Pinkish Black - Bottom of the Morning

Pinkish Black are unique duo that don’t easily fit into categorization. Their music consists of Daron Beck on vocals/keyboards and John Teague on drums/synths. Bottom of the Morning is their third release overall and first for Relapse Records – also home to space rockers Zombi, with whom they share a kinship in regards to the morbid atmosphere of their compositions.

Unfortunately Pinkish Black was born out of a personal tragedy of which I’ll not mention here, with a genuine sadness permeating the material. Their signature sound comes from Beck and Teague’s use of low piano notes and distorted synth fuzz tones handling the bass register while swirling phased chords and spooky sci-fi solo effects form the lead melodies.

Beck’s vocals are classic goth croon in the tradition of Ian Curtis, while John Teague’s drumming is very jazzy and fluid, quietly providing the bedrock for the synths without ever sounding overpowering. Musically, Bottom of the Morning is a direct continuation of 2012 ‘s Razed to the Ground, albeit with a slightly more melodic doom/psychedelic vibe. The record tackles challenging topics such as depression, banality of modern life, and mankind’s continued decline as we enter a dark new era.

Despite the dour subject matter, there is a certain peace to be found in the material, as if Pinkish Black are using their music to purge negative energy – the result of which is some of the heaviest and most thrilling combinations of post-punk, psych-garage, and minimal wave I’ve heard in years. There are hints of Goblin and Swans throughout, but the abrasiveness of the fuzzed out synthesizer in each track harkens more to the early primal sounds of late ‘70s industrial.

Bottom of the Morning is a dark tour-de-force recommended for fans of Type O Negative, Joy Division, early Cabaret Voltaire/Chrome, as well as fans of brooding horror synth film scores, which are currently in vogue. However, Pinkish Black deserves to be recognized for forging their own personal sound in an era of carbon copy genre trappings.