The Black Crowes are a seminal band for me. Ever since 1990, when Shake Your Money Maker changed my life in much the same way that Slippery When Wet had done four years earlier, they have been part of the furniture.
More than 35 years later, “Profane Prophecy” couldn’t sound more like The Black Crowes if it tried. That isn’t meant as a criticism, either. Chris and Rich Robinson sound totally invigorated, attacking the song with the energy of men who have rediscovered exactly what made their band so special in the first place.
They have always been at their best when they have mixed a little soul into their rock ’n’ roll, and “Cruel Streak” does precisely that. The groove is loose, the performance feels natural and everything is delivered with the confidence of a band that has nothing left to prove.
Then again, they are just as likely to find a country vein and follow that instead. “Pharmacy Chronicles” does exactly that, with its piano giving the whole thing a timeless quality. It could have been recorded almost anywhere in the last 50 years, which is part of the point.
“Do The Parasite!” has that unmistakable Crowes strut. That swagger is one of the reasons we have loved them for so long, and it is also why they continue to endure when so many of their contemporaries have fallen away.
They make the 1960s sound effortless on “High And Lonesome”, although there is more going on here than mere nostalgia. The harmonies are particularly interesting, giving the song another dimension beneath its immediately familiar surface.
“Queen Of The B-Sides” provides a couple of minutes of acoustic music in the middle of the record. It takes its own time and refuses to be hurried, and you cannot help but hear The Rolling Stones in its ragged warmth.
Then comes “It’s Like That”, built around that guitar sound Rich Robinson gets that nobody else can quite replicate. It is unmistakably his, and you can understand why this was the song from A Pound Of Feathers that made the set at the band’s recent Manchester show.
“Blood Red Regrets” is The Black Crowes in 2026. In years gone by, they might have used it as an excuse to jam for twice as long. Here, though, it comes in at only a shade over four minutes. It says what it needs to say and moves on.
“You Call This A Good Time?” has all the sass you could want and is about as catchy as anything here. It feels effortless, but that is the trick with The Black Crowes: they make this sort of thing appear far easier than it really is.
“Eros Blues” starts as a lovely acoustic piece filled with warmth, but peel away the music and the lyrics suggest something far darker. “If I find my way to morning” gives a sense of someone attempting to make it through the night, and that uncertainty is matched by the way the song explodes into its chorus. The organ merely adds to the confusion.
The record ends with “Doomsday Doggerel”, its longest track – although even this remains under five minutes. Chris Robinson spits the words as if he genuinely means every one of them, closing the album with the same conviction with which it began.
After going 14 years without a new Black Crowes album, getting two in two years feels like riches. Like Happiness Bastards before it, A Pound Of Feathers sounds like the work of a band that loves being a band again.
It might not be quite as immediate as its predecessor, but it is every bit as rewarding.
Rating: 8.5/10
