Mac Blackout, a.k.a Chicagoan Mark McKenzie has been on the fringes of the Chicago music scene for two decades now, whether blasting brains in scuzz-punk bands The Functional Blackouts & Daily Void or as wild-eyed frontman for glam-punks Mickey. While his solo recordings as Mac Blackout have traditionally followed along the same path of KBD-infused, sci-fi punk rock, his new instrumental solo album (and first for Trouble In Mind), "Love Profess" offers listeners a new side. "Love Profess" is Blackout's first solo album in seven years, the result of - in his own words: "...years of artistic growth and preparation. Five years ago I shifted my focus from music to visual art, embarking on a creative and spiritual journey, finding new and evolved artistic visions through many mediums." Indeed as his art career has blossomed, the creative musical ideas & a budding interest in free jazz & avant garde music have flourished & guided his output toward something altogether different; stripped down minimal pop songs & analog synth excursions laced with a healthy dollop of free jazz & avant-musical expression.

Blackout says "This break from solo music creation resulted in years of internalized ideas, unexpressed energy, and the calling to explore new creative directions musically." These creative directions converged at the beginning of 2020 as Blackout began to record "Love Profess". From the opening exultation of "Wandering Spheres", longtime fans know they're in for something completely different; a rapturous wave of saxophone blasting forth gives way to a pensive electronic pulse and a tinkling of synthesized bells. "Forever" and "Call For Love" tick and drone like something off of Suicide's second album, the former's sweet melody & electric handclaps peppered with melancholy, while the latter's slinky rhythm makes you move. "Magic Hour 2020"s meditative drone closes out Side A, setting up Side B opener "The Virus"; an aural odyssey that transports the listener to "Revolutionary Tide"s righteous shuffle, with Blackout's sax blasting out like a call to arms. The album's title cut come near the end of Side B, with it's metronomic pulse and synth washes acting as a soothing balm, while the tender ballad "Dear Mom" closes us out.

Blackout says "2020 has been unlike any time in history. With these hard times comes great emotion, reflection, and realization. This album is an instrumental reflection and chronological portrait of the period in which it was created, January through July 2020. I hope you find solace, artistic friendship, inspiration, rejuvenation and the power to make positive change through this work of art for years to come." Indeed the entire album feels very much like an offering, with its tender & open expressions & reflections allowing a palpable passion to creep through. We can only hope it can guide us to a better tomorrow. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Wandering Spheres
2. Forever
3. Call For Love
4. Magic Hour 2020
5. The Virus
6. Revolutionary Tide
7. Love Profess
8. Dear Mom

Ask any New Yorker what makes them special and they’ll all tell you something different. But there’s something very particular about a city so condensed with a vast range of humanity all facing myriad daily challenges that gives its rock music a brash, direct aggression unlike other places. Case in point, NYC trio Blackout’s take on doom and stoner rock is filled with a gritty, mechanistic heft unlike bands of their ilk from anywhere else.

Subsumed within the greasy grooves of The Horse there are echoes of NYC heavy legends like Helmet, Cro-Mags, Judge, Prong and others — not as intentional homage, but rather a vibe that permeates and inadvertently gives its bands a unique power that few can match.

After a brief hiatus between the March 2015 release of their self-titled sophomore album on RidingEasy Records, Blackout has regrouped and (ahem) gotten back on The Horse for an 8-song blast of riffs that does not fuck around.

On one fateful day in July 2016, with a handful of mushrooms and a bottle of tequila, vocalist/guitarist Christian Gordy set out to write an entire new Blackout record. Following the departure of original drummer Taryn Waldman earlier that year, the band’s fate was uncertain. But, Gordy’s writing forray resulted in a wellspring of inspiration and by happenstance he contacted drummer Adam Taylor who had just parted with his band Ghost Punch. Within two months of banging out riffs with bassist Justin Sherrell, Blackout was back in action.

The Horse was recorded over 4 days in September 2016 at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, which the band describes as “a whirlwind session laced with loads of buds, Petey’s burgers and lipstick.”

Or, described by blackout themselves: “What you have before you now is a messy plate of meat, slathered in weird sauces. A haunted steak from from Centaurus A to sink your tingling fangs into. Sit back, crack a semi cold one, maybe get some snacks… and turn this motherfucker up to 8.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Graves
2. Let Em Ride
3. Roach Bites
4. Rat Spirit
5. Amnesia
6. Mean Pads
7. Holy Wood
8. The Horse

This March Brooklyn’s self-proclaimed “pillars of rock and roll righteousness” will release their new, self-titled album through Los Angeles’ equally badass record label RidingEasy Records. Blackout was initially formed by guitar player/vocalist Christian Gordy and drummer Taryn Waldman at Gordy’s July 4th cookout in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York back in 2011. Waldman, a former Hooter's waitress turned big time commercial film editor and Gordy; a one-legged bartender/artist/BBQ enthusiast were (by their own admission) something of an oddball couple for NY's rigid metal scene. Yet with no direction and zero discussion both connected instantly and instinctively began banging out massive caveman jams against a patriotic backdrop of food, alcohol and the stars and stripes.

In fact as far as names go, choosing Blackout – suggesting a power crash, sudden and temporary loss of consciousness or a mob hit on an entire family – was a total no brainer. In the months that followed the pair recruited close friend Justin Sherrell on bass duties, and as things began to get louder and considerably heavier in November 2012 the trio entered Vacation Island Studio with engineer and producer Rob Laakso (Diamond Nights, Swirlies, Kurt Vile) to record their debut release We Are Here. Choosing to self-release the album on vinyl in early 2013 it garnered plenty of acclaim from some of the hottest blogs du jour and was praised for its Melvins-esque ferocity and pounding Sleep-like groves. “Blackout get it right, hammering jam after jam, pound after pound. The smoky swirls buzz with electric accusations and shock-therapy repressions.” (Heavy Planet)

Following an extensive gigging regime in, around and way beyond New York’s city limits with acts like Acid King, Weedeater and Trouble the band took to the studio once again in the summer of 2013 to record a body of new songs. Songs that strictly worked off the riffs spontaneously summoned during practice sessions where old material was revived, ideas hashed out and sounds reworked into the record you will soon hear in full. Songs that make up Blackout, the band’s eagerly awaited follow up and soon to be released revelation on RidingEasy Records.

There are actually three Christmas Islands: one off the coast of Australia, one in the Pacific Ocean (which also goes by the name Kiritimati), and one whose incredible self-titled debut album is on In The Red. Hailing from sunny San Diego, California, Christmas Island plays music that on the surface is happy and poppy. There is a dark undercurrent to their brand of lo-fi pop punk - it is joyous and almost twee while secretly depressed and deeply disturbed. Citing Tronics, Urinals, Television Personalities, The Clean, Versatile Newts, and The Fall as influences, Christmas Island is Beach Boys-style, sunny Southern Californian pop by way of the late 70s / early 80s UK DIY scene.

For fans of Taking Back Sunday, Saves The Day and Dashboard Confessional, The Commercials from Philadelphia have been together for five years, played on the Vans Warped Tour 2003 and bestride the hardcore and emo genres with their blend of confrontational, intense emocore.

Brooklyn's hardest band, NYC-based hardcore with guttural vocals for fans of Sick Of It All, Bane, Strife, Shai Hulud. Friendly Fire has become the staple of the NYC DIY scene, sharing stages with Converge, Hope Conspiracy, Strife, Most Precious Blood, Shutdown, Bigwig and Voodoo Glow Skulls.