Black Fiction seems to have one of those sounds the hip young kids are craving these days. Veterans of the music scene might remember early Beck records or even the rhythm and blues which, of course, came before all of this recent interest in chanting, atmospherics, and anachronistic instrumentation. It is my sincerest hope that young music fans will take to all these new bands experimental sounds without couching them in the same music-writer terms I am about to use.

First of all, I'm going to say the phrase "alt-folk" is completely unhelpful. With the advent of modern amplification and digital music editing, there is simply no easy way to define folk (remember as far back as Bob Dylan). And second of all, don't even get me talking about how dumb the word "alternative" has become.

From a more theoretical angle, it seems to be that folk music can either be defined as: A) music for old while people with long hair and VW buses or B) music which has some fundamental roots in the personal lives of the middle and lower classes. With the scaling back of high art and the general inclusiveness of the American middle class, I think we can now safely define folk music "B" as any modern music.

So, in fact, Black Fiction does play folk music. Their particular flavor is extremely hip, joining the ranks of other bands that inspire fear in the hearts of mainstream music promoters, including, on the rocking end, Black Mountain, and on the less rocking end, Animal collective and, dare I say, TV on the Radio. I guess to a lesser extend I was occasionally reminded of Modest Mouse or even another band I just reviewed called The Sound of Animals Fighting. What do these bands have in common besides being folk bands under definition B? Not very much except that they are challenging the way popular music is supposed to sound.

Are they "psychedelic"? I guess if all of their members do a lot of acid I could call them that – Though somebody would need to ask them about it, because I have no idea.

OK, so are they all "artsy"?

Funny story, I overheard two girls talking and one was saying she had been looking at a college but everyone there was too "artsy". I can also tell you that it was not the Rhode Island School of Design she was referring too, but none other than Oxford University. Obviously, my point is that if "artsy" becomes the new "emo", then there are going to be copious amounts of Wal-Mart tee-shits in the misses section that say "artsy", while having nothing to do with Black Fiction.

One thing I do know: the reigning terminology of Post-Punk may someday be replaced by the terminology of Post-Rock in the music writer lexicon. Perhaps one day the Strokes (my pick for most culturally relevant band since Nirvana, who frankly nobody my age cares about much) will be called not Post-Punk, but Post-Rock.

As I've been trying to say, Black fiction cultivates a funky, rootsy vibe which owes much more to Muddy Waters than to any recent Beck record. The vocals often sound rather hollow and far away like a recording of a great blues performance that manages to completely negate the supposed importance of good recording technology.

Still, while the record seems to channel ancient veins of creative mojo, it espouses undeniably cunning and modern authorship. It falls in none of the popular traps of its musical contemporaries. No pithy naiveté. No overbearing irony. It also bumps along much better than the majority of bands currently being sold as "danceable".

There are other charming factors. The record's first track, "Great Mystery" is epic, biblical, even political, without being dogmatic. In that sense, I guess the record sounds humble and prophetic at the same time; it is a quality difficult to fake.

Beyond that, I can't say much except I think the whole record is strong and varied. Pick up the record if you like unusual music that sounds like it might have been recorded by a group of sad, drunken 1930s gospel singers who travel to gigs in their very own spaceship. Or buy it if you enjoy being cooler than everyone else. Some of vocals are a little too languid but hopefully I will divine an artistic reason behind that decision as I listen to the record further.