I attended a sweet Southern music festival in May, Carolina Rebellion, mainly to continue dosing up my Highly Suspect addiction. My first show of the morning was a San Francisco Punk trio, Black Map, and I got blown out of my muddy Chuck Taylor’s. They had a mosh pit going at noon. It was a sublime set, possibly one of the best of the day. Discovered that the band played most of the major festivals this summer, and yet, they weren’t better known. I have to rectify this right now.
Black Map is a San Francisco punk scene “supergroup” of sorts, with Ben Flanagan (bass and vocals), Chris Robyn (drums), and Mark Engles (guitar). They released their first EP, “Driver” in 2014, following up with two studio albums, “…And We Explode” (2014), and their current “In Droves” (2017). ‘Run Rabbit Run’, a single from “In Droves” made it to 31 on the US mainstream rock charts, a rare feat for a Post Hardcore band.(http://www.billboard.com/artist/7766500/black-map/chart)
Black Map’s secret weapon is that they’re not your average Post Hardcore band. Most, not all, genre bands concentrate on the aggression of the sound. Black Map has the rare gift of solid songwriting. Songs like ‘Run Rabbit Run’ and ‘Ruin’ slam into the auditory parts of the brain with all prerequisite crunch necessary for Post Hardcore, with skilled songwriting. Complex bass and drum lines from Flanagan and Robyn engage the ears. ‘Heavy Waves’ and ‘Foxglove’ have a more mainstream alternative rock sound with the required edge and intriguing lyrics. Ben Flanagan’s vocals carry a pleasing punch without the shrieking so common in Hardcore. ‘Dead Ringer’ guitar work from Mark Engles is melodic and hypnotizing in the middle of the songs power. I consider this a thinking person’s punk.
As I mentioned, Black Map either played or will continue to play every major rock festival in the U.S., with a few smaller venue shows mixed in, for the rest of the year. All their music is available on all streaming services and online music outlets.
Main website.
https://www.blackmapmusic.com
Youtube
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCbCPGFAw2WYVTBlwgxdEdfw
