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Minor Cabinet: Black Ink on White Sheets Review

Black Ink on White Sheets is the debut album of indie-blues-rock band Minor Cabinet. Only formed in 2012, Minor Cabinet is a youthful project that incorporates elements of the blues into the dynamic sound of indie rock, resulting in truly unique compositions.

Beginning with thumping drums and some smooth guitar, “Daybreaker” features soft verses and a loud, energetic chorus, the kind of thing that happens when good indie rock gets a hold of the blues. The recapitulation of the chorus at the song’s end is cut off as the track goes directly into “B. O. G.” which features a snare-heavy marching rhythm and a strong bass line. The song is accentuated by what sounds like mechanic bells, and the organ swells at the end to give this track a poly-instrumental variety. “Crawl on By” distorts both the guitar and the vocals with a fuzzy blues line that ultimately culminates in an impressive, shining guitar solo.

“Stationary” changes the album’s tone by beginning with a gentle, acoustic strumming making this track a much softer listen than any of the preceding songs. The delicate falsetto and mixture of different percussive instruments add range and depth to this mellow track. “V1” is a gleaming instrumental with programmed bells and a shudder of cymbals, with the lachrymal depth of the guitar adding a ghostly tone. “V1” transitions smoothly into “Fly Into the Sun” which features a staggered clutch of the guitar in the chorus and the addition of a female voice that delivers a lullaby near the song’s third act.

“Blessed Are the Pure in Heart” finds the guitar rising and falling alongside the lively, progressive drums and the coda is nothing short of wonderful. “Island” has a pulsating bass pattern while, in “Devotion,” the guitar sounds suspicious, but slides easily into the chorus. The raspy vocals, echo effects, and the battering of the drums give rise to an elementary comparison to Kings of Leon and “To the North” begins with a hard, suspended chord accompanied by cymbal accents. The ascending guitar has a choppy emphasis and picks up near the song’s close by offering another accomplished solo.

The piano-centric ballad “Already Gone” is a semi-duet of obvious letdown that finds the speaker asking his lover ‘how can you be giving up when there’s nothing left to give up on?’ The longest song on the album, “Running for Someone” continues the adagiated trend and also allows each of the band’s instrumentalists to shine in coordination with the wounded vocals and “Daybreaker II” is a delayed recapitulation of the chorus from the first track, concluding the song in an inventive way more than fifty minutes later.

Full of nifty experiments and plenty of fusion, Black Ink on White Sheets features stellar examples of both songwriting and instrumentation and comes from an exceptionally young and talented group of musicians. This fitting debut is likely an indicator of great things to come from Minor Cabinet.

The Review: 8/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Daybreaker
– Crawl on By
– Stationary
– Fly Into the Sun
– Already Gone

The Big Hit

– Daybreaker

Review by McKinnie Sizemore

2 thoughts on “Minor Cabinet: Black Ink on White Sheets Review

  • Cool, never heard of them. their facebook is in german. looking forward to listen to their record

    Reply
  • Great record. In US one day?

    Reply

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