Small Black
Ranging from chillwave to sophisticated electro-pop, Small Black fuses long… Read Full Bio ↴Ranging from chillwave to sophisticated electro-pop, Small Black fuses longing, noise, and melody into lushly wistful songs. On their 2009 self-titled EP and 2010 debut album, New Chain, their lo-fi hybrid of shoegaze and synth pop helped put chillwave on the map and fit into the larger indie tradition of artists couching their heartbreak in homespun sounds. In the 2010s and beyond, they polished their style, and emphasized their '80s sophisti-pop influences on 2013's Limits of Desire, but as poised as their music grew, albums such as 2021's Cheap Dreams kept the emotional pull of their songwriting at the forefront.
Small Black started with a name and worked backwards: a housemate of singer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kolenik came up with the moniker on a cold Portland, Oregon night. The name stuck when he returned to Long Island, New York and began collaborating with Ryan Heyner, an area musician and former member of the hardcore band Silent Majority who shared friends with Kolenik. The pair holed up in the attic of the beach house and surfboard shop Kolenik's uncle owned to record songs with vintage keyboards and samplers, spending late 2008 and early 2009 recording as Uncle Matt made surfboards underneath them.
Though Kolenik had played in several bands before Small Black, the mix of shoegaze and synth pop he and Heyner hit upon felt special, and the group's lineup was complete once bassist/guitarist Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin from Kolenik's previous band, Slowlands, joined to bolster production and fill out their live act. Small Black released their self-titled five-song EP on their own CassClub label in October 2009, and released the U.K. single "Despicable Dogs" as well as a video for that song featuring Uncle Matt soon after. Following their performances at that year’s CMJ Music Marathon, Small Black signed to Jagjaguwar Records, which reissued the band’s debut EP with two bonus tracks in 2010. That year, they also released a split single with the like-minded Washed Out, with whom they also toured. New Chain, the band's first full-length, boasted a slightly more polished sound that reflected their consistent touring as well as their interest in hip-hop and arrived in October 2010. In late 2011, the band offered the Moon Killer mixtape as a free download from their website. The collection of new material was built on samples ranging from Pere Ubu to Nicki Minaj and featured multiple drop-ins from Das Racist MC Heems as well as remixes from Star Slinger and Phonetag.
After spending much of 2012 on the road, Small Black returned with May 2013's Limits of Desire, a more sophisticated-sounding set influenced by Talk Talk and the Blue Nile. They covered the latter band's classic "Downtown Lights" on the following year's Real People EP, which had a more dancefloor-oriented style and featured vocals from Frankie Rose. Small Black's passion for sophisti-pop grew on October 2015's Best Blues. Recorded by the band in their Brooklyn home studio and mixed by Nicholas Vernhes at the Rare Book Room Studio, the album included contributions from trumpeter Darby Cicci of the Antlers and vocalist Kaede Ford. Soon after Best Blues' release, Kolenik's Uncle Matt passed away, and the memory of him inspired many of the songs on Small Black's fourth album. Arriving on 100% Electronica in April 2021, the reflective Cheap Dreams found the band returning from their hiatus with an extra dose of goth to their synth pop reveries. In 2023, Small Black looked back with a pair of archival releases. They commemorated the tenth anniversary of Limits of Desire with a deluxe edition of the album, and also issued a deluxe version of their debut EP that included previously unreleased songs from their early beach house sessions.
Biography by Heather Phares for ALLMUSIC
Small Black started with a name and worked backwards: a housemate of singer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kolenik came up with the moniker on a cold Portland, Oregon night. The name stuck when he returned to Long Island, New York and began collaborating with Ryan Heyner, an area musician and former member of the hardcore band Silent Majority who shared friends with Kolenik. The pair holed up in the attic of the beach house and surfboard shop Kolenik's uncle owned to record songs with vintage keyboards and samplers, spending late 2008 and early 2009 recording as Uncle Matt made surfboards underneath them.
Though Kolenik had played in several bands before Small Black, the mix of shoegaze and synth pop he and Heyner hit upon felt special, and the group's lineup was complete once bassist/guitarist Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin from Kolenik's previous band, Slowlands, joined to bolster production and fill out their live act. Small Black released their self-titled five-song EP on their own CassClub label in October 2009, and released the U.K. single "Despicable Dogs" as well as a video for that song featuring Uncle Matt soon after. Following their performances at that year’s CMJ Music Marathon, Small Black signed to Jagjaguwar Records, which reissued the band’s debut EP with two bonus tracks in 2010. That year, they also released a split single with the like-minded Washed Out, with whom they also toured. New Chain, the band's first full-length, boasted a slightly more polished sound that reflected their consistent touring as well as their interest in hip-hop and arrived in October 2010. In late 2011, the band offered the Moon Killer mixtape as a free download from their website. The collection of new material was built on samples ranging from Pere Ubu to Nicki Minaj and featured multiple drop-ins from Das Racist MC Heems as well as remixes from Star Slinger and Phonetag.
After spending much of 2012 on the road, Small Black returned with May 2013's Limits of Desire, a more sophisticated-sounding set influenced by Talk Talk and the Blue Nile. They covered the latter band's classic "Downtown Lights" on the following year's Real People EP, which had a more dancefloor-oriented style and featured vocals from Frankie Rose. Small Black's passion for sophisti-pop grew on October 2015's Best Blues. Recorded by the band in their Brooklyn home studio and mixed by Nicholas Vernhes at the Rare Book Room Studio, the album included contributions from trumpeter Darby Cicci of the Antlers and vocalist Kaede Ford. Soon after Best Blues' release, Kolenik's Uncle Matt passed away, and the memory of him inspired many of the songs on Small Black's fourth album. Arriving on 100% Electronica in April 2021, the reflective Cheap Dreams found the band returning from their hiatus with an extra dose of goth to their synth pop reveries. In 2023, Small Black looked back with a pair of archival releases. They commemorated the tenth anniversary of Limits of Desire with a deluxe edition of the album, and also issued a deluxe version of their debut EP that included previously unreleased songs from their early beach house sessions.
Biography by Heather Phares for ALLMUSIC
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Small Black Lyrics
01 Despicable Dogs I know where they build em I know where they're selling…
17 Despicable Dogs I know where they build em I know where they're selling…
Back At Belle's When I came here Everything was strange Wasn't sure I'd see …
Bad Lover And in the white building, ohh-oh I waste my love(?), ohh-oh…
Between Leos Two in the dark A competent heart Come and live with me Just…
Big Ideas Pt. 2 I recall a time when the moon Was full And you had…
Boys Life In light of love You seem remorse Comes love Lost of wonder …
Breathless I'm standing in tomorrow's way Future's fine Least it seems …
Camouflage Off night teens with lesser guides Enough of my old…
Canoe CANOE On my way to the 7th house I ended up caught right…
Cheap Dreams I was waging war that I can't afford never felt the pain but…
Checkpoints None of this can resume From the place that we Left off Pan…
Crisp 100s Calmly Overwhelm me And I feel it in the cards That it…
Despicable Dogs I know where they build em I know where they're selling…
Dispicable Dogs I know where they build 'em I know where they're selling…
Driftwood Fire you know I'm here for the right? didn't expect anybody else …
Duplex I want to dissolve through plaster walls I want to float ove…
Free At Dawn I'd been keeping myself Keeping myself from you Hoping you'l…
Goons Tonight I've sees the world how it wants to be It…
Hydra Cool pride, creeps over me I still gut through this…
Kings of Animals When the beast lets you know Man, its gotta go The way it…
Kyoto Day off in Kyoto I got bored at the temple Looked around…
Lady in the Wires I came here half alive With terrible things in mind A long…
Light Curse Don't you say that I'm lazy I didn't even want…
Limits Of Desire LIMITS OF DESIRE I wanted relief from wanting A moment bene…
Lines of Latitude Here am I so close to the frost Here am I in the…
Moon Killer Never make you shine, never make you shine Never make you…
New Chain I can't escape The wild summer fate Once it changed The t…
No One Wants It to Happen to You No one wants it to happen to you No one wants it to…
No Stranger Tell me where you thought you saw me Tell me why…
Nobody Loves You Sometimes I think about it less I listen to the night…
Only A Shadow ONLY A SHADOW I'd heard of you from a voice at the…
Outskirts OUTSKIRTS I stood and watched longer than I should What was…
Panthers Anywhere that it wants to go Doesn't want your blood anyway…
Personal Best Though we like to pretend the dance is choreographed there l…
Photojournalist What had become of The woman who lingered around In the phot…
Pleasant Experience Under ugly moons Pleasant as it was I don't assume I was the…
Postcard Wake up in the grid In the house where your parents…
Proper Spirit Each night I go out And forget Monk's orders And head str…
Real People I crossed the plain to I crashed Broke into our house To res…
Reconstruction Just put it back together wherever you remember We could try…
Search Party High among the wires of the city Under the guise of…
Service Merchandise Just noticed that summer was over now Nobody works here anym…
Shook Loves Do know I loved you Now I Now I don't have a…
Smoke Around The Bend Quietly, I asked them what This place was for Nobody could r…
Song To Ruin We live in the future Just keeps happening elevator gonna cl…
Sophie She was the end of ruins a full rush of air A…
Tampa Hey you! Why you blocking all the light? Walking in the rain…
The Bridge THE BRIDGE I'm on the bridge again line drifts I wave to th…
The Closer I Look And if not here then where else might one live easy? in tom…
Two Rivers [Verse 1: Heems] Himanshu, a bombshell 9am, I can’t sleep, b…
Weird Machines Lit up all the matches Peek inside the room Fortune tellers …
XX Century Meet me down At the the steps Tell no one This is prolly…