Bull Black Nova
Don’t Fall Away
bullblacknova.bandcamp.com
Don’t Fall Away is an album of ambitious art-pop songs with a pretty broad palette of sounds and styles. It’s at least partially home-recorded by A. J. Worden, the man behind Bull Black Nova, though Brook Hoover, of the Surf Zombies, gets an engineering credit as well. No matter the means of production, this is a well-recorded, dynamically dramatic album. It really is true that these days all you need is a computer, a decent microphone or two and good ideas.
This is especially evident on the song “Actinide” which has a bombastic wall-of-sound introduction before the verse begins. Worden sings with great control over a pleasing vibrato, reminiscent of Morrissey without being an imitation. On “Waves” he wears his love of Radiohead on his sleeve, but his voice is stronger than Thom Yorke’s. Maybe it’s more along the lines of Muse? The song is good enough that it should be judged only against itself.
“Persephone” has a chunky beat and guitars awash in reverb, and it brings to mind the term “Beatle-esque,” but without any cringing. It has a ‘send-them-home-humming-the-tune’ melody, arranged in a bed of pure ear candy. You probably don’t care on a technical level about two guitars hard panned left and right through different reverbs, but it does your head in, in a good way.
Each of the songs on Don’t Fall Away could credibly be presented with just guitar and voice—which is how every good rock record starts. But throughout, Worden and his collaborators have put a lot of love, care and studio smarts into turning his songs into something fresh, current and satisfying. I didn’t know this existed before trawling through Bandcamp; it came as a complete surprise. All surprises should be this pleasant.
