Album Review: Brooke Tuley’s First Midnight

First Midnight
(self-released)

When garage-rock trio the Bloodbirds dissolved last year, following the relocation of bassist Anna St. Louis, local music fans mourned the loss of one of their community’s most enigmatic groups. But in April, drummer Brooke Tuley announced the release of First Midnight, a small batch of songs she had recorded with her husband, Bloodbirds guitarist Mike Tuley, and now it seems that the best-loved parts of the band live on.

First Midnight opens with some dissonant electronics on “Waves,” and Brooke Tuley’s voice breaks in with a low, sullen monotone. The track is less than two minutes, and it sets a spooky, spacey tone — something she carries, more or less, throughout the rest of the album. The reverb-soaked chords and lo-fi fuzz that were the Bloodbirds’ trademarks still crackle and pop on First Midnight, but much of the fury of her earlier band is traded for songs that could pass for discordant lullabies. “Black Death Specks” sounds like a bedroom recording for a rainy day, and on it, Tuley channels the dark moodiness of Nico and Sharon Van Etten. And by the time she gets to the jangly eulogy of “She’s Gone,” you’ve forgotten all about the singer’s previous act. Her new twilight phase is even more enchanting. 

Listen to First Midnight here.