New Black Tambourine compilation out now
Crucial compilation from one of the first Slumberland bands. A feedback-enshrouded collision of noise and pop that owed a lot to The Jesus & Mary Chain, Shop Assistants, Galaxie 500 and 14 Iced Bears, but of course is marked as totally unique by their dark, haunting tunes and Pam's lovely vocals. This reissue includes new liner notes, new art, never before seen band photos, and SIX unreleased songs, including four new recordings made in the Summer of 2009.
Click the image below for more info or buy it now.
vinyl LPCD
Black Tambourine - "Black Tambourine"
Though they only released a handful of songs their two-year lifetime, Black Tambourine has been hugely influential in the world of indie music. Conceived of as an explicitly pop band at a time when such bands were pretty rare in America, Black Tambourine wore their influences on their sleeves: The Jesus & Mary Chain, of course, but also folks like Phil Spector, Smokey Robinson, Love, The Ramones, Shop Assistants, The Pastels, 14 Iced Bears, Orange Juice and the list goes on… The band's dark, dreamy sound was consonant with the shoegaze sounds of the day, but the classic 60s-influenced songwriting gives their tunes a timeless appeal.
Formed in 1989 as a side project by members of Whorl and Velocity Girl, they soon recruited their mate Pam Berry as vocalist and released their first song, quixotically an instrumental, on Slumberland's very first release. Two singles followed, along with a pair of compilation contributions. Alas, other obligations became more pressing and the band called it a day in 1991.
Though their recorded output was quite limited, the music has continued to inspire indie, punk and indie-pop bands down the years. As the band's twentieth anniversary arrives, just about any review of or article about a noisy pop band drops their name, and their influence on bands as diverse as Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Wavves and Dum Dum Girls is continuing proof of Black Tambourine's legendary status in indie music. Interestingly, it would appear that 2010 is the year for Black Tambourine!
