Black Moth Super Rainbow

Originating in Pennsylvania, the elusive outfit Black Moth Super Rainbow first attracted notice on independent circuits through their singular strain of psychedelic indie pop. Typical rock instruments combine with an array of vintage synthesizers while every vocal passes through a vocoder, after which layers of haze and tape hiss are applied to produce tracks that remain both infectious and unsettling. Dedicated listeners accumulated via extensive road work and through limited-edition recordings frequently issued on the band’s own imprints. Frontman Tobacco has meanwhile pursued a parallel solo trajectory.

The endeavor began as the Pittsburgh duo Satanstompingcaterpillars, formed in 2000 by Tobacco and Power Pill Fist. Expansion to a five-piece lineup that incorporated Seven Fields of Aphelion, Iffernaut, and Father Hummingbird prompted a name change to Black Moth Super Rainbow in 2003. Their early sound echoed contemporary retro-electronic acts such as Air and the Octopus Project—the latter a future collaborator—and the group issued its debut album, Falling Through a Field, on the self-run 70s Gymnastics Recording Co. Operating from an undisclosed rural Pennsylvania base, they next aligned with Georgia’s Graveface Records, delivering Start a People and Lost Picking Flowers in the Woods across the ensuing three years. The 2006 collaborative album The House of Apples and Eyeballs with the Octopus Project, paired with a strong SXSW debut that same year, elevated the band within indie circles, followed in 2007 by the fourth release Dandelion Gum.

Once Tobacco issued the 2008 solo album Fucked Up Friends on Anticon, the band reconvened with producer Dave Fridmann to craft their most polished effort, Eating Us, which appeared in 2009. Subsequent lineup adjustments yielded multiple EPs, along with a completed but ultimately abandoned album titled Psychic Love Damage whose lack of excitement led to its cancellation. Lacking a label, the members turned to Kickstarter to finance 2012’s Cobra Juicy on their own Rad Cult imprint, offering contributors grotesque masks whose teeth held USB drives containing the new album’s MP3s. Rad Cult also put out an EP drawn from the discarded Psychic Love Damage sessions.

Following tours in support of Cobra Juicy, Tobacco joined Ghostly International for two additional solo albums. Black Moth Super Rainbow surfaced again with the 2016 EP SeeFu Lilac and a split single alongside Freescha. Their next proper full-length, Panic Blooms, arrived in 2018 as a characteristically dark yet euphoric reflection on contemporary conditions.