Black Operator: Black Operator

Dutch blues rock quintet Black Operator play low strung swamp rock on their self-titled debut album, the kind that grew out the marshes in Louisiana and Tennessee: growling, distorted, and scary in all the right places. Take note of the keyboards in the slow moving Marita or the hint of country in Strangers In The Night. Mr. Preacherman is old school fire and brimstone blues, with a gnarly guitar solo as the icing on the cake.

The energy comes howling out of the speakers on this album. Hungry For Love is the answer to the question of what the White Stripes or The Black Keys would have sounded like as a full band. The band reaches a peak during the freaky Desolation Blues, powering down the tracks like a runaway train. Turn it up, until everything is louder than everything else.

Black Operator:
Sander den Das: vocals
Tijn Groen: keyboards, percussion
Emile van der Wal: guitar
Puck Stet: bass
Bastiaan de Vries: drums