The Black Sea [EP]

The Black Sea | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 21, 2002)
• Original Release Date: October 21, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Lovitt
• ASIN: B00006YZH2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #694,165 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

After Frodus broke up in December 1999, Jason Hamacher and Shelby Cinca began exploring different interests both musical and non-musical. Hamacher began world travel and Cinca started work on various visual and sound projects. After several months apart, they reunited under an unnamed project. They soon joined up with longtime Fugazi acquaintance Joe Lally, and the three practiced briefly before Hamacher set off on a three-month trip throughout Europe and Asia. Lally and Cinca wrote and recorded their musical concepts and sent them via email to Hamacher, who would listen to the MP3s and respond. The Black Sea, once a project, was now a band.

Due to Lally's limited schedule, he has taken on the aspect of songwriting while longtime friend Jason Wood has found time outside of Engine Down to devote to The Black Sea's live aspects. They plan on releasing a three-song EP in October and a full-length record on Lovitt Records in late winter or early spring 2003, both projects relying heavily on a beat-heavy, propulsive rhythm section and wandering, sparse vocals.

Most importantly, The Black Sea documents a small group of people and their artistic expression. They are comrades who have been united by the bonds of community, friendship, and creativity, whose separate meandering paths have joined in fertile collaboration. With an uncanny sense of songcraft, the four individuals comprising The Black Sea have undoubtedly succeeded in fashioning pieces of stark, chilling gravity.

Product Description

Though it's only three songs long, this debut from D.C. trio Black Sea is bound to make a mark. Given that there are moonlighting members of Frodus and Fugazi (another good name for a law firm), you'd be tempted to think these guys are just screwing around, but you'd be wrong. The first two songs are a dense collision between Shelby Cinca's harsh guitar claps and Joe Lally and Jason Hamacher's punk-funk rhythmic rock bass and drums in the Fugazi vein -- Lally's sharp bass runs are unmistakable -- plus Cinca's soaring vocals. It's like a mix of Sebadoh and a modern Dischord band. But the closing "Wingless Fire" is a meditative late-'60s solo acoustic and trippy vocal song that provides a total about-face. As a result, this EP is too short a sample to predict where they might go. But that's how any good story sucks you in, isn't it? ~ Jack Rabid, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An impressive debut, December 12, 2002

By 

L. Barnard (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Black Sea (Audio CD)

The Black Sea's debut EP, S/T, is a fantastic sampler of the band. Although the EP is short, only three songs, it speaks volumes for the talent of the band. The EP starts off with Ghost Lanterns, a rollicking rocker with a pounding beat and great bass work. Shelby Cinca's voice is soft, and yet conveys enormous power over the track, as well as the other two songs. Landscapes follows Ghost Lanterns and is more subdued and lyrically focused in nature. Once again, the rhythm section mixes perfectly with the guitar and vocals for an eery, somewhat psychedelic rocker. The final track, Wingless Fire, features fantastic acoustic guitar work and beautiful vocals with a somewhat Indian or Eastern feel to it.

All in all, a great EP, although a bit short. Very highly recommended.