BM Linx - Black Entertainment [album]

Craze Factory Entertainment

The latest in a seemingly endless line of bands suffering identity crisis, New York’s BM Linx’s second album Black Entertainment proves that the city certainly isn’t perfect and doesn’t always deliver the goods. Providing the soundtrack to some of the worst lyrics I have heard outside of the UK charts in a long time, the music is a little all over the place. There’s no real need to list the copious amount of acts that spring to mind over the 11 tracks, but let’s just say there are a few and the result is as disjointed as you would therefore expect.

BM Linx’s general modus operandi seems to be fusing rock with dance...and another one bites the dust. The problem with many bands who attempt this and fail, is that they seem to believe that it requires equal parts of the two genres, when in fact you can ‘rock’ using nothing but electronics and make people shake their ass perfectly well using the standard guitars/bass/drums set up of a regular rock n roll band (Blondie did this years ago).

It’s a shame, although also a relief, that when they do veer into other territory, it results in their finest work. “White Limousine” demonstrates some nice acoustic finger-picking, and although they do still stick some ‘beats’ in there, they fit the track nicely and prove that when the band show some restraint, they are capable of something better than the messy fusion they deliver elsewhere. “123 Cat” meanwhile benefits greatly from the machinegun-beat ‘borrowed’ from Portishead, and having the focus to remain solely a dance track.

As you look back over the whole album though, too often your mind casts back to some of the awful lyrics. Opening your album with “Valentine” and the lyrics “We’re gonna take you for a ride, we’re gonna make everything alright” does not get you off to a good start. Why should anyone continue to listen to anything you have to say if that generic lyric is the best you can muster to introduce yourself? “Kids on Fire” is even worse with some truly cringe-worthy moments such as “Look at me, I’m gonna pet the pretty kitty and smile while I’m raped” (I don’t even want to fucking know). It also features some horrendous lyrical additions in-between lines “proper”, such as “that’s right” and “check it out”, the kind normally found in the WORST mainstream hipity-hop.

“Find the Water” is, according to bassist Jonathan Murray, “ about moving from Indiana to the east coast and discovering that just showing up has nothing to do with actually succeeding” - I just don’t think BM Linx will ever discover what does.

Track listing: