Bootblacks

Following a handful of formative sessions with prolific drummer/producer Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth), the brooklyn-based Bootblacks released its first ep, narrowed, in the fall of 2012. Debut full- length veins came next in 2016 and was backed by extensive touring. 2017’s fragments found the band expanding to a bigger, more atmospheric and synth- heavy sound. The album landed on many year-end lists and helped earn slots on festivals such as cold waves, terminus, absolution, wave gotik treffen, and murder of crows.

Thin skies, Bootblacks’ first album for artoffact records, zooms forward where fragments left off. The nine songs combine a driving, dancefloor pulse with soulful, melodic post-punk, yielding results that are positively anthemic.

Produced by Jason Corbett of artoffact label mates Actors, thin skies evokes scenes of dark days and reckless nights in the urban jungle – a marriage of post-punk emotion and clubland sweat. Frontman Panther Almqvist’s brooding voice captivates as it veers from detached cool to deep vulnerability. Guitarist Alli Gorman’s hard jangle channels the trademark delay techniques of [u2’s] the edge,& in the words of post-punk.com Keyboardist Barrett Hiatts arpeggiated synths are the life force pushing the songs relentlessly forward, as Larry Gorman bashes a mix of acoustic and electronic drums with power and perfection.

Backing vocals come courtesy of Shannon Hammett (actors) and Kennedy Ashlyn (SRSQ, them are us too).REVIEWS:

[…] direct sonic descendants of Xymox and Front Line Assembly. » – Brooklyn Vegan

« sounds like a skittering love letter to Bauhaus, Joy Division, Depeche Mode and all the other bands that ultimately bridged the gaps between punk, post-punk, and new wave. » – Nerdist

« Bootblacks, in other words, is this generation’s answer to Joy Division, and likely the closest we’ll ever get to hearing another band play with the same intensity, emotion, and fearlessness as the iconic Manchester band. » – The Revue