Black Diamond Bay — Calm Awaits

Patrick Krief's first proper Black Diamond Bay release is similar to his seven-track Take It Or Leave EP in that it contrasts his group's emotional, visceral live performances rather than complements them.

That's not to say the former Dears guitarist and his band — who also include former Dears drummer George Donoso — sound dispassionate on the appropriately titled Calm Awaits. The record lets Krief and his gang explore more lush arrangements, winding pop psychedelia and intricate harmonizing. The result is something far more delicate than the extended instrumental sections they bust out during shows, where Krief blasts away on electric guitar with his face uncomfortably contorting with every note.

It's still an impressive debut from the road-tested quartet, as the '60s pop motif serves to show a softer, more musically inventive side of Black Diamond Bay beyond the gruff blues-rock aggression for which they've become noted for on stage.

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