“Life Lessons” is Portland’s soul outfit, Brownish Black’s debut LP. In releasing said LP, Brownish Black has successfully justified the most “bohemian” act I’ve ever witnessed, starting an octet, soul band, with garage roots, in Portland, and partnering with an indie label. Though this album is one fixed gear short of a Portlandia sketch, the results are a truly wonderful; with a medley of well-crafted songs culminating in some of the best brass work in an album in recent memory. With a strong start to the album, “Life Lesson” pulsates out a feeling of comfortability; a lively jazz club is conjured up in my head (possibly in New Orleans, but definitely somewhere humid), as wetness drapes the faces on stage, dancing breaks out. This is all done in the first few seconds of the song; I have to give some sort of praise to a group talented enough to build a narrative in the preliminary moments of an album. Most of the songs on the album have this dynamic quality to them; no two songs are that similar and every single second recorded perpetuates restless-leg-syndrome. “Singing a song” is a throaty love song, or rather an account of the impassioned lovesick thoughts one would have when thinking about one’s love interest. It’s great to see a song writer, with roots in heavy rock, as is the case with MD Sharbatz being able to reach deep into the soft spot we all tuck away to bring out one of the most beautiful ballads I’ve heard. Brownish Black as a whole is a risky endeavor, but as the music scene gets flooded with reverb heavy rock (no matter how good the band is), you start to hunger for different approaches to music. I’m not typically a fan of most things soul if you aren’t James Brown. “Life Lessons” was not only able to feed my craving for a different take on music, but in doing so, BB was able to open up a whole genre of music I was previously apprehensive about delving in. I wish all the best to Brownish Black and praise them for making me more musically inclined to soul. Jolt Radio, Miami, FL. Posted on June 17th, 2015 by Theo Rodino GARAGE SOUL] Don’t call it a throwback. On its debut LP, Life Lessons, Brownish Black is a band serrating the edges of soul music. Sure, the blend of R&B and funk might sound old-school, but when compared to contemporaries like Nick Waterhouse or the Daptone Records crew, the Portland octet’s aggressive sound is less a pristine mirror of decades past than a forceful projection of the places the idiom can be taken. In the case of this album, that place is the garage. Detroit native M.D. Sharbatz’s hardcore punk roots show in the record’s raw sound. The horns waver, and Sharbatz is more apt to bark and quiver than straighten his voice into a smooth croon. But throughout Life Lessons, Brownish Black proves capable of producing thick grooves at near-Stax levels of competency. Many tracks take unexpected turns: the ascending swell in “Singing a Song”; the sudden spaghetti Western drop in “Le Systeme”; the Family Stone-style a cappella handclap break in “Making Time.” If the goal of Life Lessons is to push the soul genre toward a rough-hewn fringe beyond the familiar, it’s undoubtedly a success. Willamette Week June 10th, 2015 12:01 am TED JAMISON | Album Reviews With the seriously soulful octet's debut album so close you can taste it, just know Brownish Black are a force to be reckoned with. And while Life Lessons is due out in exactly one week on June 16 via Portland's Breakup Records, you can feel their powerful presence in the most intimate of settings as they celebrate the record's release at the Goodfoot on Thursday, June 11 with dark soul rockers Thanks. To get you in the mood for a sweaty night of garage soul, band leader MD Sharbatz will whet your appetite with "an anti-love song." "Fight It" is "about freedom and independence and trying hard to resist emotional attachment," he explains. "It's also a fantasy because that's damn near impossible. It's a protest song about living life against the expectations of others, which is very easy: You just have to be pissed and speak your mind. Also, the song is not gender specific. There's always more freedom to take back." While the band will surely be expressing themselves freely and speaking their minds on June 11 at the Goodfoot, there'll certainly be plenty of love to go around so go on and get yours on the dancefloor! Vortex Music Magazine by Chris Young June 9, 2015 3:30pm While it could be quite the challenge to develop your own sound within the lexicon of classic soul and r&b, Brownish Black seem both worthy and excited about the task at hand. Formed in 2010 the band has been growing in numbers and evolving their neo-soul sound that could easily be found on NYC goldmine label Daptone (home to Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley etc). With a slender and soulful white male leading the raucous r&b they could also be mistaken for pop soul darlings Fitz & the Tantrums. Yet comparisons aside Brownish Black are unique to Portland and are striving to forge their own path. Given the somewhat challenging position of filling an empty dance floor with Portlanders who just finished a workweek, Brownish Black brought their high energy and infectious rhythms to the opening slot Friday night at the eclectic (read underrated) Star Theater. Seattle based psyche-afro-funk outfit Polyrhythmics were headliners. Playing a mix of music from their previous EP’s as well new material Brownish Black sounded tight throughout. Performing new single “Life Lessons” lead singer M.D. Sharbatz was vocally strong although slightly distracted by the harsh lighting directed on stage. During a mid-set exit, Sharbatz returned with a black cap covering his eyes, which provided reprieve but perhaps distanced himself from the audience. While a stoic looking horn section successfully focused on taking care of business the bongo/conga player was focused on starting a party. The show continued, the floor filled, and the crowd released their weekday worries. Incorporating a cover of Portland’s very own Exploding Hearts “I’m a Pretender” along with a Brownish original entitled “Rock n Roll” as a tribute to blues legend BB King (who passed away that day) the second half of their set was climatic and cathartic. It would be difficult not to mention the lack of female lead singer Mz. V (Vicki Porter), a once integral member and wonderful counterpart to Sharbatz’ vocals and energy, who recently left the band for other pursuits. While Porter is featured on the new album she certainly will be missed and the band is planning rotating guest appearances as they move forward with their first full-length release next month under Breakup Records. With a charismatic, feel-good, neo soul sound Brownish Black have the talent, energy, and possible ambition to grow beyond Portland and the Northwest. See them for their record release of Life Lessons at the Goodfoot Lounge on June 11. The Deli Portland -Greg LeMieux When the soul stirring sounds of Clyde McPhatter, Jackie Wilson and Solomon Burke inspired names like Little Richard and Odis Redding who in turn helped shape the music styles and careers paths of the fair-skinned counterparts Roy Head, Joe Cocker and everyone in between who has had the deep rooted love of ‘secular gospel’ (to paraphrase Ray Charles) I don’t think they had any idea how far this style of music or its lineage would go. Portland, OR’s funked up soul outfit Brownish Black (M.D.Sharbatz,Mz V, mub FRACTAL, Rob Taylor, Ethan Boardman, Mr. Magic, Stephanie Shea, Marco Fusaro, Don Malkemus) is undoubtedly the heir apparent to this heritage and they fervently slide right into the rhythmic and righteous sounds that have to be felt, lived and loved to resonate proper. Brownish Black’s new single Life Lessons, th [BASEMENT SOUL] Soul doesn't come easy in the lily-white Northwest, but Portland's Brownish Black delivers an astonishingly authentic brand of vintage rough-edged R&B. Anchored by the full-throated belting of singer Vicki Porter and M.D. Sharbatz's rusty-strings guitar tone, the band doesn't try to mimic the polished majesty of ’60s Motown like a lot of today's revivalists. (What unsigned act can afford to do so in this economy, anyway?) Instead, it works a sound more indebted to the grittier, more low-rent aesthetic of Stax/Volt and blues-indebted rock outfits like the Animals. The lo-fi quality of its demos work in the group's favor, but a legit studio album—if one ever arrives—could be a sleeper hit. MATTHEW SINGER. "The stew of influences making up Brownish Black has a curious chemistry to it. Theirs is a ragged mix of old-school R&B soul and garage rock I didn't even know I was missing until I first heard them and realized I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard a good band in the tradition of Them or the Animals. It's sweaty and loose enough to be dynamic but formal enough that the chorus always follows the verse. It's a genuinely exciting thing to hear M.D. Sharbatz wrap his yelping, yearning voice around Vicki Porter's solid harmonies and belt like the '70s never happened." DAVE BOW-Portland Mercury “If Brownish Black isn’t inspiring accidental conceptions by this time next year, then Portland doesn’t know a thing about fucking. With undulating organs lapping against filthy garage-funk guitars and M.D. Sharbatz crooning like some backwoods beast slapped together with excess DNA from Will Oldham and Ian Svenonius, Brownish Black makes music to dance to until your legs give out and you have to take a cab home (with whomever you’re going to slowly and sweatily screw until the rest of you goes). Just don’t name the baby Brownish.” --- Christ Stamm, Willamette Week's MFNW 2010 guide 15th:: If you've never seen a show at the under-the-radar Kenton Club, you couldn't pick a better one to see than Brownish Black. The redwood walls are sure to complement the soul band whose forthcoming debut WW called a sleeper hit. Expect her to want to dance. Bio Brownish Black doesn't walk the line between garage and soul - they destroy it. The Portland-based octet started out as a three-piece garage rock band, whose raw energy pulled a handful of the city's best players into its gravitational field, yielding bigger and funkier results with each addition. Though loyal fans flock to ecstatically dance at the band’s shows, the subject matter of Brownish Black’s songs packs a heavy punch; tackling class warfare and casting harsh criticism on modern social and economic systems. And there are love songs. Nothing is heavier than a love song. High-energy music going up against oppression is possibly one of the most striking similarities between the group’s two main influencers - underground Pacific Northwest indie music and soul. For MD Sharbatz - band leader and Detroit native - nothing seems more natural than fostering the growth of social consciousness and human togetherness through music. -Sierra Haager