Tobacco "Truck Sweat"

• Words: Bryant Rutledge
• Label: anticon.

Black Moth Super Rainbow doesn't always make music you'd necessarily call uplifting, but Tobacco, the leader of this Pittsburgh-based five-piece, has delved into even darker territory on his debut solo album. The sinister quality of Fucked Up Friends isn't achieved lyrically though, seeing as vocals are sparse, and when they do appear, they're tweaked and twisted to levels beyond actual understanding. Rather, Tobacco relies on persistent analog noise that needles and synth hooks that hypnotize, so that the overall effect is akin to walking through some bizarre enchanted world where you never know who or what you might meet at the next corner. Spooky!