Black Eyes and Neckties
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Black Eyes and Neckties

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"What's Up! Magazine - Apparition!"

Halloween 2004…Black Eyes and Neckties (BENt) unleash on Bellingham their first full-length record Stiletto. The album, full of zombies, werewolves, blood, guts, and beer-soaked rock swagger, was a promising debut from a band who had already established themselves as one of the best live performers in town, well before the album was even recorded. Flash forward three years, and you’ll come across a band who has now endured 17,000 miles of soul draining tours, hundreds of shows, severed relationships, the loss and gain of band members, the abrupt demise of local music strongholds and changing labels. The now hardened members of BENt are prepping for the release of their second full-length, Apparition, and its proper Halloween unveiling. The album is a testament to the trials and tribulations of the last three years of their lives, and a rusty stake through the heart of all those who think Bellingham music has gone six feet under.

The Long Road Back

After the release of Stiletto BENt embarked on three different tours, one of which being six weeks and spanning the entire country. With no label support at the time the tour was paid for entirely by the band.

“It was pretty intense, especially with six people, …we really tour,” Keys player Brenda Grimm said. “We were broke as hell when we got back.”

The tour would prove to be a crucial turning point for the band.

“We lost a lot of spirit,” vocalist Bradley Horror said. “Basically this record should of come out a year ago. We got back and had six months to finish this CD, but the tour took so much out of us that it took us a year and half to complete it.”

The major blow came only months after the tour when bassist Benny Bloodbath left the band in October 2006.

It wasn’t until months later though that the band got a much-needed reanimation when Rich a.k.a. “The Fist” joined the band to fill the vacant bass position.

“Our first show with Rich is when we knew that we were ready to fuckin do this again,” guitar player Ryan Cadaver said. “That was at Chiribin’s in January. That’s when we really tried to start getting the songs together and really start working.”

The Fist, a recording engineer, recorded a demo for the band for free.

“Rich knew who to call, and who to talk to get the record moving,” Horror said. “He did the demo for us for free, which really helped motivate us. When Dave [Crypt] listened to it he said it made him more excited about playing music again.”

Getting It Done

Apparition was recorded near the end of August 2007 at Jackpot studios in Portland with engineer Adam Pike. The band stayed in Pike’s house where they were furnished with necessities any self respecting person needs to survive; a fridge, a Nintendo and a nearby taco truck to nourish them for each meal, every day.

“The process was relatively painless compared to the last album,” Cadaver said. “We rehearsed our asses off before we went down there because we knew we didn’t have a lot of time. We would practice for eight hours everyday for the three or four days before we left. We got it real tight.”

The recording took place over a series of six 12-hour days. Towards the end of September, Horror, Josh Homicide, Davey Crypt and The Fist went down for four more days of recording vocals and mixing. Although it took the band a total of 12 days complete the album, Horror said that most of the vocals were recorded in a day and a half.

“Most people will stretch it out,” Horror said. “They’ll scream their guts out and then take a week off, but I had to do it all in one day. A lot of it was one day one take.”

For doing such rough vocal work in such a short period of time, Pike and the other band members were amazed that Horror’s vocals were more bloodcurdling and desperate than ever.

“It was nice because the last record I was sick the whole entire time,” Horror said. “So it’s like one whole register lower. It’s like we’re back from the dead. People are going to think it’s weird because I’m singing so high, but that’s how I usually sing. That’s how I sing all those old songs live, but it just never sounded like that when we recorded it before.”

The Album

“Last record, when I said ‘17 living on your own’ I was actually 17 when I wrote it…I was a teenager…and it was silly,” Horror said. “But this record I said things I probably shouldn’t have said. I sang things that have actually been said out loud to various people and I don’t think they know that it’s going to be recorded. So it’s definitely a lot more intimate.”

The songs on Apparition are a culmination of the band’s maturing talent. The band has been working on some of the songs for three years, others three months, and a few, like a slightly tweaked version of “Midnight Sun,” are some of the first songs the band ever performed, but have never recorded.

“The themes are all still the same,” Homicide said. “Brad just found a way to come about them a little bit more intelligently.”

The ba - What's Up! Magazine


"KEXP review - Apparition!"

Black Eyes & Neckties - Apparition! (Clickpop)

This Bellingham band’s 2nd album is a fierce outing of angst-ridden garage-punk combining loud, buzzing guitars, spooky organ lines, driving rhythms, gravelly, shouted vocals and horror-inspired lyrics. For those missing the Murder City Devils, Black Eyes & Neckties proudly wears that band’s influence on its collective sleeve. 12/10/2007 -Don Yates - KEXP / Don Slack


"EyeHeartMusic"

Black Eyes & Neckties
Apparition!

rating: 3 of 5 heart's

What the hell is in the water in Western Washington? Cheap beer? Lead? Urine? All of the above?

The answer may be uncertain and probably unproven as far as science is concerned, but one thing is clear: something (read this part slowly and dramatically) is causing hard rock bands to twist and writhe in a sea of dark pain. The latest in a line of tortured souls, Black Eyes & Neckties (BENt) burst forth from Bellingham on a foul wind of heavy guitar riffs and creepy carnival organ lines.

Loud, fierce, and full of pain, BENt’s music is course and raw. There is nothing soft about how the chords shred eardrums and the vocals flatline lung capacity. The energy is dark and engulfing as the band slices and dices through 13 unforgiving songs. The music stands out because of the organ work by member Brenda Grimm. Choosing to one up the typical punk rock sound, her ivory stabbings transport every song into a clown-like vision of shear madness.

However, that does not discount any of the work from the rest of the band. Singer Bradley Horror, guitarist Ryan Cadaver, drummer Davey Crypt, bassist The Fist, and guitarist Josh Homicide all relish their rolls in beating the listener into submission through the sheer power of sound. Even when played at a low volume, this record is loud. By “loud,” think Slayer.

There is a scene in “Fight Club” where the boss watches Ed Norton’s character hurl himself around the office, smashing through glass tables and shelves, destroying everything, including himself. The music underlining this scene could easily be substituted with the tracks “Ghosts In Our Clothes” or “Tombs” – two powerfully bloody anthems surmising the strain that is BENt’s latest album, “Apparition!” (When performing live, the members sport blood-stained attire, replete with black eyes and bruises, all prosthetic, of course.)

Parents and neighbors be warned: This is the kind of music the military might choose to blast outside the home of a foreign dictator in order to drive him out… or drive him crazy. - EyeHeartMusic


"BENt TIG"


Black Eyes & Neckties

Bradley Horror, of Bellingham party rock phenomenon Black Eyes & Neckties, took time out of his pizza slinging schedule to have a few words with me about the current state of the band and where they plan to go next.

TIG: So tell me the story of how you guys got together again... I've heard rumors that it was because of a Halloween party?

BH: When Black Eyes & Neckties got together Ryan and I had already been playing/ writing music together in a punk band for two years. He and some friends decided to start a "house band" with three of the dudes who were living together: Ryan, our old keyboardist Thomas, and our old guitar player "Sexy" Ryan. David and I tagged along because they needed a vocalist and a drummer. At the time we were all really into Christian horror rock band The Deadlines, so we started a similarly themed band and called it Black Eyes and Neckties. We practiced and wrote songs over the course of two months, just in time to have a Halloween show. The show went great and everyone was obsessing over the band, so we decided to keep it going.

TIG: The organ in your songs is morbidly delicious. To me, it's really the glue that holds all these brash and amazing components of your songs together. Was the horror theme a given from the beginning?

BH: The horror theme has always been a staple. We could never stray too far away from it, otherwise it wouldn't be Black Eyes & Neckties. We based this band on that thematic element and we would be lost without it. We have always tried to stay away from that "riff rock" sound and I think ultimately it has been beneficial.

TIG: I'd say so. You've set yourself apart with your brand of sound, and I think that's part of what's made you guys so appealing to a lot of people. Who are your influences? What bands/artists remain a constant favorite?

BH: I like lo-fi minimalist music, where as someone else in the band might be partial to over-the-top, super-produced bands. I would say as a whole we try to revolve our sound around groundbreaking rock bands from the mid to late 90's who went against the grain and developed their own sound, like Drive Like Jehu, Refused and At the Drive-In.

TIG: Drive Like Jehu is one of my all-time faves. There is something about that band that kills me. If you could play a show with any local, and or national, band who would it be?
BH: Well I can't speak for everyone in the band, but I am going to anyway. Ryan: Mars Volta, Dave: Wu Tang Clan, Rich: Iron Maiden, Brenda: Modest Mouse, Josh: Britney Spears, Me: Bruce Springsteen.

TIG: I have to say that I'm also a fan of Wu-Tang and Iron Maiden as well. For different reasons of course. Haha.

TIG: Any additional tours planned for the near future?

BH: Probably not until the fall. We have a very minimal window as far as when we can tour based on our work and school obligations. We still manage to fit in a week here and two weeks there though. We are playing a lot of big shows this summer that will hopefully help to ease our tour bug.

TIG: What do you think is different between your first full length, Stiletto, and your second, Apparition!? Do you feel that it's more cohesive, more fun, more "you"?

BH: I think that both albums are accurate reflections of us as artists in their respective time and place. As far as recording quality and musicianship is concerned Apparition! is definitely the greater of the two, but when it comes to content it's really apples and oranges. I am getting too old to write the kind of songs I did on Stilleto, but we were really happy with Stiletto when it came out. We're just, as if not more, satisfied with Apparition! though.

TIG: Do you have any plans for another record in the near future?

BH: We actually just started writing new material within the last week. We have been playing/touring so much that we have been sticking to all the songs on Apparition! just to get them tighter and stimulate interest at shows. We want to do a 7" with a new song and maybe a cover or alternative recording of an Apparition! track. TIG:Have you enjoyed working with Clickpop Records? Seems that you'd get more exposure than previously, with New Regard Media.

BH: Clickpop have been amazing. They have been dedicated to us and we couldn't have asked for a better label, though New Regard was a great label to release a local album on. Clickpop go above and beyond, and that makes everything we do as a band better.

TIG: Better is good. Thank you for taking the time to let us into your horrifying world.

Keep your eyes peeled for new BENt material and check back for any new tour dates. You won't regret seeing this smashing (literally) band live. They'll kick your ass.
-Imaginary Shrie, April 01, 2008 - Three Imaginary Girls


"The Stranger - The Horror of it All - Stiletto"

“While it's great news for Sub Pop that the Shins "saved" Natalie Portman's life and the Postal Service are delivering the lovelorn billions such blissful electro-pop salve, I miss the more reckless punk elements of the mighty label's catalog. Nothing against the newer indie-heavy lineup (I count myself among the fan base for many of their pop-leaning acts), but I long for the roster of real hard-rock misfits—the whiskey-swilling, mood-swinging, rough-playing types with lighter-fluid nerve endings, bands that simply exploded upon provocation. I'm thinking of the Catheters Static Delusions and Stone-Still Days, the Black Halos' The Violent Years, or any fragment of the Murder City Devils' catalog, recordings that still sound as visceral, resentment tainted, and rebellious as they did when they came out. So it's fitting that in the midst of this nostalgia, I stumbled into a show from Bellingham's Black Eyes and Neckties, a band with a strong penchant for that recent-turn-of-the-century Sub Pop sound. This young band very reverently stands in the shadows of the Devils, conjuring the ghosts of its elders at every turn.

Although Black Eyes' female keyboardist was sick for their Crocodile gig last week (forcing frontman Bradley Horror to do double duty), the band expertly busted out gallows balladry, desolate barroom sing-alongs, and generally gothic, Misfits-meets-MC5/Alice Cooper rock. As Horror performed his best Spencer Moody meltdowns, the music was thoroughly manic, generating the unnerving energy of an ER ward filled with adrenaline addicts hovering over every song. The physical appearance of the band definitely helped hammer home their death obsession—all the members took the stage with black makeup imprinting raccoon eyes on their faces—as the lyrics delved into the worlds of zombies and other living dead. Their graveyard aesthetic is further imprinted on their Stiletto CD (which takes its look from the campy gore of the Devils' 2000 release, In Name and Blood). Stiletto is splattered in red ink, the band members (who use last names like Horror, Grimm, Cadaver, Homicide, Bloodbath, and Crypt) staring hollow-eyed from black-and-white photos. And while Black Eyes wear their influences on their tattered shirtsleeves, they re-envision the Devils sound so well it's hard to be anything but compelled by their passion. On stage, Black Eyes were completely unhinged, one guitarist rabidly pacing the stage, biting the bassist's back during a particularly enthusiastic moment. It was just the dose of the raucous good ol' days I needed, and I look forward to seeing this (relatively) local band again soon”.
- The Stranger - Jennifer Maerz


"Missoula Independent - Stiletto"

Whoever said horror rock was dead hasn’t been listening to Bellingham’s bloody-talented Black Eyes and Neckties. Notorious for its live shows (where “bloodbaths” aren’t necessarily out of the question), Black Eyes and Neckties released its new 13-track album Stiletto last year on Halloween. Recommended for the music lover, but not for the light of heart, Stiletto is a fast-paced romp through musical murder, massacre and mayhem. Frontman Bradley Horror’s shrill screams and imposing vocals resonate forcefully on almost every track. The guitars are murderously intelligent, and the drums wreak havoc on the soft pulp of the brain - Missoula Independent


"What's Up! Magazine - Stiletto"

When Bellingham's horror rock specialists Black Eyes and Neckties take the stage there are two things you can be certain of. The first thing is that the six members of the band, clad in their trademark torn ties and black eye make-up, are about to utterly massacre the crowd with a high-energy live show that will inevitably erupt in a bloodbath of howling wraith-rock and frenzied fans. The second thing? You should have brought along a change of clothes, I didn't call it a bloodbath for nothing.” - What's Up! Magazine


"Bellingham Weekly - Stiletto"

Punched a wall recently? Here’s what you should have been listening to at the time. Although nothing could hope to compare to Black Eyes and Neckties’ frenetic and bruising live show, Stiletto sure goes about it like they truly couldn’t care less. Sharp-edged guitars, propulsive drums, organ and voice are all they need to get inside your head and command you to move. With songs about zombies, werewolves, love, death and the intersections between, this is an album for when you want your anger tempered by humor and hooks. Buy the record and go see their show. You’ll be glad you did. - Bellingham Weekly


"Stranded in Stereo"

Black Eyes & Neckties
Apparition!
Clickpop
By Jose Fritz

Vocalist Bradley Horror wakes most mornings and hacks up spongy, bloody phlegm. It’s the screaming. As he said in a recent interview “I'll probably not be able to speak when I am sixty years old, but it'll be worth it.” That roaring, throaty scream only comes from the epiglottis pressing into the arytenoids at the base of the pharynx. His technique is technically poor, but the sound is powerful and probably growing a set of throat polyps.

Shock-rock was preceded by decades of theatrics in rock n’ roll: Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and Screaming Jay Hawkins before them. It’s a long, slowly evolving tradition of young men with guitars in desperate need of attention. Horror-punk is just another branch off that tree, The Misfits, Coffin Caddies, Murderdolls, AFI, Wednesday 13 and others. The list goes on. My point is that this is a totally legitimate movement. The problem is that most of the movement is total crap.

Black Eyes and Neck Ties is not crap. Their musical alliance within the genre is more to the Misfits and to Jay Hawkins. It’s more about rock n’ roll and less about mumbled odes to classic zombie cinema. Very little of the album gets mired in spooky accoutrements.

Cuts like “Night after Night” trade shouted hardcore chants with noisy guitar effects. Hardcore chants appear in the middle of Bela Lugosi organ chords. In the studio that ethic came out. They recorded on reel-to-reel instead of Pro-tools. They kept it simple, a minimum pf overdubs, like a vintage 70’s garage band. The low end is a tad muddy but ferrous oxide is like that. It helps deliver them as a convincing live act. There’s nothing here they couldn’t do live. All you have to do is imagine the grease paint, smoke machines and fake blood.

Collectively it makes them about as subtle as the Newlydeads. You have to respect that. But the band’s press dances around a key adjective. There is an elephant in the orthography. Syllogisms are made in ill-fated attempts to evade the pachyderm in the periodical. Euphemisms include: horror, dark, theatrical, creepy, gloomy, spooky, and eerie. All of this effort is to avoid the word “goth.”

It’s a bogus, heavily weighted word. To most minds there were only two waves of goth in the modern sense. There were those clove smoking kids in the 80’s that wore white face paint and liked the Cure and Bauhaus. Then in the late 90’s there were the ones that listened to Korn, wore bondage gear and didn’t bathe. It’s a dangerous, dangerous word. I sling it around freely because, like the priesthood and politicians, there are no consequences for music critics. - Stranded in Stereo


"BENt Secrets Revealed!"

BENt Secrets Revealed!
By Mark Baumgarten Friday, May 30th, 2008

It’s been almost a year since Bellingham’s Black Eyes & Neckties rose from the dead to record the album, the angry and excellently hardcore "Apparition!" on ClickPop Records. Released locally in October of last year, the album is a seething exercise in raucous discontent, all lead by the bark of Bradley Horror. Since then, the band of psychopathic pseudonyms has toured the west coast and fine-tuned that sound. In preview of tonight’s show at the Funhouse, Sound called up Horror to see where BENt is at.

Seattle Sound: So, I’m curious, do you guys feel like you’ve found your sound or are you still developing it?
Bradley Horror: We’re still developing it. As far as music goes you always have to be developing it, you can’t just write the same records over and over again. If your favorite bands wrote the same albums again and again, you would talk shit about them. There’s never a perfect form and, like, half the songs (on Apparition!) we wrote when we were teenagers. We were really happy with them, but since then, we’ve been in 3 or 4 bands, and listened to other music, and basically grew up, so the music really grew up with us.

SS: So what are you guys listening to these days?
BH: When we were teenagers, we were really into this punk-Christian-horror-pop band called the Dead Binds, and we were obsessed with them. They were never popular, and no one really liked them, so when they broke up we were like, we should just start a band exactly like that. But now it’s so much different stuff, like I listen to whiny indie rock and (Josh Homicide) listens to weird metal, and I really don’t know how our music agrees, but somehow it works out. We’ll write and riff and then we’ll write a song and, even though we don’t like the same stuff, when it comes together it works.

SS: So what are some specific band names you are listening to?
BH: Influential rock bands from the ’90s. Right now you have to be a super pussy indie rock band or hardcore metal, there’s no in between, and really no rock, but in the ’90s there were a lot of really strong rock bands. Hot Snakes, Refuse, At The Drive-in. They’ll scream and be super loud but they’re not cheesy. They’re totally legit.

SS: So I don’t really understand this, but you don’t sound like horror pop to me. You guys have these grim horror pseudonyms that you put forth, but it doesn’t really jive. You’ll have to excuse me for saying this, but you’re a band with a gimmick that doesn’t need a gimmick.
BH: Well that’s a lot of people’s perception, but the band was started on that, and we can’t really get away form that. But, honestly, it’s more about the shows. So, we try to portray this weird gimmick theme at our shows. It’s campy, it’s tongue in cheek, and we’ve never felt forced to do it. - Sound Magazine


Discography

Albums:

Stiletto (New Regard Media) - 2004

Apparition! (Clickpop Records) - released regionally Halloween 2007 and nationally summer 2008

Compilations:

Damage, Destruction, Terror and Mayhem (New Regard Media) - "Barnacles"

Dead Air, Um, Dead Air (Masa Records) - "Walk Like a Zombie"

Photos

Bio

Black Eyes & Neckties (or ‘BENt’) merge dark garage punk and horror rock with an infectious frantic energy that’s hard to match. With the release of their second album, "Apparition!" they are destined for new levels of popularity and exposure. Perhaps the best summary of the band’s appeal comes from Don Slack of KEXP, who praised the new record as “a fierce blend of loud, buzzing guitars, spooky organ lines, pummeling rhythms, gravelly, shouted vocals, and horror-inspired lyrics.”

Following in the footsteps of such horror-rock pioneers as The Misfits and the Murder City Devils, BENt plays straightforward hard rock devoid of extraneous ornamentation or wandering noodlings. Getting to the point with visceral riffs and catchy shout-along choruses, their contagious punk energy is channeled through the dark crunch and wail of guitars, combined with the blood-curdling screams of Bradley Horror. Punctuated with Davey Crypt's crashing drums and underlined with the eerie moan of Grimm's organ, the unpretentious sound asks little of the audience other than to be swept up in the excitement and hurricane of noise.

Consisting of Bradley Horror on vocals, Ryan Cadaver on guitar, Davey Crypt on drums, Brenda Grimm on organ, Josh Homicide on guitar, and “The Fist” on bass, the band has a reputation for giving theatrical performances filled with dark showmanship and unpredictable antics. "It’s always been about the show", explains Josh Homicide referring to the band’s reputation for epic concerts. Wearing tattered, bloodstained clothes, torn ties, and blackened eyes, their graveyard aesthetic is not only visually engaging, but is also enmeshed in both the lyrics and tone of their music. They have even been known to spray (fake) blood on themselves during the show, occasionally splattering the crowd making for a chaotic spectacle with a manic soundtrack.

What began as a collaboration for a Halloween party grew into a staple of this Northwest college town’s music scene. "Best Rock Band" awards followed four years in a row (2004-2007) as voted on by the readers of local monthly What's Up! Magazine. Pacific Northwest Radio stations (the renowned indie station KEXP, popular mainstream station KNDD, and college radio station KUGS) are already excited about the release, which has been receiving great regional airplay. Both KEXP and KNDD are hosting on-air, live performances by Black Eyes & Neckties in February of 2008. Regional touring in support of the record has been strong since its release. The future looks bright for this dark, yet fun band with promotion, a national radio campaign, expanded distribution, and national touring in support of “Apparition!” occurring throughout 2008.