LIVE JOURNAL
JezebelMusic.com @ Cameo Gallery
July 7, 2009 | Das Racist, Spanish Prisoners, Soft Black

photo by Jeffrey Lenowitz

Sunday night’s show at Cameo Gallery, featuring Soft Black and Das Racist, placed me in Williamsburg during the first true weekend of summer. Brooklynites were swarming on Bedford Avenue, thick with the smell of charcoal and beer. I was reluctant to leave the sunlight for the cement austere of Cameo’s space, but I had primarily come to see if Das Racist was all they are – or aren’t – hyped up to be. Yes, that Das Racist: the geniuses and jackasses behind the noxiously infectious “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” (Admittedly, I also came for the happy hour $5 PBR/Bourbon shot combo).

The night kicked off with Soft Black, a Brooklyn-based trio whose opening two numbers reminded me of what an unearthed mix-tape of early Kings of Leon might sound like – a wavering trip of self-discovery that can’t decide if the vocals or the music are driving.  From then on, the boys completely off-roaded, one moment channeling the rolling guitars of early America, the next moment throwing the words “I’m an animal” violently into the microphone. Like most bands in their infancy, Soft Black is in the throes of a musical identity crisis, but at least they play with enough energy to make you believe they could find their way eventually.
More on Das Racist, Spanish Prisoners, Soft Black @ Cameo Gallery | 7.12.09