Eating Us

Editors’ Notes

Philadelphia’s Black Moth Super Rainbow raised the bar on contemporary electro-psychedelia with Dandelion Gum. 2009’s Eating Us turns the oddball knob down a few notches in favor of lighter, dreamier, atmospheric sounds. Eating Us is more Air-generated hallucinogenics than, say, Flaming Lips trippiness (although Lips producer David Fridmann is at the helm here), and features a crisper, more “produced” sound that works in the band’s favor. A tranquil mood pervails with woozy, sleepy tracks like “Gold Splatter” and “Smile the Day After Today” outnumbering tunes like “The Sticky,” with its cool dance beat and ‘70s analog warmth, and “Tooth Decay,” a hypnotic swirl of booming bass drum and loopy keyboard lines. Standout track “Iron Lemonade” drifts on a dark, funeral rhythm of drum and bass, with singer Tobacco’s elfin, vocoder musings swirling on the surface like ‘60s light show abstracts. The sugary, bubblegum charm of “Born On a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise” has real staying power, leaving a delightful taste even after countless listens. BMSR is all about color and flavor, and Eating Us couldn’t be more delectable.