Earth Is Black... And Other Apocalyptic Lullabies For Children, The

Dark, kind of quirky pop rock. Alt-country, psych, folk, punk, and garage rock also get factored in. The vocals are dynamic- imagine Morrissey, Randy Newman, Jeff Mangum, and the guy from Against Me! in a punky blender. Vincent Cacchione wrote this record based off of his specific dreams and nightmares. There is a wide range of styles, so it is interesting, but some of the songs are not that great. It is definitely a genuine record and there is almost an element of lo-fi grit in here, which is likeable. FCCs on 5, 6, 8.

1. Jangly electric guitar, pop rock, repetitive vocals, some slide-guitar imitation, energetic. Somewhere in between The Strokes and … I don’t know – The Klaxons or some shit? (2:54)
2. Weird western/surfy feel to this one, tremelo distorted guitars. (2:46)
*3. This track is good. Pathos-infused garage rock anthem with straightforward rock instrumentation. Great minimalist bass line and drums. Think Against Me! (3:05)
4. Slower alt-country track, does not really go anywhere, just bobs along. Pleasant enough, xylophones, barroom piano. (3:13)
*5. Slower ballad, slide guitar, atmospheric, great vocal performance. Shame about two FCCs. (4:18)
6. A little Neil Young, kind of sloppy, more rockin’, more alt-country pedal steel. One FCC. (1:57)
7. Dreamy backing vocals, a little slower, glock in there, mellow, modest. (3:30)
8. Folk blues pop, huge FCC(3:04)
*9. Upbeat, delayed guitars, huge riffs, catchy alt-country rock; another strong vocal performance (kind of punky). Guitars sound great on this one. (3:53)
10. Slower, humming strings, about nightmares, predictable build to wailing, guitars, production is bad on this track. Fades out about 20 seconds early. (5:23)