The Black Box Revelation/ Silver Threats

AAA
The Black Box Revelation
Silver Threats
(T for Tunes)

For those of you who’ve always wondered what a Belgian garage rock band sounds like, the Black Box Revelation are the answers to your prayers. And what they sound like is, well, an American garage rock band. Or a British garage rock band. A totally adequate garage rock band.
If you grew up listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, you’ll have a soft spot for these guys. The album is very listenable, but also indistinguishable from another hundred bands out there. While Jan Paternoster’s vocals grew on me, it struck me that bands can’t get away with playing happy simple garage rock, unless they sound like they’re really enjoying themselves. It makes all the difference when a band don’t take themselves too seriously. When the BBR indulge themselves, it results in songs like the overly-long ‘Do I Know You?’ – a song that needs more to sustain it than a nice bassline and a derivative, half-arsed solo. They’re at their best when they give us some rocked up rock ‘n’ roll, like ‘5 o’ Clock Turn Back the Time’. Jangly tambourines make everything better. Don’t they?