tarot cards. nirvana. the occult. nightmares. werewolves. hanging out with friends. neapolitans. freaky people. the cheebah. 13th floor. some whack ass poetry. the underground. rock and roll.
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SOFT BLACK "The Earth is Black". (LP/CD)
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"New York folk band writes stormy songs based on frontman Vincent Cacchione’s nightmares, imagining a kind of bizarro-world Neil Young with less polish and more paranoia. Listen if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Edward Gorey was a songwriter instead of a cartoonist. The loping “Ashtray Christ,” where Cacchione drawls out dark visions over a galloping beat while a lonely slide guitar moans occasionally from the shadows."
Rolling Stone
"I don't always remember the narratives of my dreams," Cacchione tells CMJ. "Most of the time there are isolated images that stick with me. The nightmare that inspired the title song, ‘The Earth Is Black,’ began as I awakened alone at my mother's apartment in Hawthorne, New Jersey. A strange red glow drew me outside where I appeared to be the only living creature to stand witness. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed that the street was piled high with pale lifeless bodies. In the moment of terror that followed, my eyes were drawn to the sky where all of the blood from the corpses had condensed into massive red clouds. I woke up from the dream and had the song finished in ten minutes.”
As a lyrical cycle, according to Cacchione, "the pivotal moment of creating this record happened after a bout of intense paranoia where I became convinced a[n occult-dabbling lover and] former member of Soft Black had been performing black magic curses on me. I wrote the song ‘Did You Put A Spell On Me?’ and realized that I had a concept to work around." Though its conception may have been dark, Cacchione still insists that the record is still "pretty fun to listen to."
CMJ
"I am An Animal" is a gruff, primitive rock song that appeals to the carnivore and caveman within you; it's seductive in its gritty imperfection. Over DIY garage band riffs, Soft Black's Vincent Cacchoine howls and spits, "If I break my back; if the smoke fills up my lungs; I'll be howling in a jungle choir," and then continues on a punked-out rant about blood and carcasses. Meanwhile, the electric guitar sporadically grunts and groins, like breaks that need oil, before splaying into a cymbal-clashing, guitar-riffing chorus.
rcrdlbl.com
Soft Black, the NY folk-rock band led by singer/songwriter Vincent Cacchione, is getting ready to release The Earth Is Black, the follow up to their 2007 debut Blue Gold. I dug much of Blue Gold, especially “Pearl With No String”, so I have been looking forward to a new album from the band for a while. But what was sent to me last week was something utterly unexpected. I have no qualms saying, halfway through January, that this album will rank high among my end-of-year favorites. I know that that might seem like meaningless hyperbole coming from just another music blogger who embraces the innocuous pastime of ranking everything he hears. But seriously, not this time.
I’ve never been so excited to share music from a local NY artist as I am this record. The Earth Is Black doesn’t play a bum note. It’s a strikingly personal album from an artist with something to say - in this case dealing with the effects of deep fear, religious doubt, and sleep deprivation stemming from an endless series of nightmares. “It seems pretty limiting to refer to a record as a strict concept," says Cacchione, "but at the same time its inaccurate to avoid that tag when your dealing with songs that grew from a similar patch of creative soil."
That thematic unity is made even more interesting because Cacchione surrounds his words and melodies with a crackin’ band that’s equally capable of anthemic glam-folk (“I Am An Animal”), Ray Davies-like shuffles (“Time Gets Away And Has Its Way With You”), and propulsive folk-rock sing-alongs (“The Lions”, “The Earth Is Black”). It’s all brought home by the album’s cathartic finale, “Night Terrors”, whose slow-building tension is relieved only by the vulnerability in the vocals. The Earth Is Black is, quite simply, a great rock and roll record. Vincent, I think your luck is about to change.
Pop Headwound
The second record from Brooklyn's Soft Black, The Earth Is Black, was allegedly inspired by a series of dreams (well, nightmares) that principal songwriter Vincent Cacchione had before setting out to record the disc. At once filled with paranoia, sorrow and tribal beats and yet, at the very same moment, a sort of cathartic glee running throughout, the results of this, a year-long recording process, are the sort of folksy, despair-filled laments that we can't stop playing.
thecultureofme.com
It takes a lot of guts to stand up to your greatest subconscious fears and bring them to life through music and Soft Black has done just that. The album is full of dark and brooding rock/pop with Soft Black’s ever-changing sound.
Knox Road
Soft Black is the brainchild of local singer/songwriter Vincent Cacchione, whose own personal catharsis from a series of nightmares that kept plaguing him involved….therapy? Nah. Ambien? Nope. How about writing and recording a bunch of songs about it over the span of a year? Now that’s more like it. The resulting album - The Earth Is Black is an immensely satisfying throwback folk (but not folk)-rock listen, alternating between fist-pumping anthems like “I Am An Animal” and catchy campfire slow jams like “Time Gets Away And Has Its Way With You”. Sorry Vince, but your nightmares are everyone else’s gain.
earfarm.com
A noirish take on 60s-psych rock, where waning vocals and warbling guitars hover under a blanket of reverb.
The L Magazine
Soft Black are starting to get some attention. Their new album, The Earth is Black (and Other Apocalyptic Lullabies for Children), has some good songs on it.
Hey, guys--great set last night. It was fun sharing a bill with you, and we hope to do it again! Next time we'll make the trek in the van down to NYC--hopefully with no coathanger/muffler incidents on the way...
thanks again for making the trip to CT--we hope you had fun! John from Closely Watched Trains
Nice tunes in here!! Thank you for accepting our friend request!! Really appreciate it. Wish you an awesome tuesday! Very best regards from Merlin’s Company!
“Beware of the armadilloes whose dark shadows sweeps the streets”
Hello, Just to tell you Dan Costello made a cover of one of your songs last time he played in Lyon in France. I really enjoyed it! all the best Nathalie
your profile pic now spooks me every time i sign in.
also, last night i was in cakeshop and saw a soft black sticker on the mirror. someone has graffiti-ed 'LIGHTNING CRABS' over the two mountain-eye things. interesting... interpretation?
Are you guys still alive? I heard your van was devoured by a swarm of gypsies who tore it apart looking for their lost frying pan, and you had to steal a wagon and tie a pegasus to it to fly home.
Hello, how you doing? Thanks for the friendship, come over and have a listen to some of our rough tunage, let us know what you think, regards Conductors x
tarot cards. nirvana. the occult. nightmares. werewolves. hanging out with friends. neapolitans. freaky people. the cheebah. 13th floor. some whack ass poetry. the underground. rock and roll. 
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