The Deal: Sounds of the South African streets co-mingle to form a new genre.
The Good: If your taste in South African music is limited to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, you might have difficulty ingesting what BLK JKS brings to the table. Recently tagged as one of Rolling Stone‘s “Artists to Watch,” the South African quartet sounds like Living Color lashed to Sonic Youth with barbed wire. The music is being labeled prog rock by some critics, but that’s misleading. This is nothing like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Yes or even The Mars Volta. It’s angry music that assaults the senses, enmeshing the listener in a wire cage woven by the strings of guitarists Lindani Buthelezi (lead) and Mpumi Mcata (rhythm). As the music surges, pushing your face into the wire, you can pick out snatches of Afro–pop, jazz and rock, overlaid with tribal wailing and crunchy, crushing guitars. “Lakeside” and “Taxidermy” are more melodic than some of the other offerings, but don’t get lulled into a false sense of security. The JKS are locked and loaded and ready to open up on you at any moment.
The Bad: Trying to label this music does it a grave disservice and may turn off listeners who are trying to tune into a particular genre.
The Verdict: For this one, you just need to open up and let it wash over you. You may not know what to call it, but it sure as hell will stick with you.
This article appears in Sep 15-22, 2009.
