There is a ferocious Southern engine inside of Billy Allen + The Pollies’ debut album, Black Noise. It thrums to life atop a classic rock chassis and weaves in and out of gospel, grunge, funk and soul along its eleven-song journey. From the explosive top of the album (a liberating anthem of self-worth called “All of Me”) to the spiritually haunting final track (“Go on Without Them”), Black Noise is a genre-defiant haymaker that lands.
The band is a hybrid of four-piece indie rock outfit The Pollies and fellow Alabamian, and frontman, Billy Allen. The band and the singer met at a recording session at the iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals in early 2020 and hit it off. During the isolation of the COVID pandemic, they began exchanging voice memos. With the lockdown in full swing, the musicians became one other’s micro-community, and voice memos progressed to writing sessions in Jay’s garage.
When the time to record a proper record came, they tapped former Pollie Ben Tanner, a Grammy-winning producer/engineer/musician and keyboardist for Alabama Shakes. The result was Black Noise, which feels like walking on the alien terrain of a new genre, like garage grunge by way of Jackie Wilson. They are a band full of smiling time travelers, able to visit and draw from a multitude of eras and styles. Black Noise is an album that devastates you to the point of remembering why you love music. This is the type of band you root for. You can’t help it. They're that damn good.
