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BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL
(Record Collection)
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As their name suggests, Rolling Blackouts are a young LA band with an affinity for the Stones. If they were MTV darlings, they would be Jet — retro rockers whose interests lie in the garage as well as the arena. Rolling Blackouts may not care about the VMA, but they do mean business: their debut is on a trendy label that’s also home to the Walkmen, and it was produced by Dave Cooley of alt-radio one-hit wonders Citizen King. Purists be damned, this band’s professionalism shows up in all the right places: their tight arrangements, their tasteful between-song segues. Frontman Daniel Holden goes from yelp to croon on the exuberant "Up Up Up," and fellow guitarist Jarrod Stiles helps him achieve ragged glory throughout. The party peaks in the middle with the greasy "Troubled," then finishes strong with a pair of ballads; on the aching finale, "Without Shakin," Holden makes like Anthony Kiedis singing the Strokes’ "Under Control." With the garage-rock revival fighting to keep its grip on the mainstream, Rolling Blackouts are doing their part to prove that there’s bark behind the buzz. (Rolling Blackouts open for Fu Manchu this Friday, October 8, downstairs at the Middle East, 480 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; call 617-864-3278.)
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