Photo by Benjamin R. Freed

Written by DCist contributor Matt Siblo

After the projector screen went down at the Rock and Roll hotel on Sunday, an inconspicuous video blogger rattled off a loose-tongued diatribe about a band he saw open for MGMT with a “really, really stupid name” who he pointedly described as “unbearable.” He recalled the lyricist singing songs about the alphabet and counting through “some robot voice” sounding as if “they are making music for printers.” Then the band in question, Pittsburgh’s Black Moth Super Rainbow, quickly emerged.

Whether the clip’s vitriol was fabricated or the result of a genuinely unsatisfied customer of the band, its humor stemmed partly because his exaggerated descriptors were vaguely on point. Black Moth Super Rainbow play a syrupy, synth-heavy spin on psychedelia, dripping with pop melodies sung through a vocoder (read: robot voice). Its album art features surrealist, hallucinogenic imagery. Band members have adopted Manson-family like pseudonyms (Father Hummingbird, Power Pill Fist), while song titles (“Spinning Cotton Candy in a Shack Made of Shingles,” “American Face Dust”) are even less lucid. BMSR’s oddball tendencies have led to something of a mysterious reputation based on things like releasing limited edition “hairy” versions of their albums and performing in masks. All of this kitsch could relegate the band to hallow spectacle, but BMSR’s songs rise above the novelty.