Boys with the Black Stuff (Black Market Music - Placebo)

Member Name: anelegantsir

Product:	Black Market Music - Placebo
Date:	11/10/00 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More great sounds from one of the best bands in Britain today

Disadvantages: Blue American - could have been relegated to a B-side

Stomping back into the music arena with full force, Placebo brush the tired Indie drones of melancholic boys away with a flick of a skinny wrist and present this, their Black Market Music, the band’s third album, that all in all establishes their unique sounds as their own and reveals an even stranger insight into their complicated world. There’s no time for this album to grow on you because it grabs you immediately, shakes you viciously then leaves you fearful and wanting more of the same: a twisted mix of lust and hate, ego and self-loathing that’s ever-present in Placebo’s work. Opening with the pulsating, electronic Block Rockin’ Beats-esque Taste in Men with its howling guitars and killer bassline, the action speeds up even more with the jagged panic of Days Before You Came, which, like it’s predecessor, is a tale of desperate love gone wrong and sees frontman, Brian Molko, finally snapping and retorting how he ‘Didn’t want you anyway!’ Special K is an album highlight - musically it’s classic Placebo with its driving guitars pounding out an infectious melody with Molko shifting from anxiety to anger throughout. Lyrically its intriguing – the highs of infatuation and substances, with Special K referring to ketamine, and the comedown afterwards when reality hits home and hearts: it’s clever, complex, exciting and hopefully a future single. The album also sees a number of new ventures for the band. Not only have they co-produced Black Market Music but the electronic tones found in Taste in Men are present in a number of tracks and are suggesting a new direction: listen out for the delicate touches throughout in Haemoglobin, Commercial for Levi and Black-Eyed, which also contains some magnificent drumming from Steve Hewitt. Another key feature of Black Market Music is the politics, found in current single, Slave to the Wage and most evident in Spite & Malice where Molko shudders as the mob hit
s the street and revolution hits the air. A guest appearance by rapper Justin Warfield is somewhat surprising but the effects are startling. Haemoglobin hints at racism, suggesting a tale about lynching, but which can also read as Molko declaring himself the press martyr, the star the critics love to hate, who, despite being strung up, sits defiant and out to avenge. It’s not all angst and statements though - another great thing about Placebo are the ballads and having produced some of the most heart-wrenching songs on their last album, Without You I’m Nothing, this new work sees the band deliver some more: Passive Aggressive sets a beautiful melody and a cold soliloquy side by side, until the band rips in and drum home yet another instance of love gone wrong. Peeping Tom sees Brian in character as a lonely soul unable to reach the object of his desire, whilst Blue American takes things to the extreme and borders on slush and cheesiness with lines such as: I wrote this novel just for you / it’s sounds pretentious but it’s true. Nonetheless, this album shows the band have matured together and grown musically since finding fame and notoriety as sleazy little Indie boys. This album also proves that the Placebo stance and sounds has become more concrete and the new directions they’ve taken here shows that there’s still more great stuff to come from the band...

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