Black Wine "Yell Boss" 12" LP (Don Giovanni)

Black Wine is a punk rock trio from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Black Wine unleash a punk/rock/pop sound that’s perfectly suited for banging and stomping with wild abandon. Or contemplating a Swedish existentialist novel. Black Wine is the supergroup Kim Deal and Bob Mould and Gene Hackman would form. The band’s line up consists of Jeff Schroeck on guitar, J Nixon on bass, Miranda Taylor on drums. They come from a long line of amazing Jersey bands including the Ergs!, Full of Fancy, and Hunchback. They draw on each of those bands. They sound like none of them. From the start the trio has forged ahead, always evolving, always engaging. Since forming in 2009, Black Wine has released four albums and a number of singles. Their latest release is Yell Boss (Don Giovanni.) The title comes from an episode of comedian Paul F. Tompkins’ podcast. The ten songs were recorded by Brian Buccellato at Volume IV in New Brunswick. All three members of Black Wine write. All three sing. They’re not led by one band member or another. They work as a whole. They practice a functional collectivism that would make political activists envious. Though you’ll never hear Black Wine amble on about their “process.” They’re too humble. They steer clear of the ego driven nonsense that sinks so many bands. Black Wine is a punk band in the wide sense. They’re critical thinkers who dig aggressive sounds. They appreciate a range of music but they are beholden to no specific genre. “No core” is their approach. Spend any of amount of time with their records and you’ll hear the approach of the best SST and Sub Pop bands. You’ll hear shards of Dinosaur Jr., the Meat Puppets, or the Screaming Trees. You’ll hear those influences—and more—but you’ll look past them in short order. Black Wine uses the rearview mirror but they’re dedicated to moving on. With Yell Boss Black Wine have made another start-to-finish gem. Yell Boss is dense with walls of towering guitars and a rhythm section that can rattle skyscrapers. And big hooks too. Yell Boss has a sound that would pop off the radio, and it’s all Black Wine. No auto tuning. No pitch shifting. - Mike Faloon