- Despite the relatively clunky name (which admittedly is somewhat fitting for the music they create) and the cold, unsettling fact that this group is led by a mysterious fellow going by the name of 'Tobacco' AND he constantly indulges the use of a vocoder over a sea of tripped out, blissfully grotesque instrumentation, the members of Black Moth Super Rainbow don't come across as the crappiest human beings on the face of the earth.

For the unfortunately uninitiated, the music of Black Moth Super Rainbow is a gloriously bizarre take on pop song-writing, pushing the boundaries of experimental synth-pop to the next level, making groups like MGMT and Yeasayer look decidedly middle of the road. Though it would be easy to write off a decent chunk of all synth-pop as dirty trash, when it goes right, it really goes right: jumping from annoying to compelling in one swift move.
Having a focus on analog, electronic instruments and a further emphasis on recreating manic arrangements in a live setting has always given Black Moth Super Rainbow an unmistakable edge amongst those masses,

They've a tough and groovy backbone that steers the group away from being gimmicky or shallow. Primary song-writer and chief weirdo, that chap Tobacco never once sings without the use of his trusty vocoder, delivering a sea of bizarre yet oddly insightful ramblings of a madman, all shrouded in a haze of pulsing electronics and the simple but hypnotising work of the rhythm section that holds the whole beautiful mess together.

After recording and scrapping a planned release earlier in the year - Tobacco proclaimed it unworthy of anyone's hard earned cash money - the group reassembled and gave it another shot, eventually releasing the best moments from those earlier sessions on an EP that accompanies this newest full-length effort. Fifth long-player Cobra Juicy finally came about after a strangely successful Kickstarter campaign that saw the group raise over $100,000 American dollars from their small but loyal fan base of oddballs.

Cobra Juicy is not a huge departure from Black Moth Super Rainbow's previous work, but holds up as well as anything the group or Tobacco in solo mode have ever put out, everyone in there finally seeming to wrap their collective heads around the vision of their fearless, Charles Manson-esque leader. Early cut 'Like A Sundae' sees Black Moth Super Rainbow at their blissful, melodic best, coming on like 'Swim' era Caribou if he'd taken too much LSD and lost his freaking mind to the devil.

- Jay Edwards.