CD REVIEW: PETER BLACK – The Paintings On Your Wall Say GAMBLER! GAMBLER!

Shane | 8 April 2015 | Reply

CD REVIEW: PETER BLACK – The Paintings On Your Wall Say GAMBLER! GAMBLER!
Citadel Music
August 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

You may recognise Peter ‘Blackie’ Black as the punk metal riffmaster of the Hard-Ons, but in his solo guise he’s a lot quieter, more introspective, but no less talented and intriguing.

A Peter Black album can seem at times like a spaced out arthouse installation at times, and the booklet that comes with The Paintings On Your Wall Say GAMBLER! GAMBLER! even features small, seemingly unconnected scenes typed out in between each song’s lyrics. It’s an interesting peek inside the mind of this largely unsung stalwart of the Australian music scene, and it makes perfect sense in that it means nothing to the songs themselves. It’s part of what makes Blackie much more than just a musician, but an artist.

Blackie’s acoustic guitar and half-whispered vocals – reminiscent at times of an anarchic Iron & Wine – rile the roost, with scant embellishments from friends here and there: Jeff pope’s banjo, Samantha Fonti’s orchestration and strings, and a variety of drummers including Blackie’s own son Jaye, and even a choir of kids.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PeterBlackieBlack/106780846031472