MP3: Black Bananas – Rad Times
The Nelsonville Music Festival kicks off two weeks from Friday, and one of the bands playing that opening night is Drag City‘s Black Bananas. If that name isn’t familiar to you, you’ll likely recognize singer Jennifer Herrema’s former bands, Royal Trux and RTX. Black Bananas is actually the same lineup as RTX, but on the band’s new album, Rad Times Express IV, Herrema and her crew take the sound not so much in a new direction as much as they widen its scope. The metal, funk, psychedelia, electronic blurps and classic-rock nods (track 4 = Heart’s “Magic Man” in space) swirl together in a pleasantly noxious brew.
I’m also gonna argue that out of all the women who’ll be performing at Nelsonville, Herrema is by far the toughest. Just look at that video.