Black Pudding is a garage-rock trio who can rock a mean fuzz sound while coating it with cheesy lo-fi production and intoxicating hooks. The band are still very early into their career, building some hype through the release of singles such as these ones “Sci-fi Si” and “Tillagio”. Nonetheless, the band have a clear goal for their sound to fit this ongoing modern trend of fuzzy garage rock, because while this doesn’t reinvent the wheel, this will surely please any fans of the style. These tracks at times act as a hazy trip of distortion and slurred vocals, but these guys can pen a catchy hook and some sharply humorous lyrics among their warm bedroom rock.

(The bandcamp version and Spotify version have the tracks attached to different names, so this is going off the bandcamp version.)

“Sci-fi Si” is a classic slow-burner that keeps a steady grove as it builds into shoegaze-y garage party with sing-along hooks elevated by roaring guitars. The vocals come with a very slacker-like tone to them only to play into the fuzzy, grungy aesthetic the band clearly aims for. Certainly the stronger of the two singles, as the melody jumps out at you worth some surprisingly interesting turns that work really effectively with the airy, sluggish instrumentation. Simplicity works pretty well for the band on this track, there’s nothing to showy from any performances, but that is sort of the essence of garage rock, the power comes from the viscera of the playing with little to no cerebral efforts required.

“Tillagio” kicks off with a fast pace as the scorching power chords melt into the blistering drums. There’s an alluring twang and an in-your-face snark that’s showcased in full-force as the vocals come and the sound softens a little. But apart from some fierce abrasion and driving chaos to the sound, there isn’t much beyond that to leave a long-lasting impression, but it is a lot fun to thrash out to while it plays.

Overall these tracks are pretty fun, and do their job at setting a vibe. The influences come off pretty clear, but they seem to still be finding their feet. There’s potential here, let’s see if they can fill it.

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Sci​-​Fi Si / Tillagio is available now via Loner Noise.