400 BLOWS: Reptilian Records reissues iconic LA noise rockers' "Black Rainbow" double LP for 20th anniversary
Available on Black Friday, November 24th, the release also marks Reptilian Records' 34th year in business – an astounding run that has seen founder Chris X position the label as a pillar of the noise rock scene, while consistently bucking trends and following his own ear wherever it leads.
Pre-order, here: https://www.reptilianrecords.com/products/748723-400-blows-black-rainbow-2xlp
Originally released in 2003 and consisting of 16 blistering tracks, 400 Blows' Black Rainbow put forth a vision of noise rock that bridged the gap between the Amphetamine Reptile heyday of the '90s and the fresh, exploratory scene of heaviness emerging in the early '00s, as exemplified by bands like The Locust. In the years that followed, 400 Blows would tour voraciously and release music on the coolest labels of that time, including Gold Standard Laboratories and Buddyhead, but Black Rainbow is where the young Los Angeles band first found its voice.
Vocalist Skot Alexander recalls: "We were going for this stripped-down, abrasive, rhythmic shard-like rock, accompanied by a sort of screamy, manic preacher, adult nursery rhyme-style vocal. Some of the bands we toured with, or shared a stage with, included Big Business, Unsane, At the Drive-In, The Bronx, The Mars Volta, The Locust, Melt-Banana, Mission of Burma, and Butthole Surfers. Needless to say, we played a lot, and we saw ourselves as pirates that traveled from town to town and plundered and pillaged and enjoyed all excesses until we wore ourselves out, both mentally and physically."
A statement from Reptilian Records proclaims: "In the depths of the underground music scene, 400 Blows emerged as a phantom-like trio, armed with a guitar, drums, and vocals, carving their niche in the caustic melting pot of noise rock. The band persevered for a remarkable 15 years, sharing their sonic revelations with anyone willing to lend an ear. Black Rainbow, their enduring masterpiece, resonates with the same vitality it possessed upon its release. Channeling the manic energy of Minneapolis' Hammerhead and infusing it with the economical precision reminiscent of Wire at their most vitriolic, 400 Blows carved a unique path. Poetic and occasionally philosophical, they stood as art house outsiders alongside kindred spirits like US Maple and The Blood Brothers. Released two decades ago in 2003, this double LP, their second offering, marked a pivotal moment. To put in Kubrickian terms, if their debut was the cave-dwelling dawn-of-man era, Black Rainbow is the epoch when they harnessed the bone as a tool, evolved and propelled it into the metaphorical cosmos. This is when they figured out who and what they were and let it rip."
Black Rainbow was originally mastered by John Golden and remastered in 2023 by Arik Victor.
More than a wonderful relic of a bygone time, Black Rainbow is a slab of music with clear connections to the present day. In hindsight, 400 Blows helped provide a foundation from which today's aggro-intelligentsia could spring, its combination of skeletal minimalism, tooth-cracking intensity, raw tones, and dark humor echoed by many bands of the now, from Uniform to Pissed Jeans.
Lineup:
Skot Alexander - vocals
Christian Moreno - guitar
Ferdinand Cudia - drums
Tracklist:
1) The Root Of Our Nature
2) The World's Largest Miniature
3) The Long Wait For Nothing
4) A Man of Many Words
5) The Wrong Song
6) The Shipwrecked Sailor
7) Thinking of You
8) Black Rainbow
9) The Gods Are Laughing At Us
10) The Kids Are Not At Home
11) The Bards Must Drink And Junket
12) The Ugly Are So Beautiful
13) Everyone is Silent
14) Mortar And Pestle
15) Premature Burial
16) The Bull That Killed the Matador
Discography:
3.19.98 (Total Annihilation, 1999)
Black Rainbow (Rehash Records, 2003)
The Sore Thumb EP (Gold Standard Laboratories, 2005)
Angel's Trumpets and Devil's Trombones (Gold Standard Laboratories, Narnack Records, 2005)
The Average Guy (Buddyhead Records, 2006)
Sickness and Health (ORG Music, 2011)
Photo by Toni Wells
Originally released in 2003 and consisting of 16 blistering tracks, 400 Blows' Black Rainbow put forth a vision of noise rock that bridged the gap between the Amphetamine Reptile heyday of the '90s and the fresh, exploratory scene of heaviness emerging in the early '00s, as exemplified by bands like The Locust. In the years that followed, 400 Blows would tour voraciously and release music on the coolest labels of that time, including Gold Standard Laboratories and Buddyhead, but Black Rainbow is where the young Los Angeles band first found its voice.
The music video for Black Rainbow's opening track, "The Root of Our Nature," shows the black-uniformed trio in peak form: vocalist Skot Alexander clad in iconic leather gloves and shades, howling with existential dread and snotty irreverence all at once, with drummer Fernando Cudia and guitarist Christian Moreno grinding out the song's machinelike parts, completely immersed in the mission.
A statement from Reptilian Records proclaims: "In the depths of the underground music scene, 400 Blows emerged as a phantom-like trio, armed with a guitar, drums, and vocals, carving their niche in the caustic melting pot of noise rock. The band persevered for a remarkable 15 years, sharing their sonic revelations with anyone willing to lend an ear. Black Rainbow, their enduring masterpiece, resonates with the same vitality it possessed upon its release. Channeling the manic energy of Minneapolis' Hammerhead and infusing it with the economical precision reminiscent of Wire at their most vitriolic, 400 Blows carved a unique path. Poetic and occasionally philosophical, they stood as art house outsiders alongside kindred spirits like US Maple and The Blood Brothers. Released two decades ago in 2003, this double LP, their second offering, marked a pivotal moment. To put in Kubrickian terms, if their debut was the cave-dwelling dawn-of-man era, Black Rainbow is the epoch when they harnessed the bone as a tool, evolved and propelled it into the metaphorical cosmos. This is when they figured out who and what they were and let it rip."
Black Rainbow was originally mastered by John Golden and remastered in 2023 by Arik Victor.
More than a wonderful relic of a bygone time, Black Rainbow is a slab of music with clear connections to the present day. In hindsight, 400 Blows helped provide a foundation from which today's aggro-intelligentsia could spring, its combination of skeletal minimalism, tooth-cracking intensity, raw tones, and dark humor echoed by many bands of the now, from Uniform to Pissed Jeans.
Lineup:
Skot Alexander - vocals
Christian Moreno - guitar
Ferdinand Cudia - drums
Tracklist:
1) The Root Of Our Nature
2) The World's Largest Miniature
3) The Long Wait For Nothing
4) A Man of Many Words
5) The Wrong Song
6) The Shipwrecked Sailor
7) Thinking of You
8) Black Rainbow
9) The Gods Are Laughing At Us
10) The Kids Are Not At Home
11) The Bards Must Drink And Junket
12) The Ugly Are So Beautiful
13) Everyone is Silent
14) Mortar And Pestle
15) Premature Burial
16) The Bull That Killed the Matador
Discography:
3.19.98 (Total Annihilation, 1999)
Black Rainbow (Rehash Records, 2003)
The Sore Thumb EP (Gold Standard Laboratories, 2005)
Angel's Trumpets and Devil's Trombones (Gold Standard Laboratories, Narnack Records, 2005)
The Average Guy (Buddyhead Records, 2006)
Sickness and Health (ORG Music, 2011)
Photo by Toni Wells
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