Algiers at Black Cat 3/12

BY TANVEER QURESHI//

After releasing their most recent record There Is No Year in January 2020, American experimental rock band Algiers will be headlining Black Cat on Thursday, March 12th. Consisting of four multi-instrumentalists and pulling from a variety of musical genres, the rising Atlantan band has been widely praised for their highly political and dystopian take on punk music.

Algiers began making music in 2012, choosing their name in reference to the capital of Algeria and also to the Algerian War, in which Algeria gained their independence from France. This set the tone for the band, as they began turning heads by releasing highly politicized music. They released their self-titled debut album in 2015 to immense critical praise, earning spots from the likes of Entertainment Weekly and Drowned in Sound for having one of the best albums of the year. They followed with their 2017 critically acclaimed sophomore album The Underside of Power, which featured production from Adrian Utley of Portishead.

Announced with a jaw-dropping politically charged spoken word song “Can the Sub_Bass Speak”, their newest release There Is No Year presents the same anti-establishment political messages which garnered much praise in the past. For example, in track “Dispossesion” the frontman sings “Run around, run away from your America, While it burns in the streets… Seen the sun coming over the horizon, straight across from the east”. At its core, There Is No Year is a reclamation of many of the same messages, calling for a political revolution and critique of the establishment. However, this record separates itself from previous albums in how it presents an astonishing sonical progression from previous works. The nuances in production evoke a sense of intimacy and tranquility within the dimensions of darkness and goth. This can be heard in the song “Chaka”, where Algiers effortlessly blend genres of disco and noise to ultimately present new possibilities for the future of post-punk music as a whole. There Is No Year is an exciting and thought-provoking project that will undoubtedly to translate beautifully to live performances.

Doors open at 7:30pm, and tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased here.

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