The Black Seeds make it sound so damn easy. After six albums and over 13 years though, you could understand how things come so naturally. Like a fine wine, this six-piece outfit has matured with age and become tighter and funkier, the result is Dust And Dirt. Recorded entirely at their own studio you can hear the evolution in their sound from the beginning. Lead single Pippy Pip sounds like business as usual and is possibly one of the less interesting efforts on the album. However opening cut Out Of Light hits like a ton of bricks. Drenched in psychedelic-style keyboard and reverb the track finds them going to new territory. One thing that hasn’t changed is their masterful ability to translate their dynamic live energy on record. Wide Open is the kind of catchy-as-hell anthem they have become known for. It’s great to hear the chemistry between the band as they jam with reckless abandon on tracks like Don’t Turn Around and the aptly-titled Loose Cartilage. Even with all the musical playfulness The Black Seeds know when to reign things in, keeping every cut sharp and to-the-point. If they applied the same principle to the tracklisting it would’ve helped the album from dragging at points. Even so Dust And Dirt is another rip-roaring effort from one of NZ’s finest.
BY ANDREW ‘HAZARD’ HICKEY
Best Track: Out Of Light
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In A Word: Nourishing
