippie', 'Animal Jive' should be classified as a more pop album than its predecessor. The album is permeated by a certain serenity that emanates from the music of the songs and paints 'watercolors' of the British imaginary type of walk in the park where the grass growing on it, however, is of all the colors of the rainbow. There's a certain optimistic push that immediately shines through from the first track, the instrumental 'Oscillation Instigator', a psychedelic explosion of pure joy with a typical 1990s flavor.

From this point, the album alternates between dream-pop ballads like the beautiful 'Shaking Sad' and the lovely 'Black and Blue' and 'Looner', sung by the female vocalist Louisa, to tracks that sound more garage and beat. 'Phoney Aliments' and 'Runaway' evoke the usual Brian Jonestown Massacre reminiscences, particularly recalling some tracks from the 1990s and those written by Matthew Hollywood. 'Heavy Headed' is a rock and roll ballad in the style of the Soundtrack of Our Lives, 'Melody Signal' is probably the most interesting track on the album. A shoegaze 'masterpiece' dominated by the electronic sound of the organ over the echo and reverb of the guitar and the sound of the drums.

The reverb of the voice and that typical British flavor, which is more an attitude than a geographic matter at this point, do the rest and are characteristic elements of this band.

I think that's all for the moment. Curtain? Who knows. Maybe not.

Tracklist

01   Oscillator Instigator (00:00)

02   Melody Signal (00:00)

03   Outbound (00:00)

04   Effortless Motionless (00:00)

05   Shaking Sad (00:00)

06   Phoney Ailments (00:00)

07   Drudge (00:00)

08   Runaway (00:00)

09   Heavy Headed (00:00)

10   Black And Blue (00:00)

11   Looner (00:00)

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