Black Elk performs aggro-post-punk/noise-rock for you and me.

Post-this, post-that, hyphenate, forward slash..... Whatever. Black Elk equals The Jesus Lizard plus Season To Risk plus Helmet, plus a whole lot of other really good bands from a long time ago. Think Touch And Go and Amphetamine Reptile circa 1992. Those were the two dominating record labels for outcast post-"stuff" and overall sonic weighty weirdness in the age of Pearl Jam's Ten. Always A Six... carries a faint stench of the farther aforementioned, but not the full-on stink, and that ends up being kind of a snag. They can bring the ruckus, no doubt, but I'm gonna push for more 2006 self-titled Black Elk styles and the loose ends of that heavier adolescent Helmet influence; the jagged Elk with the sole purpose of rubbing up alongside of something with its jagged self. Now, BE is less about metallics, and more about crush-grooving; a layered dirty stomp occasionally psyched out. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but check this out: when it's not working, it's still working, and that's not a bad work ethic. I'm finding their lackluster back-and-forthness something to get genuinely excited about. All of the square-peg-in-a-round-hole pushing on this second album is the sound of BE making a kickass third album. Here's to it.

Crucial Blast Records is a new score for me and is proving to be quality. If they're putting stock in the Elk, then something is amuck. Stay tuned.