Every so often they strip the music down to something slow and bluesy. But the Black Box Revelation isn't purely retro. They are just as happy with a drum-machine beat and a heap of overdubbed percussion, as long as the music makes its happy, trashy crash.
New York Times
A sinister slice of buzzing guitar noise concealing a beautiful pop melody beneath.
Playboy
It's a record that makes you want to throw on your leather vest and go boozin' til the break of dawn.
Six Degrees, 4 stars
Flemish sleaze from the heart. Brussels may not be a city noted for its contribution to the world of high energy, no frills raunch'n'roll, but that is about to change. This is un-ironic, un-pretentious, un-self-conscious party music for people in great leather jackets who are more worried about when they're next getting laid than they are about global warming. And if this demographic does not include you, then…well, you're an idiot.
Radar
There's scuzzy, full throttle blues romps sitting comfortably next to more quiet moments. My Perception is an album that sits just on the edge of chaos, providing a brilliant musical thrill ride, almost from start to finish.
Contact Music
Foot-stomping, 60s garage rock sound eerily reminiscent of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club…these dudes are extremely talented…there's still some innocence in these roots rockers and instrumentals that sounded like Man Man showed their playful rawness. What really sets Black Box Revelation apart is neither their age, nor their light French accent, but the strong Blues influence present in most tracks. Nothing is more essential to great rock n' roll.
CMJ
A rock party that seems unwilling to end. Like the 60s garage bands they were influenced by, Black Box Revelation know that sometimes rock is most effective when it is simple. With this philosophy in mind, the bad keeps their riffs repeating and their lyrics from being over analytical. Black Box Revelation's debut seem stragegically constructed while still retaining a reckless and raw sound.
Plug in Music
Scuzzy guitars, crashing drums, unabashed energy and depth of soul.
Rocksound
Take a heathy pinch of Black Rebel, add a tinge of the Black Keys and a sprinkle of The White Stripes. Place in a dark, dank, smoky, studio and nourished by endless gallons of aviation fuel for weeks upon end and you have yourself the perfect Molotov Cocktail... Black Box Revelation style.
Komodorock
Opening on menacing drums, Belgian duo Black Box Revelation moves along like a panther stalking the city's sidewalks. Utilising jagged guitars and driven throughout by those pounding drums, periodically puncturing the fuzzy rock guitar with crystal clear blues licks that have the crowd cheering, before nose-diving back into that blistering, swaggering riff.
Daily Music Guide, 4 stars
Love this EP, exciting, great Rock & Roll. Very excited about this band. Love it.
Club NME
This is just fuckin' awesome, like the best trash rock n' roll bands of the last 40 years all in one fair hit.
Loaded
I really love this... full on head rush rock n roll... addictive clever but instant and immediate at the same time.
EVOL
Like Black Rebel Motorcycle club in a good mood. The noise these two men make is as riotous as The Whit Stripe at their loudest.
Daily Music Guide
They might be from Belgium, but Black Box Revelation boasts more jangly, bluesy, American/British rock and roll swag than most US acts around today. This is that whiskey-drinking music.
Pigeons & Planes
Something about this just exudes a cool factor that's tough to find these days. Could be a new front-runner for the city-walking soundtrack.
The Chuckness
Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/theblackboxrevelation
Twitter Profile http://twitter.com/#!/bbrofficial
Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/theblackboxrevelatio
Tumblr Blog http://blackboxrevelation.tumblr.com/
Official Site http://www.blackboxrevelation.com/
Record Label http://www.meroveerecords.com/
Scuzzy guitars, crashing drums, unabashed energy and depth of soul collide in the music from Black Box Revelation. Already making waves overseas, this Belgian duo prepare their first US release, Shiver of Joy (EP), and plot US tour dates with Meat Puppets and The Morning After Girls.
Shiver of Joy (EP) features two new B-sides from Black Box Revelation's upcoming US debut LP, My Perception, and two tracks from each of the critically acclaimed European releases Silver Threats and Set Your Head On Fire. For a preview of what to expect from the EP, full length album and live show, download EP track "Shiver of Joy" and stream the entire release at their Facebook page.
On tour w/ The Morning After Girls ( Sept 19 - Oct 21)
On tour w/ Meat Puppets ( Nov 6 - Nov 14 )
On tour w/ Girl In A Coma, Coathangers, Fences ( Nov 16 - Nov 29 )
Combining Beatles-meets-Kinks British invasion pop with haunting melodies, pounding blues, thick ambience and driving beats, Black Box Revelation plot their foreign invasion. Check out how much noise two fellas can make in a live performance of "High On A Wire".
For a preview of what to expect from Black Box Revelation check out a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of My Perception.
Brussels, Belgium may not be known for producing great rock and roll bands, but don't tell that to 22-year-old Jan Paternoster nor his 20-year-old sidekick Dries Van Dijck, who have been playing together for a decade, already releasing two albums, 2007's Set Your Head on Fire and 2010's Silver Threats (recorded in London's legendary Konk Studios) that established the duo as a serious force to be reckoned with. A cross between R&B-inflected garage-band rock that takes its cues from mid-'60s Stones and The Kinks to the most gut-bucket, electric delta blues evocative of Led Zeppelin by way of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Black Box Revelation is just that… a musical revelation that can't be boxed into a single category.
Coming to America to record their stateside debut, My Perception, with producer Alain Johannes [Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures] in his L.A. home studio, Jan and Dries felt right at home in the country where so much of the music that inspired them had been made. The result is their most accomplished album to date, with sound and noise now coalescing into real songs like the title track and "Rattle My Heart," which might have come straight from Out of Our Heads; the spooky acoustic strains of the Beatles-meets-Kinks British Invasion vibe of "Anger," the haunting, stark acoustic "New Sun," the pounding blues of "High On a Wire," the thick ambience of "2 Young Boys," the percussive beat of "Shadowman" and the psychedelic blues of "White Unicorns."
While building up a fan base in Europe by touring with Eagles of Death Metal as well as their own headlining shows in France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Holland and Scandanavia, the band has played scattered shows in the States, including two years at SXSW, as well as shows in L.A., New York, Boston, San Diego and San Francisco. Seeing them live, before a packed, sweaty audience of their crowd-surfing, head-banging fans, is yet another revelation…this one how two guys can create a sound that fills the room—and more.