Acoustic guitar and bass pair to begin I Barely Know Her, fooling the audience into thinking Black Coffee’s single is from a chill indie ballad, at least until singer and bassist Ehab Omran shows off his vocal range about 40 seconds in. Omran belts I try and do my best for you, with drummer Tommy McCullough calling out the traditional, One, two, three, four, hitting harder and faster, leading guitarist Justin Young to rip into a heavy yet catchy power riff.
Omran correlates his bass notes to Young’s guitar chords, creating a forcefully potent ear-worm, urging the listener to repeat the notes with their voice, the dreadfully unrepresentative yet chronically pleasant, Da Na Da Na Na Na Na Na, I’m coming launches into the blend, vocals which seem to speak for the whole band as the electric instrumentation begins to drive the listener into hair-shaking ecstasy. Omran’s vocal high notes, McCullough’s hard hits, and the general stout instrumentation summons hefty retro-rock nostalgia – something akin to classic and 70’s rock with a modern twist.
At around two minutes, Black Coffee repeat their captivating bass/guitar paralleled riff, everything culminating into that fiery line, I’m coming! The three members bring a sort of energy to their aptly named band, certain to get audiences out of their seat and possibly onto their table, head banging like a caffeine addict and a true rocker. Black Coffee is certainly coming hot into contemporary music’s kitchen, all black but certainly not bitter. Rock fans will have some old school sugar to sprinkle into their ears with Black Coffee’s debut album Take One, bringing retro-rock into the 21st century.
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