It’s hard to imagine someone so playful and relatable could arise from the prickly noise band Black Dice. Eric Copeland’s sound exhibits a kind of magical musical lunacy shrouded in a dark humour that could soundtrack a 1930s Fleischer cartoon.
Following his outstanding 2007 debut Hermaphrodite, which was a colourful spew of bizarre samples and grizzly electronics, Copeland’s prolific output includes ventures into woozy disco with his 2013 album Joke in the Hole, while two lo-fi excursions with L.I.E.S saw him demystify his sound to a more warped brand of straight-up, dancefloor-focused tracks.

Black Bubblegum is a far cry from anything we’ve heard before, with Copeland putting his vocals at the forefront of this bubbly and psychedelic carousel ride.

Ripe in his idiosyncratic humour, there’s a carelessness to this record that makes it a messy and lovable album of lazy summer ballads. Resonating with the beachy garage band feels of The Sonics and quirky swirls of Doug Hream Blunt, Copeland becomes the frontman he never was. Inspired by, in his own words; “Glitter dreams, money troubles, apocalypse paranoia, one hit wonders”. It’s pretty evident Copeland hasn’t had the best of times, but the defeatist optimism on Fuck it up turns it all sunny-side up. Stuck in the mud Kids in a Coma is a hypnotic and churning laugh at lethargy. On and Cannibal wrap back in Copeland’s knack for a sticky sample with pressure on distorted vocals and guitar. Free from inhibitions, Copeland and mastered a charismatic and silly pop-driven record.

Aine Devaney