Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

iTunes Review

The name conjures the 1993 Tom Waits/Robert Wilson/William Burroughs collaboration (The Black Rider), in which the inevitable deal with the devil is made. The dark twang of “Sweet Come Down” and “Outside” hint at a Texas or SoCal band blending a dusty Sidewinders influence with the vaporous charm of Mazzy Star. But the Black Ryder is a duo from Australia, formed from the ashes of a band called the Morning After Girls, relocated to the U.S. and borrowing the talents of members of bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Brian Jonestown Massacre. They aren’t afraid of genre-mashing: “To Never Know You” and “Let It Go” nod to another continent and genre — British shoegaze — and “Grass” has a sinewy, psychedelic backbone; the twinkling tambourine and languorous guitar riff on “All That We See” conjures a ‘60s pop club, swirling with lazily gyrating go-go dancers. Aimee Nash’s vocals are sensuous and ephemeral, and falling under the spell of Nash and partner Scott Von Rype is as easy as melting butter in the sun.