In late 2007, Rolling Stone named Wesleyan alumni duo Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, otherwise known as MGMT, as a top ten “Artist to Watch” the upcoming year. This Friday, the South African rock band BLK JKS (pronounced “Black Jacks”) is set to grace Eclectic, MGMT’s old “frat,” with their presence. Like MGMT, BLK JKS were recently dubbed a Rolling Stone “Artist to Watch” for the 2009 round.
Also like MGMT, BLK JKS’ exciting beginnings paint a picture of a band with a seemingly nonexistent creative ceiling due to the unique combinations of various elements that they bring to the table.
BLK JKS’ debut LP, “After Robots,” released on Sept. 8 by the indie label Secretly Canadian, is a relentless volume powered by psychedelic, guitar-driven rock infused with West African arrangements, elements of jazz, punk, and reggae. Its best moments occur when these parts are successfully united by the group’s most defining characteristic—its pervasive, uninhibited soulfulness. The result is an album that’s a high-flying, prodigious experience.
On the track “Lakeside” pentatonic hooks over a complex drum section lay the foundation for emotionally charged lyrics, which manage to toe a line between mournful and manic. The chorus consists of an unintelligible and utterly unrestrained falsetto, evocative of My Morning Jacket’s “Wordless Chorus,” over an upbeat major key climb-down akin to Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk.” Such similarities to notable U.S. bands have led many critics and bloggers to claim that the U.S. indie scene has heavily influenced the BLK JKS.
“You’ve heard of Brooklyn bands copping their sound from African music, but BLK JKS is a band from Johannesburg, South Africa that are clearly influenced by U.S. indie rock,” writes the blog musicforants.com.
While such an assumption is logical, it is inaccurate, according to singer Lindani Buthelezi.
“My main influence is actually my family,” Buthelezi stated in an interview with The Argus. “I grew up in a household full of singers… Also [I’ve been influenced by] different guitar styles from West Africa and Cameroon.”
Buthelezi also cited Prince, as well as South African pop singer Brenda Fassie, as influences, which may account for the band’s soulful overtones.
“[This Friday] will be exciting for us too because every show is different,” Buthelezi said. “Let’s get on the rainbow and see where it takes us. Hopefully we’ll find the riches that lie beyond. We’re in this together, as a collective. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, ya know?”
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