Russell HughesBlack Mirrors – Funky Queen (Napalm Records)
Genre: Garage Rock
Belgium might not be the natural starting point when you think about a band like Black Mirrors, but the polyglot four-piece are proving that the language of rock music is universal.
The group are impeccably lead by lead singer Marcella Di Troia, whose voice has got more shades than a pack of colouring in pencils while Pierre Lateur on guitar and Gino Caponi on bass provide the perfect mix of growl and purr to compliment Di Troia.
Black Mirrors easily shift through the gears for their cover of Kick out the Jams as they remould it and make it their own through howling, slightly distorted guitar and sweatbox, high energy vocals.
It’s a complete contrast to eponymous EP opener Funky Queen, which is the best song on the record. This song is still energetic, but in a more relaxed manner – like the warning growl a lion might give before launching itself into the chase. The track also packs in an addictive chorus and at just over two minutes long leaves you just as you start wanting more.
The EP is short, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in substance. Each song is different and shows off a new side to the Belgian rockers. The Mess takes the pace down, but that only serves to highlight the skill of the band as Lateur’s crisp and incisive guitar work comes to the fore.
Black Mirrors have taken plenty of influences and applied them to their music, and shades of Jack White’s various bands comes through loud and clear in various stages of the EP – but none more than on the second half of the third song.
Canard Vengeur Masqué finishes off the EP in a more stripped back fashion that allows the band’s garage rock roots to flourish. Like all the group’s songs it has a soft exterior but a hard edge to it that threatens to explode at any moment.
This is a debut record that has plenty going for it in terms of substance and style. If a four-track EP can be this varied than the album should be an instant hit.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8/10 Black Mirrors, Gold Star
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