"Due to my strong
personal convictions,
I wish to stress that
this film in no way
endorses a belief
in the occult."
this film in no way
endorses a belief
in the occult."
- Michael Jackson's
intro to Thriller
intro to Thriller
"Due to my personal convictions
(for littering, loitering and jay-
walking), I wish to stress that
this post in no way endorses
Satan worship, evil-doing or
premarital hand holding."
-- Shady Del Knight
(for littering, loitering and jay-
walking), I wish to stress that
this post in no way endorses
Satan worship, evil-doing or
premarital hand holding."
-- Shady Del Knight
Old gold doo-wop is fine and dandy...
but I reserve the right to rock,
and a few times a year
I do just that.
With Halloween upon us, I am proud to prevent present
Black Road, a Chicago based female-fronted
Stoner Doom/Fuzz quartet. Along with
raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...
stoner rock, sludge and doom metal
stoner rock, sludge and doom metal
are a few of my favorite things.
Black Road formed in 2015. Band members admit they were born too late.
Their style is influenced by metal, rock, heavy blues and psych sounds of yesteryear.
Black Road's lead zinger and songwriter is a witchy woman named Suzi Uzi.
Suzi reminds me an awful lot of Shirley Temple.
Okay, time has come for you to loosen your tie and take a walk on the dark side.
Step right this way and let the cool and fuzzy feeling of stoner doom engulf you.
Follow the bloody Black Road!
Follow the bloody Black Road,
follow the bloody Black Road,
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
follow the bloody Black Road!
"Bloody Mary" - Black Road
(June 2017, from their debut
self-titled EP Black Road)
From their 2017 debut self-titled EP, that was Black Road
with"Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows" "Bloody Mary."
with
How about this uplifting ditty from beauty Suzi Uzi and her beasts?
From their 2019 album Witch Of The Future, here's "End Of Man."
"End Of Man" - Black Road
(from 2019 album Witch Of The Future)
Next another song from Back Road's latest album Lawrence Welk's Polka Favorites
Witch Of The Future. You'll feel mmm mmm good as Suzi sings "Blood On The Blade!"
"Blood On The Blade" - Black Road
(from 2019 album Witch Of The Future)
The guys and a gal from Black Road hash things out on the song "Hash King."
"Hash King" - Black Road
(from 2019 album Witch Of The Future)
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
I hope you enjoyed these easy listening
toe-tappers brought to you by SATAN
finest-- Black Road.
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
Here they are, Black Road, back for one last stab at it,
playing us off with their instrumental "Purgatory."
Now this is Shady Del Knight saying have a
Shady day and wishing you a
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
"Purgatory" - Black Road
(from 2019 album Witch Of The Future)
Your intro was hilarious!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a retro sound. Some of Rob Zombie's music has that sound, although much faster and harder.
Hi, Alex!
DeleteThanks for coming over to claim the early bird title again this week, good buddy!
I'm glad you got a kick out of Shady Del Knight's intro. Yes indeed. Suzi Uzi and her band Black Road have a retro sound and their videos look like they were shot in the late 60s or early 70s. Another genre band worth checking out is the English band Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yACaB6fzt_c
Thanks again for coming early, good buddy Alex!
I could listen it for a “little while” but after two songs, I would be heading for the aspirin bottle. Great theme for Halloween, though, Shady.
ReplyDeleteHi, Arleen!
DeleteHow are you, dear friend? Thanks for following the bloody Black Road, at least through a couple of songs. :) I'm sorry the musical offerings in Shady's post had you reaching for the Extra Strength Tylenol. :)
The sound of Black Road is music to my ears. It harks back to the exciting period in the late 60s when the AM top 40 radio format started to fade in popularity and FM stations rose to prominence playing harder and heavier album rock. Actually the sound of Black Road is tame and mellow compared to that of some of the metalcore bands I have presented.
Thanks for giving Black Road a try. I'm glad you appreciate the H-ween theme. Thanks again for visiting, dear friend Arleen. Stay safe, keep your spirits up and have a wonderful week!
This is the kind of music (much like my son's preferred "death metal", that I like best without vocals.
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween, Shady! 👻💀🎃
Hi, Kelly!
DeleteThanks for dropping in, dear friend! I was afraid you might be put off by my featured artists, the beauty and beasts of Black Road. Thank you for bravely showing up even if this style of music is more to your son's liking than yours. (I am willing to bet that my buddy Pat was dancing a jig as he listened to this band.) If you prefer this type of music w/o the lyrics, then listen to "Purgatory," the song Shady picked to close the show. As far as the Black Road songs that do have lyrics, I don't even know what Suzi is singing most of the time. Like many guys (in my experience), I dig the overall sound impact of a song more so than the lyrics. To my ears, all of these tracks are gems of the genre, highly melodic and listenable.
Thanks again for your visit and kind comment, dear friend Kelly!
Thank you for directing me to Purgatory, Shady (wait.... that didn't sound right!). As you rightly guessed, I didn't make it that far, so didn't realize what I was missing. I enjoyed that song very much!!
DeleteYou're welcome, Kelly. I'm very happy that you found a Black Road tune to enjoy. Thanks for returning to chat. It allows me to wish you a happy Halloween, something I neglected to do in my first reply.
DeleteTake care and have a great week, dear friend!
Powerful voice that young, somewhat-waifish-looking woman has. As for the rest of the band, I have to ask, if you just heard the music without the accompanying videos, would you have found this at all "satanic"? To my ears they sounded very, early 1970s FM, and I don't mean Alice Cooper. I think they would have made a great opening act for Pink Floyd!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kirk!
DeleteThanks for tuning in to The Bong Show, good buddy! :)
I was hoping somebody would make the point you made about Black Road, because I surely intended to. "If it doesn't shock, it isn't rock," and yet, unlike many rock and metal bands, these kids don't go out of their way to appear menacing. They are rather clean cut, a nice looking group of young musicians from Chicago. Suzi Uzi is pretty, nicely dressed, friendly and accessible. She reminds me of Susan Dey as Laurie in The Partridge Family. One guitar player looks like Dennis Hopper as Billy in Easy Rider, while the other looks like Johnny Rivers. Adopting the stage name Black Road, Suzi and the guys chose to perform dreamy stoner rock, doom metal and psychedelic electric heavy blues. Black Road is the real deal. They perform their style of music authentically, one of the best bands of the genre. They have a retro late 60s/early 70s FM radio sound and they are fun to watch. Apart from scenes of the band performing on stage, their conceptual videos resemble scenes ripped from low budget slasher horror films of the 70s. If you examine "Hash King" in particular, you will notice artifacts in the film stock, making it appear as if it was shot 50 years ago.
Thanks again for following the bloody Black Road through a set of their best songs, good buddy Kirk. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Hi Shady. Sorry to be late, but sometimes I just can't stop long enough to sample the wine, haha!
ReplyDeleteWell, this is a pretty good group. Ms Uzi has a sort of Grace Slick voice, but a little less harsh. She does throw in some growl from time to time. "Blood on The Blade" does showcase more of her vocal talent than any of the other songs, although I do like "Bloody Mary".
The band is very good, especially lead and bass guitar. "Hash King" is a very long song, and the lyrics don't really get me, but I love the guitar playing. My favorite of the entire lineup is "Purgatory". These guys really do get down with it, and they pull off different sounds that to me are timeless.
Easy-listening you say? This is a very different group. My mind can't really put a specific nail in this one. I do like the group, but could get a bit of a headache from watching Suzi flip her hair around so much...just kidding.
We are cold and rainy here, Shady. I don't mind the cold at all, but it has rained for 4 days now. I think it is scheduled to stop raining tomorrow.
Thank you for this eerie post, and have a safe Halloween dear friend!
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteI'm pleased to see you, dear friend! Thanks for coming over to catch the show as Shady introduces Black Road, a retro style Chicago based psychedelic heavy blues, stoner rock and doom metal band that recently won me over. Black Road takes us on a magic carpet ride back to the era of incense & peppermints, lava lamps, black lights and psychedelic posters. To my ears every song in this set is a greatest hit nugget, but my top favorite might just be "Hash King" with its tsunami like wave of sound and lovely Suzi Uzi mesmerizing the viewer with her hypnotic body language, hair tosses and gesticulation. I'm glad you mentioned Suzi's vocals being similar to those of young Grace Slick, because I was saving that comparison for my reply to your comment. Good ear! I agree that Suzi's vocals are a bit more refined and mellow. Black Road is a band that clearly has fun performing and making videos, and their attitude is infectious. The scenes in their nicely produced vids remind me of stuff in the TV series Grimm, the Blair Witch movie and numerous other films about witches and haunted houses that I watched in the 60s and 70s. When you listen to Black Road you might hear the influence of Eric Clapton and Cream, The Doors and Iron Butterfly. At least I do. While Suzi sounds like Grace Slick, she looks a little like Mia Farrow (with long hair) in Rosemary's Baby and Susan Dey of The Partridge Family, as I mentioned in another reply.
I'm thrilled that you liked "Purgatory," the instrumental piece Shady selected to close his show. I have subscribed to Black Road's YouTube channel and can't wait to see and hear what this exciting group comes up with in the future.
I wish we had some of your cold and rainy, dearie. Over on our side of the Gulf it's more of the same stifling heat and humidity that we've endured most of the year. I hope you and Scootie are having a great week and that you find a safe way to celebrate Halloween. Thanks again for joining the fun, dear friend Suzanne!
Happy Halloween Spooky Shady! Thanks for the home town group that brought back memories of the late 60s and 70s sounds. Not too bad even though I don't like the heavy metal thing. You always find the best sounds for this season. All treat no tricks! Jack would like this group! Have a fun weekend.. enjoy the full moon on Halloween..have some candy or hand out some candy but behave! Full Halloween moon can make you howl!
ReplyDeleteHi, YaYa!
DeleteThanks for bravely showing up to follow the Black Road, dear friend! I'm happy that you found some good things to write about this female fronted Stoner Doom band from your hometown Chicago. Black Road was formed in 2015. I found the following info on their Facebook page:
"Black Road is a DIY labor of love. Their musical influences are styles such as metal, rock, heavy blues, psychedelic rock, doom metal, jazz, funk, and folk. At a monumental time in musical history (where anything goes) Black Road takes full advantage by merging genres to create their unique sound of ROCK.. Inspired by all the greats which came before... we were simply born too late."
I stopped buying music three years ago but, if I were to resume, I think I'd start adding to my collection with Black Road's EP and album. If you listen to their music with an open mind and heart, the sound carries you away. I find it inspiring and comforting. I hope you will play this song set for Jack or Jack Jr or any other family member you think would enjoy music of this genre. Perhaps Arnie? :)
I noticed the full moon on the rise last night, setting the stage for a different type of Halloween observance in 2020. As a safety precaution, Mrs. Shady and I do not intend to open the door to trick-or-treaters this year, if the activity is even allowed, and we assume is isn't.
Thanks again for coming by, dear friend YaYa, and happy H-ween to you and your family!
Greetings again from Winterland, friend Shady. Sending love, cat.
ReplyDeleteLUBBINS LUBBINS LUBBINS, dear cat!
DeleteThanks for coming down to say hello and have a safe and happy Halloween, my special friend!
Sending love, c. https://youtu.be/vACo-AuE6KA
DeleteThanks, cat!
DeleteYou got me curious about the sad, hauntingly beautiful Billie Eilish song "Everything I Wanted," co-written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell. I did some reading about the song's meaning and then watched their self-produced music video. The song and the video leave an indelible mark.
Thanks for sharing something that matters to you, dear friend cat. I wish you and Theo a safe and happy weekend up there in the frozen north country!
Yes, Theo and I are still standing :) Wishing the same for you and your loved ones, friend Shady. https://youtu.be/M5ny5tMsxrs
DeleteHi again, dear cat!
DeleteI enjoyed watching that clip from the 2019 Elton John bio film Rocketman. Thanks for directing me to it, dear friend. It's good to know you and TT are still standing. :) Thanks again for your friendship and support (and LUBBINS), dear cat!
Happy Halloween even if a bit early. She must be Shirley Temple's reckless twin:) They are excellent even though I would not listen to this normally but I do appreciate the sound especially the guitar of that hippy dippy Woodstock guy. That gal has a great voice for this band as well and works well. Enjoy more music and maybe a good spooky movie or 2.
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteThanks for checking in and checking out the Black Road band, dear friend! I'm delighted that you like their sound. I don't usually listen to music of this genre either. When I do, however, and happen to come across a great band like this one, I thoroughly enjoy myself. The songs of Black Road carry me back to another place and time to one of the happiest and most exciting periods of my life, the late 60s and early 70s.
Yessum, that Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) lookalike guitar player is excellent. I'm glad you appreciate his virtuosity, and I also agree that the lithe and lovely Suzi Uzi has the ideal look, voice and body moves to perform this trance inducing material as the band's frontwoman.
Thanks again for your visit and kind comment, dear friend BB, and have a great Halloween up there in Canada!
Tom,
ReplyDeleteBlack Road has a bit of a throwback sound of the 70s. The mewsicians are pawwwsome. I'm undecided about the female vocalist, though. My favorite of these is the last all instrumental arrangement, Purgatory. I appreciated the introduction to this band. As you know this style of mewsic isn't my norm but I do love broadening my mewsic education. Have a songsational day and thanks for popping in for visits while I was away from Blogosphere, my friend. You rock!
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteSorry I didn't notice your comment until now, dear friend. Thank you for clicking back to this post and checking out the Black Road band. It strikes me that the instrumental "Purgatory" is favored by so many readers. As a red blooded male, I prefer videos that include the vocals of frontwoman Suzi Uzi. I like her look and her voice and her performances are bewitching.
I'm pleased to have you back to blogging, dear friend, and I'm glad you appreciated the introduction to Chicago's stoner/doom band Black Road. Thanks again for coming and have a wonderful week, Cathy!