“We’re hanging out with the worst of them,
we make the bad look good.
After parties where you can’t invite your friends,
yea, this is Hollywood.”
Blazing rock trio THE BLACK MOODS warm up listeners with another new track, “Hollywood,” taken from their upcoming June 3 album INTO THE NIGHT via Wit Hustle/The Orchard/Steelhorse Entertainment. Streaming now across all digital platforms, “Hollywood” unflinchingly looks at the dark side beneath the glitz and glamour of the star-studded entertainment capital. Listen here:
https://orcd.co/tbmhollywood.
For INTO THE NIGHT, the Phoenix, AZ band–Josh Kennedy (vocals, guitar), Chico Diaz (drums) and Jordan Hoffman (bass)–reenlisted Grammy Award-nominated producer Johnny “K” Karkazis (3 Doors Down, Disturbed), who also worked with the trio on their critically acclaimed 2020 sophomore effort SUNSHINE, which produced the Top 20 rock track “Sunshine.” Unable to tour when the pandemic hit, the band packed up their studio and headed East to the Ozarks and set up a makeshift studio in their label owner’s home. “At first, our plan was to record some songs in his basement,” shares Kennedy. “…but we wound up taking over the entire house from June to October (2020).”
Recording a full album inside a private residence required the band to get creative–drums were tracked in the wide-open living room, guitar amps were placed inside the walk-in closets and so on. THE BLACK MOODS spent the summer immersed in the most dynamic and diverse project of their career, mixing hard-hitting rock & roll with electric blues, punky attitude, and plenty of anthemic choruses. For Kennedy, who’d grown up just a short drive away, he’d come full circle returning to the Ozarks, the place where he’d first fallen in love with music. Citing influence from the classic sounds of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Creedence Clearwater Revival and even ’90s mainstays like Counting Crowes and Better Than Ezra, INTO THE NIGHT marked another chance to blend his influences from the past into a sound for the present.
INTO THE NIGHT’s 12 tracks were every bit as inspired as the recording sessions that produced them. “Saturday Night” paid tribute to the wild, celebratory thrill of the weekend, which the band portrayed in the rousing music video seen
HERE, while “
She Gets Out” (released November 2021) showcased a softer side of the band, with jangling acoustic guitars and tight vocal harmonies giving way to a singalong refrain. INTO THE NIGHT is an album that’s felt as much as heard, rooted in the stomp of drummer Chico Diaz’s kick drum, the pulse of Jordan Hoffman’s bass, and the larger-than-life presence of Josh Kennedy.
