There is always first for everything. So far on Indieterria, we reviewed mostly American and British artists with very few European exceptions. Izzy And The Black Trees are the first entirely Polish band that landed in our mailbox and it’s a pleasure to write a few words about their second album “Revolution Comes In Waves”. Released on the 7th of October, the album is probably the best English language record ever released by a Polish band. It’s perfectly produced, beautifully recorded and proves that Polish music is much more diverse than many people give us credit for.
Izzy And The Black Trees by BW Picture
For the last three decades of more, our musical contribution to the world was sadly limited to metal, black metal and maybe occasionally jazz (Basia Trzetrzelewska, Michal Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak, Tomasz Stanko). With bands such as Vader, Behemoth, Dies Irae or Vesania being signed to international labels and constantly touring the US and Europe, it was easy to think that our music is dominated by the most extreme of genres. However, this was never the case, although our metal bands surely had the biggest international careers than any other Polish musician, including Edyta Gorniak who came second on the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994.
At the beginning of 2000, alternative rock quartet Myslovitz came the closest to have a proper international break with their English language reedition of their album “Korova Milky Bar” that was released by EMI and helped the band tour Europe alongside Travis, Skunk Anansie and Iggy Pop. However, after that for a long time, we had no overseas success at all. Luckily things are changing. Gdansk based indie band Trupa Trupa received rave reviews from every corner of the world for their 2019 album “Of The Sun” (and earned multiple spins from legendary The BBC 6 Music), Tobiasz Bilinski aka Perfect Son is signed to the famous label SUB POP (Nirvana, Pearl Jam) and finally Izzy And The Black Trees are going from strength to strength.
Official bio: From a quiet university city in Western Poland, Izzy and the Black Trees bring raw punk energy backed up by noisy psych guitar riffs, strong beat and feisty melodies. You can feel the aura of Patti Smith, Debbie Harry or PJ Harvey around Izzy’s songwriting and her musical deliverance. Supported by her three partners in crime, Izzy and the Black Trees invite you on a poetic rebel freeride you’ve been long waiting for. Founded in 2018 by the singer and band leader Izabela Izzy Rekowska who spent some time in London working-up her songwriting skills prior to forming the four-piece. In autumn 2019, the rock’n’roll infused single Picasso’s Octopuss revealed a bold, psych fuzz ridden sound which is present throughout the debut album “Trust No One” – released by the legendary Polish indie label Antena Krzyku in April 2020. The title song of the album was featured by Steve Lamacq in BBC 6 Music Recommends radio show. In January 2021 the band released a single called “The Station” featuring an English songwriter living in Poland Kev Fox. Also, around that time, in the middle of the pandemic, Izzy &TBT started to work on their second album. Their live shows are full of feminine, punk and rock’n’roll energy. Izzy &TBT played shows at Westway LAB (PT), Spring Break (PL), Tak Brzmi Miasto (PL) showcase festivals. Toured clubs and festivals in Poland such as Jarocin, Malta Festival and Inne Brzmienia (Different Sounds). The band also has a home in Berlin as a regular guest at the Schokoladen Club in Mitte.
Album cover
Izzy And The Black Tree is a quartet consisting of Izabela “Izzy” Rekowska (vocals, lyrics), Mariusz Dojs (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mateusz Pawlukiewicz (drums) and Łukasz Mazdah Mazurowski (bass). The album was recorded in a cabin somewhere in the Polish mountains during the pandemic and is produced by Marcin Bros who has worked for some of the biggest Polish rock acts such as Hey, Moonlight or Myslovitz. If we were to summarize their sound for a foreign reader, we would have to say this is a cross between a rockier version of Phoebe Bridges, Florence and The Machine and Sleater- Kinney with a dose of The Cure and Siouxsie And The Banshees. They play a very intelligent mixture of indie, pop rock, alternative rock, garage and punk rock.
“Revolution Comes In Waves” contains 10 songs or only 35 minutes of music. To put it in perspective – that’s about 8 minutes less than an average LP. I’m not sure if this was a conscious decision to keep the album at the length of a (larger) EP or an oversight, but it makes you crave more. In my opinion, it would be much better if it was extended by one or two more songs, especially if the closing number “Candy” is only 36 seconds long. It’s not a big complaint, but 35 minutes passes way too quickly and from consumer’s point of view more music is always better than less.
We have to congratulate Izzy on her excellent English accent. Terrible pronunciation has been an Achilles’ heel of many Polish singers and turned many good songs into cringe fests making music promotion outside of Poland a PR version of “Mission Impossible”. It’s good to finally have somebody whom we do not have to be ashamed of. Also, the music the band makes is of top-notch quality – it can proudly stand next to the biggest releases of 2022 and it would put several highly promoted albums in their place (Wet Leg, new Kasbian to name a few). There are several songs on the record that with a larger promotion and being placed on Spotify curated playlists, would have easily elevated the band into international superstars (“Liberate”, “Kick Out The Damned). The only reason this is not happening is that the band do not have such money. Anybody has Elon Musk on a speed dial? Jokes aside but with a solid financial backing, The Black Trees could hit the stratosphere.
The thing is – there are no bad or weak songs on “Revolution Comes In Waves”. You can listen to any track and they are equally amazing. The haunting “Love’s In Crisis” with a layered vocals is a thing of absolute beauty. Or the opening “I Can’t Breathe” with its extraordinary hypnotic drumming and buzzing guitars. Or the slower, psychedelic and political “Pretty Crimes”. Or the poetic “National Tragedy”. Or the slightly new wave/gothic “Break Into My Body” that deals with the assault on the rights of women worldwide. Every song brings something new to the musical landscape. It’s almost like a box of chocolates that every flavour is unique and getter that the one you had before.
“Revolution Comes In Waves” is a obligatory listen for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you live in Poland, the UK or somewhere on the mainland – you just have to sit down, put your headphones on and dive head first into the band’s sonic world. You will not be disappointed.
5/5
Please follow the band online:
https://www.instagram.com/izzyandtheblacktrees/
https://www.facebook.com/IzzyandtheBlackTrees
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ovgRYo5Ud9pCee7LoD2B3
https://izzyandtheblacktrees.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/izzyandtheblacktrees
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNWta_37hGIGSdLo-zimgww
EPK:
https://fiverosespress.net/revolution-comes-in-waves/
Record label:
https://antenakrzyku.pl/pl/p/Izzy-And-The-Black-Trees-Revolution-Comes-In-Waves-CD%2C-preorder%2C-premiera-071022/2149
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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