Black Fin - 1er Fin

Black Fin 

1er Fin
self-released; 2016

3.5 out of 5

By Jamie Funk
​

Alain Mailhot (drums), Félix-Antoine Desrochers (vocals/guitars), Francis Lemoyne (bass) and Thomas Lemay-Dumouchel (guitar) are Black Fin. The band from Montreal recently released 1er EP. It’s a fairly straightforward rock EP that flirts with blues. 

The songs are well written and the delivery is on point. I thought the production was actually a little lo-fi considering it was recorded in a professional studio. 

The band gets cooking with raucous rocker “You’ve got to give it away.” There is only a couple of degrees difference from a White Stripes song meshed with Queens of the Stone Age. It’s a good opener with a good groove and high energy. You are greeted with a predictable guitar solo towards the end.

“This thing called love” might be a bit of an homage to Hendrix. The way the vocalist kind of talks reminded me of what Hendrix used to do. Up next is “Stone Lake” which is a more focused effort but still brings you a nice mix of blues and rock. “Billy Stain” returns the energy of the first two. No complaints on my end but I had a hard time finding something that separated Black Fin from a number of like-minded bands.

The crux of this band is whether they can get past the standard blues rock style and find something within the music that defines the band. I can’t say I hear it at this point but this is only their first effort. That being said the band shines in a number of other departments that I can't say I hear often in debut efforts.

​The good news is they built a solid foundation with this EP. If they can graduate to the next level and start to cement a signature sound they will surpass a good majority of bands in this genre.

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