Orange Black

Contrary to what their Discogs page claims, Orange Black did not get formed ‘around 1996’. In 1992 they opened for Pavement at the legendary Lintfabriek in their Belgium hometown of Kontich. Dieter Sermeus and cousins Freek and Micha Onzia were barely 16 at the time but Pavement was so impressed – okay, charmed – by the teenagers that the Californians would start yelling ‘Orange Black! Orange Black!’ randomly during all of their Belgian shows for many years. (...)

‘It’s Electric’ sounded both electric and eclectic. Instant-hit ‘Felony’ and its gravelly grunge bass would quickly grow into an Orange Black live staple. ‘Rio’ seared eardrums as Sonic Youth’s ‘Teenage Riot’ did. ‘Summer Quest for Summer Rest’ smelled of fresh boisterous kiwi pop with a touch of fIREHOSE jazziness. Rodan, Slint and the hard-soft dynamics of math rock provided the blueprint for ‘Ship Ahead’ and ‘Unrest’. ‘Alaska’ ruled Studio Brussel’s airwaves for a while, while post-rocker ‘Skip Step 1’ – hey, it was 1997 after all and Tortoise had just become the unlikely kings of the underground – closed the record in the style du jour.

It was electric then, and it still is now.

- Herbert Struyf (text edited)