the black watch - The Hypnotizing Sea
by Andrew Carver
published: 24 / 5 / 2007
Label:
Pink Hedgehog
Format: CD
intro
Intelligent and witty indiepop on the latest album from the Black Watch, the moniker for Californian musician John Andrew Frederick
John Andrew Frederick has been making pop music with a revolving band of players under the Black Watch name for two decades. Although based in California (Santa Barbara, to be precise), Frederick’s inspiration lives across the oceans: In Britain and to an even larger degree in New Zealand and Australia. The noisy kickoff to ‘Innercity Garden’ sounds like a refugee from 1980's New Zealand noisepop like the Cleans. The metallic squeal, tremulous vocal and the piano-sitar-radio mish-mash at the end of the title track charts a similar course. Most of the rest of the ‘The Hypnotizing Sea’ tones things down a notch and keeps its feet in the territory laid out by the Go-Betweens. Acoustic strummer ‘Buttercup Fairchild’ – an ode to a troubled beauty – sets the tone. Frederick’s voice is pleasant, but not blessed with an overwhelming range. Instead he gets by on intelligent, sometimes tart, wordplay. This also justifies his harmonica-heavy tribute to Bob Dylan. Fans of Antipodean pop, or the witty lyrics of performers like Edwyn Collins will find the set entertaining.
Track Listing:-
1 Innercity Garden2 Buittercup Fairchild
3 Papercut
4 Dylan Dylan Dylan
5 The Hypnotizing Sea
6 The Teacup Song
7 Willing To Wait
8 How I Go Round
9 Another Summer Coming
10 The Shakespeare Song
11 Story Of Your Life
12 Room 407
13 The Way Of The World
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/theblackwatchmusichttps://theblackwatch.bandcamp.com
Label Links:-
http://www.pinkhedgehog.com/https://en-gb.facebook.com/Pink-Hedgehog-Records-195934540420844/
http://www.last.fm/label/Pink+Hedgehog+Records
https://www.youtube.com/user/PinkHedgehogRecords
interviews |
|
Interview with John Andrew Fredrick (2024) |
|
| John Andrew Fredrick, the frontman with LA cult band the black watch, talks to John Clarkson about his book trilogy, 'The King of Good Intentions', which is about a 90's indie rock band, and his group's two forthcoming albums, 'The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours' and 'Weird Rooms'. |
| Interview (2022) |
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