A notoriously enigmatic band hailing from Pennsylvania, Black Moth Super Rainbow made waves on the indie circuit with their unique brand of otherworldly, psychedelic indie pop. The band employ typical rock band instrumentation in addition to a bevy of vintage synthesizers, with all of the vocals sung through a vocoder. Additionally, the group coat everything in hazy effects and tape hiss, resulting in music as grimy and disorienting as it is catchy. The group have built up a dedicated fan base through touring as well as their acclaimed recordings, which are often released through their own labels in limited editions. The group’s leader, Tobacco, has also launched a successful solo career.
The project evolved out of a duo called Satanstompingcaterpillars, which began in Pittsburgh in 2000 and consisted of Tobacco and Power Pill Fist. The group expanded to include five members (including the Seven Fields of Aphelion, Iffernaut, and Father Hummingbird), and changed their name to Black Moth Super Rainbow in 2003. Packing a sound that nodded to contemporary retro-chic electronic acts like Air and the Octopus Project (who they would eventually collaborate with), the group released its first album, Falling Through a Field, on its own 70s Gymnastics Recording Co. Basing its operations in an undisclosed location somewhere in rural Pennsylvania, the group signed to Georgia-based Graveface Records and released two more albums, Start a People and Lost Picking Flowers in the Woods, over the course of the next three years. A critically acclaimed collaboration with the Octopus Project, 2006’s The House of Apples and Eyeballs, combined with a successful debut at that year’s SXSW launched the group into the indie limelight. Their sticky, rainbow-tinted fourth release, Dandelion Gum, hit stores the following year.
After Tobacco released the 2008 solo album Fucked Up Friends on Anticon, the band regrouped with producer Dave Fridmann and recorded its slickest, most accessible record to date, 2009’s Eating Us. The band shuffled its lineup and issued several EPs in the next few years, and even completed work on an album called Psychic Love Damage, which was scrapped shortly after it was finished because the band didn’t find it too exciting once it was done. Without a label, they instead launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the release of 2012’s Cobra Juicy, offering donating fans rewards such as hideous masks with USB flash drives containing MP3s of the new album jutting out in place of teeth. The album arrived via the group’s own Rad Cult imprint, which also released an EP of tracks intended for Psychic Love Damage.
After the group toured behind Cobra Juicy, Tobacco signed to Ghostly International as a solo artist and released two more full-lengths. BMSR released an EP titled SeeFu Lilac in 2016, as well as a split single with Freescha. The group made their proper return with 2018 full-length Panic Blooms, a typically sinister yet blissful reaction to the state of the world. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi
