The Black Angels - Passover’ 20th Anniversary Edition The Black Angels

The best music reflects a wide-screen view of the world back at us, helping distill the universal into something far more personal. Since forming in Austin, TX in 2004, The Black Angels have become standard-bearers for modern psych-rock that does exactly that.

Taking their name from the classic Velvet Underground tune “The Black Angel’s Death Song,” these Angels are far more than classic revisionists with extensive record collections. This is heavy-duty psychedelic rock with an incessant primitive beat that echoes the spirit of the 13th Floor Elevators, Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, and Arthur Lee.

Their densely-layered songs feature acid-infused finger-painting guitar and the melodic incantations of lead singer Alex Maas navigating guitar/bass labyrinths. The music is martial-drummed into apocalyptic bliss by garage-punk goddess Stephanie Bailey. The Black Angels ring real and rugged like a crimson full moonlit night. “The Velvet Underground song ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ – that’s what every Black Angels album has been about,” says Maas. “You can’t work out your struggles unless you bring them to the forefront and think about them. If we can all think about them, maybe we can help save ourselves.”