Temporary Residence, Ltd. | There’s a lot of different kinds of music to love in San Diego’s The Black Heart Procession. A little of the Victorian-era, a bit of Voltaire (the musician, not the philosopher); even some of that keyboard could be the soundtrack to a carnival freak show, complete with Lynchian, calliope imagery that brings Merrick himself to mind. There’s a lot of the circus to BHP, too — they’re kind of the musical equivalent of Barnum and Bailey, with five extremely versatile musical stunt artists.
There’s also a lot of the blues in tracks like “Heaven and Hell,” though not in the traditional sense–more in the lulled, subtle high-hat-and-snare drums of Mario Rubalcala, the overlaying organ that might even recall The Animals. Their sound on songs like “Drugs” could be Tom Waits singing a dirge, while “Witching Stone” is as about as close to saccharine as a band like The Black Heart Procession Could Get. Their new LP, Six, could be exactly the right fix for listeners who are manic and meticulous in their musical preferences.
