Black Time

Describing their style as "the heavy vampire sound," London's Black Time played heavy, incredibly noisy punk with shots of rockabilly and soul -- <a href="spotify:artist:2bmixwMZXlkl2sbIbOfviq">Bo Diddley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2vQavlZtDA660mnZotYIto">Link Wray</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1AMMMSq3rJdZtFGnBXEkz7">King Tubby</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a> were just as influential to them as <a href="spotify:artist:6uVeWolwyRDrT84lLsaZyW">Suicide</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5I2hMUcztc6QbzkyLskdt4">the Birthday Party</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4PjgCQnuQ0NHnwwqQ09VwY">Electric Eels</a>. The band featured guitarist/vocalist Lemmy Caution, bassist/vocalist Janie Too Bad, and drummer Mr. Stix; Caution also played with the even rawer Subway Slims, and played with Too Bad as the duo Sexaphone, while Mr. Stix played drums for Blood Safari. The trio issued its debut album, Blackout, in 2004 as a limited-edition vinyl release, which sold out quickly and was later reissued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22In+the+Red%22">In the Red</a>. Black Time returned in 2006 with Midnight World, an even brasher and rawer set of songs. For 2008's Double Negative, the band embarked on its first U.S. tour. In 2009, Black Time released a split LP with <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Ty Segall</a> on Canadian label Telephone Explosion Records. 12" EP More Songs About Motorcycles & Death appeared on British label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Wrench+Records%22">Wrench Records</a> in 2010. The group became less active as its members began to devote more time to family life and other bands, but they still played the occasional Black Time gig, and their fourth album, Aerial Gobs of Love (recorded in 2009), finally surfaced in 2015 on Swedish label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22F%C3%B6rbjudna+Ljud%22">Förbjudna Ljud</a>. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi