At a mere 2-years-old, Austin's the Black Angels may still only be but a baby branch on the gnarled, twisted family tree of Texas psych-rock, but oh what a mighty impressive, heady racket (and menacing drone) they make. With a deep, dark sound that echoes New York's the Velvet Underground and L.A.'s the Doors as strongly as Texas' own psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators, the Black Angels deliver on the ominous promise of their name with a vengeance. Replete with songs of war, death and lifemore

At a mere 2-years-old, Austin's the Black Angels may still only be but a baby branch on the gnarled, twisted family tree of Texas psych-rock, but oh what a mighty impressive, heady racket (and menacing drone) they make. With a deep, dark sound that echoes New York's the Velvet Underground and L.A.'s the Doors as strongly as Texas' own psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators, the Black Angels deliver on the ominous promise of their name with a vengeance. Replete with songs of war, death and life's other ugly truths, the co-ed sextet's (or septet, if you count their stage show projectionist) 2006 debut full-length, Passover, plays like an audio companion to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now with an extra shot of foreboding and paranoia. it may not be for the faint-of-heart, but just like the Black Angels' live show, it's a killer trip.