Released September, 2009 on Projekt.10 Neurotics reimagines the passion of Black Tape For A Blue Girl (and visionary founder / songwriter, Sam Rosenthal) in a rock / dark cabaret setting. Sam challenged himself to put the electronics and lushness aside; he wrote these songs on the acoustic guitar, an instrument he had never played before. The results bear a more considered approach to songwriting: structured, melodic and dare say even “traditional” in composition. It is a new approach to the mood and power for which Blacktape is known. Featuring drum kit and bass for the first time in 20 years (courtesy of new band-member Brian Viglione of The Dresden Dolls / World Inferno), these fourteen songs are revealing first person narratives. These are stories so unnerving and personal that 10 Neurotics features an all-new line-up; the previous vocalists quit the group out of discomfort with the content.Sam explains, “Many of the scenes take place in the fetish lifestyle: a culture of heightened sexuality, relationship dynamics, power and control. I set out to create an album that looks at our sexuality, obsessions and fetishes with a mature (rather than sensationalized) eye. Our life is a constant churning of desires, sometimes overtaking us - more often subverted, submerged and repressed. I wanted to directly confront reality: who are we when the disguise is stripped away? I wrote from real life as a way to plug directly into the core of pure experience without filtering it, I developed something genuinely fresh and vital.” “These songs demanded a rock-n-roll drummer to be successful, a drummer who could rock out as well as play subtle and textural passages. I went for the best and asked Brian.” Impressed with the music, he quickly joined the band. “Brian became much more involved than past band members, providing brilliant performances, insightful suggestions and co-producing the album. His enthusiasm reinforced my belief that I was onto something with this new direction. If I hesitated, Brian pushed me out of the safety net, ‘No man. Leave it in. Don’t hold back!’ Brian told me to take it to the edge, tell the stories I wanted to tell, use the images I wanted to use!”The songs deal with a range of taboo topics: dominance/submission, furries, police state fetishists, pro-anna, exhibitionists, humiliation, self-destruction, cuckolding, and anonymous sex.Sam looks at his characters non-critically without judgements or excuses for their actions. Like people in our real lives, they succumb to their urges and obsessions unaware of their place on the continuum from the erotic to the neurotic.
English