"Band: Blackouts
Album: History In Reverse
Label: K
In their ongoing project to dig up old Seattle bands that sounded like other, more successful bands, K Records has reissued an old early '80s sack of tunes by the Blackouts (or “Joy Division With A Saxophone”). Their cold wave, atmosphreicic badtime riffs will drive you to suicide and back, especially the memorable bass lines, churning drum attacks and Joy Division imitation. They were GOOD though! And the singer guy didn’t sound like Joy Divison so much; too pussy to sing low and commit self-murder like Ian Curtis, he instead wigged out all over town with falsettos, herk-jerks, flapjacks and hot doggery all his own. But musically, the dark angry bitter bass-heavy doom-laden drone-rock is totally Unknown Pleasures or Substance or whatever album you like by those jerks. If you think you know Seattle like the back of your hand, you’re WRONG buddy! I don’t see Mark Arm playing in THIS band!!! I don’t see Kurt Cobain’s headless gore-drenched torso singing in THIS band!!! I don’t see Layne Staley’s bloated corpse rotting in THIS band!!
Addendum (4 weeks later): What the hell? No wonder the damn rhythm section is so good – it’s Paul Barker and William Rieflin! Soon to be from Ministry! Christ, I really need to look these bands up before running my bigass mouth about them."