Third Acts typically promise resolution, but for Vancouver’s The Black Halos the plot remains the same. Having recently captured their triumphant return in 7-inch form via Toronto’s Cursed Blessing Records, the mission statement still promises scuzzy, hook laden punk that fuses the confident pomp of New York Dolls and the street-ready rumble of The Dead Boys or D Generation.
Never ones to rest on revivalist posturing, the Halos instead were content to bash out their sneering take on first wave punk regardless of the quickly changing zeitgeist. To quote the opening track of their essential 2001 album, The Violent Years: "I'm left in the past. But those things, those things never last.”
My Song of the Day, “Uncommonwealth,” brings with it no surprises. Still replete with a glass-gargling, whiskey-throated frontman, melodic gang vocals, and thunderous Johnny Thundersesque leads, the band can’t help but pen earworms:
Having caught them live multiple times in both of the band’s earlier incarnations, I can certainly attest to The Black Halos' live-wire energy, ever teetering on the verge of collapse. I’m on board for whenever that happens again. Here’s hoping the much anticipated full length is what gets me there.
Some things never fall. Long live The Black Halos.
Tagged: the black halos
