CD
Ninja Tune (2021) EU
London’s ‘New Weird Britain’ paradigm-shifters Black Country, New Road practically over-exceed all expectations on their eagerly-awaited debut. For The First Time offers a perfect encapsulation of the group’s live electricity; bursts of raw post-punk energy, hints of Eastern European klezmer joyousness and an uncannily taut sense for tension in the vein of Slint and Gastr Del Sol. Their dizzyingly comprehensive sound — a whirlwind tour of countercultural genre amalgamations — pairs neatly with vocalist Isaac Wood’s frenzied poetics, liable to trembling across themes of identity and popular culture, as well as poking holes in the moth-eaten fabric of Britishness.