If you’re reading this, chances are you already know what Black Moth Super Rainbow (BMSR) is all about — psychedelic, neon live-tronic indie beats at hip-hop tempos propped up with buzz-saw synths and trippy, vocoder lyricism. You’re probably also familiar with ringleader Tobacco’s greasier, self-titled side project, which leans bluesier and a little less poppy. And that, since 2012’s Cobra Juicy, BMSR has actually just been solo Tobacco, a more accessible outlet for him, but also without the rest of the full band. If that’s not the case, go check out all of Rad Cult’s catalog.
Now that you’re familiar with Thomas Fec’s collective: SeeFu Lilac’s batch of “outtakes for a 6th album that doesn’t exist yet” are basically a B-sides album. There aren’t really any powerhouse hits, be they cerebral and pretty, like BMSR’s “256 Colors” [LISTEN] and “Twin of Myself” [LISTEN], or funky and aggressive, like Tobacco’s “Streaker.” Some of it sounds like old BMSR, bordering on satanstompingcaterpillars/The Allegheny Whitefish Tapes era, some of it sounds more like Ultima II Massage, and most of it sounds like the two mixed together. As the owner of his own label, Fec was free to release what’s essentially an odds-and-ends collection of riffs.
With this freedom also came the ability to truly put the “experiment” back in “experimental.” The vocoder-and-saw-synth combo is one we’re used to, but Fec still tried some new stuff out. For instance, while we’ve seen Fec change the dynamic of a song by sampling itself at slower speeds (like the shift at 3:12 “Heavy Makeup”), the entire form of “Brotherhood of Sisters” hinges on several of these shifts.
Or on the sleeper standout track, closer “Warm Water Leviathan,” he takes a page out of the bible of math-rock, chopping the groove up just as you settle into the calming, catchy melodies. The dropped and added beats are achieved by simply folding the music digitally, skipping over or repeating short sections. Weirdly, it acts less as a source of tension meant for later release (as it usually does in math-rock), and only adds to the hypnotic vibe. Despite these skips, it begs for a binge of consecutive, repeated plays.
His label’s called “Rad Cult” for its radically rabid fanbase. So he’s free to change everything up like this, just like one of his characters on “Since You’ve Seen Her:”
Black Moth Super Rainbow - SeeFu Lilac Album
