Hear This...Stream Demos/First Cuts by Blackfeet Braves

Fresh off the latest post dealing with the staggering differences between a band's initial rough first cuts and the remastered album songs, we here at TUNEclatter (hah, there's only one person here) dug up a goldmine of rough cuts from a relatively unknown outfit located deep in the valleys of southern California by the name of Blackfeet Braves. 

Who Are They?

As far as any background info goes on these guys, I know just about as much as you all do.  This could be one guy or it could be an eighteen person hippie-colony along the lines of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.  Who knows. Few details are given concerning who they are.  However, I see that they do have a variety of shows coming up in California so I'm pretty sure they are real.  But their name bearing resemblance to a real group of Native American tribes of northern America could lead to another theory.  For all I know, this could really be a pack of wild Indians sitting in a tee-pee making psychedelic riff-raff as they smoke piece pipes.  Just sayin'...

What Do They Sound Like?

Not to say their music sounds lazy or lacks any energy, but the overall style of Blackfeet Braves is one that sounds very worry-free and almost too easy going, but in a good way.  As I decided earlier, its hard to get a good read on just how many people make up this band.  Some songs rely only on a  couple guitars and a drum whereas others fill themselves with various background sounds from pipe organs and pianos to tambourines and maracas and other such percussion taps.

There's a mystical quality to this band that comes in the form of its lead singer.  His voice amidst  the seamless and echoing lo-fi guitars drifts off into harmonious lullabies.  And unlike many lead singers, his voice tends not to act as the driving force behind the band's music, instead favoring a complementary position behind the other sounds.  Strong, yet mesmerizing at some points while deliberately outspoken in others.

Blackfeet Braves doesn't come off as one of those impromptu jam bands that will carry on forever and leave you bored after three minutes.  Hardly.  For a band that could easily stretch all of their songs out into ten minute psychedelic overtures constantly nodding in and out, efficiency remains somewhat a concern.  A couple song songs could have a minute or two shaved off but generally this dilemma does not occur.  Instead the band works quickly and produces mesmerizing sounds in which listeners can leisurely enjoy, kick back and drift away into some sort of musical hypnosis.

1. Cloud Nine  04:42
2. Please Let Me Know/Dirty Ole Doc  06:26
3. Mystic Rabbit  04:08
4. Pain In My Heart  03:22
5. Trippin' Like I Do  03:08
6. Sea of Fate  04:04
7. Open Up Your Heart  02:58
8. Mind of Its Own (The Ocean)  02:40
9. Back To The Dark  03:09
10. Valley Rat  05:09
11. High and Dry  02:50
12. Like A Walk In The Park (You Make It Easy)  03:56
13. Harvest Song  03:57
14. Misery Loves Company  04:34

Favorite Tracks- 1, 5, 14