DRB Nominated at the Pure Rawk Awards 2012
David R Black have been shortlisted in two categories at the Pure Rawk Awards 2012. please show your support by voting for us in the “album of the year” and “bassist of the year” categories. We worked hard on the Secret City album and it has been getting great reviews, so if you agree it should get the recognition it deserves then show your support, vote now and spread the word, get everyone you know you vote! Also, our very own Sarit Black has been doing the rounds, getting featured on Bass Players United and in Bass Guitar Magazine, so we’re pleased to see her nominated for bassist of the year.
All the support you can continue to give us would be very much appreciated! Thanks x x x
News and stuffz
Thanks for everyone’s support at the last lot of gigs and to the support bands too. That’s it for gigs for 2011 now but we’re already putting shows in place for the final leg of the Secret City tour in the Spring and hoping to shoot a video for another track off the Secret City album in the forthcoming weeks. Also coming soon is the ‘Inside Secret City’ DVD, which looks into behind the scenes footage and interviews about the making of the album!
In other news, check out this months Bass Guitar Magazine as our very own Ms Sarit Black was interviewed for them in the ‘Basically Speaking’ section, issue 73 (Les Claypool on cover)!
‘I Review’ Album Review for Secret City
This review is a good one for those of you who maybe be new to this site and who haven’t yet heard our music….
I REVIEW ROCK
Album Review
With a constant bass riff throughout, the ethereal ‘Chimes’ sets the scene perfectly for this varied, fast, slow, melodic, atmospheric third album for the Manchester three piece that is ‘David R Black’.
The guitar riff opening of track two, ‘Dark Side Of Her’, leads the listener down the classic rock avenue of the bands secret city. Archetypal rock vocals meld perfectly with the almost metal feel.
‘Saturn Returns’ slows the pace right down with its calm vocals and relaxed pace, yet still packs a punch.
Rocking things up again is ‘Pictures’, with its Nirvana meets The Undertones vibe. A catchy, dark tune.
‘Guacamole’ picks up the punk rock baton dropped by ‘Pictures’ and runs with it. Fast paced, in your face, rock with attitude. I imagine this adrenaline fuelled song goes down a storm live.
‘Crawl’ is a slow verse, fast chorus powerhouse of a song, while the title track ‘Secret City’ is a dark blockbuster that sucks you in and spits you out covered in raw emotion.
Track eight, ‘One Saving Grace’ is an energetic three and a half minutes of rhythmic, raw guitar based sound.
‘Take It All’ continues with the raw guitar sound and also lays claim to the chorus on the album that will be screamed back at the band when this is played live.
‘Another Day’ is the albums ballad and proves what great harmonies the band can achieve. A beautifully written, performed song with an immense sound.
The CD only bonus song and lead video from the album ‘Ezra’, is a very Yes inspired melodic rock song that just builds and builds. A great song that will be the one you play to introduce people to the band.
Overall ‘Secret City’ is an eclectic mix of relaxing and energetic songs. Punk meets pop meets rock meets indie. That mix works really well and gives the album a dark emotive edge.
BIG CHEESE – Secret City Review
BIG CHEESE
Album Review
Dark, edgy and energetic rock. These Manchester natives explore the powerful and
dark side of rock. Combining female and male vocals, the complex album explores the
common yet often difficult concepts of love and loss as well as hope and despair.
The deep emotion and sadness in ‘Saturn Returns’ can be heard through the lyrics,
but also it can be felt through the sweet guitar chords and thick bass line. The
title track explores the feel of uncertainty with its mellow melodies and raw
lyrics. The record represents the dark emotional side of rock but still has enough
energy to keep rockers interested. Fans of HIM should check them out.
Emily Haider
Rocksound review for Secret City
With the amalgamation of band member names explaining the rather confusing moniker – David R Black isn’t an acoustic troubadour or soulful crooner as their name perhaps suggests – they’re a three-piece rock band from Manchester. With a sound that runs the musical gamete from grungy garage-rock through frantic, angular riffing and strung out space-rock, the band have created a real blend of muck and majesty on ‘Secret City’. It’s skuzzy on the surface, but with the heart to uplift. ‘Dark side of Her’ and ‘Guacamole’ stand out but this is an overall enjoyable record as a whole.
For fans of: Nirvana, The Subways, Queens of the Stone Age
Reviewed by Chris Hidden
[6]
Classic Rock – album review for Secret City
Black on the street again
Operating just under the radar for nine-odd years now, it would be fair comment to suggest that this Manchester three-piece’s boat has sailed. Luckily however, one truism in the music industry is that when it comes to prediction, no-one knows shit. Operating predominantly within a scuffed and angular indie alt-rock framework they’re also eminently capable of shifting gears into sneering pop-punk (Guacamole), moving acoustic anthems (Another Day) and insistent instant classics (Ezra). Singer David R (the titular surname provided by female bassist Sarit Black) possesses a wonderfully tremulous boyish lilt – somewhere between Fergal Sharkey and Perry Farrell – and also has the latter’s winning knack with infectious nursery rhyme vocals; best demonstrated here on the Warrior Soul-esque opener Chimes. Occasionally the overall effect is a tad Camden Britrock circa ’98, but such is the strength and depth on offer, maybe their time is now! 7/10
Reviewed by Tim Batcup
Review from Uber Rock!
Manchester trio David R Black are back with their third album, ‘Secret City’, which promises to be a look at “the human condition, tackling life’s perpetual themes – love, loss, hope and despair”.
The album kicks off with almost Pearl Jam like ambience, and with Joe Gibb (notable for his work with bands like Jane’s Addiction and Funeral For A Friend) at the helm as producer it’s not surprising that one of the first things that grabs you with this track is the prevalent bass, and this sticks as the forefront instrument throughout the track, which has an air of Stone Roses style psychedelia and “airiness” punctuated with bursts of speed which brings to mind American alt. rockers Live in the seamless transition from a relaxed, ambient vibe to sudden alt. rock outbursts.
‘Dark Side Of Her’ moves away from the opening track’s established ambience for more Classic Rock riffing, though the pace doesn’t jump up so much that it completely throws away the relaxed and subdued melodic edge that the album has thus showed, instead opting for something which is fast enough to get the foot tapping away but not so fast that it breaks the hold that opening track ‘Chimes’ has over you. ‘Saturn Returns’ once again moves to a more relaxed pace, building up further atmosphere with harmonious sounding backing music with gentle vocals to once again suck you in to listening, and with the punctuating rock that is mixed into the track there isn’t the worry that the track will simply fade into background noise if you have it playing whilst on the go.
In what is becoming a recurrent pattern to the album we once again move to more standard rock fare with ‘Pictures’, and though the track doesn’t boast as catchy hooks as other alt. rock bands, its appeal may lie just in that – the track is no frills and no pop-tinkering rock, meaning it can be sung along to at your heart’s content without having to worry about being too commercial or soulless, à la Nickleback. The pace picks up with the aptly titled ‘Guacamole’ showing off a spicier side to the band, speeding things up which will please anybody who is hankering for something on the album which promises to be more energetic and sweat inducing.
The album then drops back to ‘Pictures’ pace for the two following tracks, ‘Crawl’ and the eponymous ‘Secret City’ offering up further servings of relaxed yet rocky musical manoeuvring, building to energetic tracks in the form of ‘One Saving Grace’, and ‘Take It All’ which show off a bouncier rhythm than has previously been shown on the album and definitely have potential to be live favourites with their more traditional pacing and simplistic yet sing-along-once-you’ve-got-the-gist choruses.
For those who have downloaded the album on ITunes or one of the other sites that are hosting the album (Amazon, Napster etc.) in its digital format the album closes with ‘Another Day’, the dreaded alt. rock ballad, and though it is now a cliché for albums of this genre to feature at least one (and usually more) ballad which panders to the acoustic format, ‘Another Day’ has enough soul to hold the song up, and wraps the album up nicely giving it full closure, reconciling the harmonious side of the band with their Alt. Rock leanings.
For those who have bought the album and stuck their fingers up to the notion of the death of the CD, we are treated to one last additional track – leading single ‘Ezra’ which has a tad of more melodic Stiff Little Fingers to it (think ‘Harp’), right down to the build up to points where the track bursts out into full rock mode, before dropping back to the melodic for verses.
Overall ‘Secret City’ boasts an enticing mix of relaxing and energetic tracks, all provided with a sense of melody and flavour which retains the band’s influencing groups, such as the Pixies and Husker Du, without falling into the trap of becoming Americanised and therefore losing the edge that comes from their surroundings. As I mentioned previously the album promises to keep you hooked from the go, and the fact it is an album totally comprised of songs which compliment each other perfectly, actually helps to distinguish it from other, lesser albums. Albums, which look to just create a bunch of singles and then cram it with filler material in-between. What you have here is an enjoyable and distinctly human output from the Manchester trio, which will provide an enjoyable, atmospheric soundtrack to the latter parts of 2011.
Review by Rich Hobson
Album Review from Street Voice…
STREET VOICE
Album Review
Wow! This album has been two years in the making and it’s been well worth the wait.
When I was promoting gigs this three-piece alternative rock band should have been
one of the first bands on the list. What I love about David R Black is their ability
to write great songs and ‘Secret City’ confirms this. OK so the music has gotten
darker but going down this route has seen the band excel. The eleven tracks on here
are all worthy of listen. The opening number ‘Chimes’ starts the party off and in my
opinion is one of the best tracks on this release. Then there’s ‘Saturn Returns’,
‘One Saving Grace’ and ‘Another Day’. Sheer brilliance when you consider there’s
only three members in this band. The haunting vocals from Ms Sarit Black really do
it for me. Everything you could possible want from an independent album is here so
make sure you give this eleven track album a listen! 9/10
Press release: ‘Secret City’ album re-release on September 5 2011
“This Mancunian three-piece hone a unique combination of Undertones, Husker Du and Pixies influences. The statuesque, pop-tastic melodies, mature introspection and Who-esque riffs are simply intoxicating.” – CLASSIC ROCK
UK art-rockers DAVID R BLACK are set to release their eagerly anticipated new album ‘Secret City’ on September 5th; accompanied by an awesome new video to lead track ‘Ezra’ (check it out on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Dl5y6er04)
Recorded at Mighty Atom Studios with producer Joe Gibb (Funeral For A Friend, Jane’s Addiction, Madonna) ‘Secret City’ is a darkly complex album which chronicles the human condition, tackling life’s perpetual themes – love, loss, hope and despair.
The Manchester trio’s raw, edgy sound has won them a dedicated fanbase and their renowned live reputation has been garnered by gigging extensively, and almost continuously, throughout the UK, Europe and the US, playing with the likes of Three Colours Red, Blackstone Cherry, New Model Army, Living Colour, The Tubes, Spin Doctors, Elbow, Fishbone, Breed 77, The Mission and more.
If you like your rock dark, emotive and adrenaline-fuelled then DAVID R BLACK is the band for you!!
With a full UK tour lined up for September and October, co-headlining with fellow rockers Panic Room, you too can get in on the action! Catch them at one of the following:
August
Mon 29th (Bank Holiday) – BURY Elizabethan Suite (Glaston-BURY festival, all proceeds rasied go to to Bury Hospice)
September
Fri 2nd – GLASGOW Cathouse
Sun 3rd – NEWCASTLE Cluny
Fri 9th – YORK Fibbers
Sat 10th – ROTHERHAM The Wesley Centre
Sun 11th – MANCHESTER Ruby Lounge
Thurs 15th – POOLE Mr Kyps
Sat 17th – BISHOPS STORTFORD Half Moon
Sun 18th – LONDON The Borderline
Thurs 22nd – CARDIFF The Globe
Fri 23rd – SWANSEA The Garage
Fri 30th – ST HELEN’S The Citadel
October
Sat 1st – CUMBRIA Carnegie Theatre
Sun 2nd – EDINBURGH The Caves
Fri 7th – LEICESTER The Musician
Sat 8th – BIRMINGHAM Asylum 2
Sun 9th – SHEFFIELD Corporation
November
Fri 18th – BIRKENHEAD Revolver
“raw, edgy, energetic guitar music….the power to impress without the aid of gimmicks or a six-figure marketing plan” – ROCKSOUND
“ready to add a ream of new cuttings to a scrapbook already brimming with critical praise” – METAL HAMMER
For gig details click here or visit www.ents24.com for venue and ticket information.
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1000 Watt Recordings
Secret City