Tainted Life
Long-running dark rock outfit Black Tape For A Blue Girl is back with their 10th studio album, 10 Neurotics (Projekt Records, distributed in the USA by Nail. Released in Europe on Trisol Records). It's a collection of sinister character sketches presented in theatrical cabaret style. "I set out to create an album that looks at our sexuality, obsessions and fetishes with a mature (rather than sensationalized) eye," writes Sam Rosenthal, the groups founder, keyboardist and guitarist. The new live lineup also includes vocalist Athan Maroulis (formerly of the pioneering electronic band Spahn Ranch) as well as the dark cabaret infused, guitar playing chanteuse Nicki Jaine.

"10 Neurotics reads less like an album and more like a modern rock opera. Dark and mysterious in both tone and lyrics, the songs have a vintage feel that is somewhat reminiscent of old-time cabaret with a vaudevillian twist. 10 Neurotics feels theatric, epic, grand, it would seem more at home on a stage than in a record player." - The Deli Magazine, Brooklyn NY

"Black Tape - essentially a new band now - slides somewhat toward the rock band world. But just somewhat, sort of like Tom Waits or Serge Gainsbourg or Beat Circus. There's strange beauty and gloomy darkness, compulsion, revulsion and decadence." - JimSullivan.com, Boston

"It comes out of the speakers like the soundtrack to a cabaret hosted by Caligula. 10 Neurotics has a level of perverse exploration that falls somewhere above Soft Cell and the Normal, but never gets quite as graphic as Coil." - Sepiachord.com

"An astute observer of human behavior, Rosenthal knows our romantic and sexual choices aren?t made in a vacuum. Arguably the theme of prodding what lies beneath the surface is the engine driving Black Tape's entire career, and 10 Neurotics, erotic nature aside, continues the story in rich, compelling detail." - The Big Takeover Magazine.