Release Date: Nov 8, 2011
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Record label: Third Man Records
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy The Black Belles from Amazon
It’d be easy to cynically shrug off The Black Belles, fluffed as they’ve been by nearly two years of hype and groomed by Jack White’s Third Man Records and a stellar goth stylist with a love of wide-brimmed hats. Back in June, White even scored the Nashville-based outfit a shot at the “Colbert bump” with a gig as Stephen Colbert’s backup band for a couple of songs, released on a limited-edition EP — pressed in red, white, and blue vinyl, naturally. The bios of the band — Ruby Rogers (bass), Shelby Lynne (drums), Lil’ Boo (synth), and Olivia Jean (vocals, guitar, organ) — are even a little too perfect.
They are the goth girls you pined away for in high school, but were too scared to approach for fear of something much worse than Wiccan magic — rejection. Or the ones Jack White did at least. White's latest project at his Third Man Records finds the erstwhile indie-rock guitar god throwing a surprisingly convincing and catchy gouls' night out with his girl-band proteges, the Black Belles.
When the first wave of Third Man Records email blasts initially heralded the arrival of Nashville’s the Black Belles, questions abounded. Lots of questions. For instance, who was this quartet of Lydia Deetz look-alikes and what strain of dark arts had they utilized to secure a coveted label roster spot alongside heavyweight hitters the Dead Weather and the Greenhornes? Perhaps more importantly, what happened to my VHS copy of The Craft? Many moons, a couple of buzz-generating singles and a Stephen Colbert endorsement later, we finally have answers to at least some of those queries.
is available now