Blacktop

Biography

There are at least 3 artists by this name. 1. Blacktop was the first post-Gories project for Mick Collins. While similar to the legendary garage punk three-piece, Blacktop is a clear progression, in terms of musicianship and songwriting skill, for Collins and is also the beginning of his movement towards noisier material. The band's sound was fuller and more sophisticated, due in no small part to the addition of a bass line and the songwriting input of Darin Lin Wood ( Black Snakes with Richard...

There are at least 3 artists by this name.

1. Blacktop was the first post-Gories project for Mick Collins. While similar to the legendary garage punk three-piece, Blacktop is a clear progression, in terms of musicianship and songwriting skill, for Collins and is also the beginning of his movement towards noisier material. The band's sound was fuller and more sophisticated, due in no small part to the addition of a bass line and the songwriting input of Darin Lin Wood ( Black Snakes with Richard Kern, Fireworks and '68 Comeback) and Alex Cuervo.

2. Formed in 2003 Blacktop were a UK band with high energy songs interlaced with electronic sounds. The band released an EP with 5 songs including The James Blaze Complex and Every Letter You Write Is A Waste Of Ink. In december 2007 the band announced they would disband and on February 9th 2008 their last gig was played at Derby Vic where free 7" of their single Autosleeper were released to attendees.

3. Black Top is a welcome addition to the live scene, chiefly because their unrelenting pace and speed create a great atmosphere (Gerry Jungen, Arrow Classic Rock)

Take a left turn at the end of punk and follow the smoking path called rock until you come to the tombstones of the blues. It is there that you’ll find Black Top, a steaming blues-rock threesome with a rock & roll attitude. Together, Black Top can boast decades of rock & roll experience, a thick skin, bleeding fingers, and vocal chords so gritty you could mistake them for sandpits. The holy fire burns Black Top’s soul as never before, and three hour gigs are no exception. Second album Sour Milk was just about recorded live by Marco Hovius (16 Down) and is made for devouring festival grounds and crushing the stage.

Debut album Rough ’n Gritty (2008) saw the birth of the Black Top sound; on Sour Milk, after gigging at home and abroad for three years, the well-oiled blues rock & roll machine that the trio have become thunders past. Singer/lead guitarist Mick Hup is a no holds barred rocker, bass player/singer Anne-Maarten ‘Hills’ van Heuvelen earned him a name in blues, and drummer Theo Thumper was already smashing his sticks to smithereens during the original punk wave. As Black Top they turn rock history inside out: Sour Milk sounds as if AC/DC, Triggerfinger and ZZ Top are playing with TNT together.
You wouldn’t drink Sour Milk, so if you’ve got something to say: spit it out! Sour Milk deals with life as seen through rock & roll specs. Songs like Big Ego, Lovesick Junkie and Keep on Moving say it all: Black Top has been around the block, is straightforward, and tells it like it is. ‘I’ve been to Memphis, Lincoln, Tennessee / But I’ve been to the bottom of the bottle / And I still walk straight you see’ (Never Been). Black Top grabs life by the short and curlies, takes a few on the chin, gets up again, and lives it to the fullest.

The live reputation of Black Top is excellent and every fan was individually won over. Without any kind of promotion Rough ‘n Gritty sold over 2000 copies and the band performed gigs far across the Dutch border. In Germany especially Black Top has found fertile ground. The introduction party of Sour Milk in Paradiso sold out easily and many festivals regard Black Top as extremely valued guests. Dutch brewers Grolsch have even put Black Top on a postcard, unsurprising given the amount of overtime the beer pumps generally make during gigs. The band’s name reflects this; Black Top is not only a contraction of Black Crowes and ZZ Top, but also and more importantly: it can still be pronounced blind drunk and remembered the next day!
Black Top is sexy rock & roll, catchy as hell and solid as a rock

Sour Milk is distributed by Sonic Rendezvous and also available on vinyl and via iTunes

Black Top are:
Mick Hup: singer/lead guitar
Anne-Maarten ‘Hills’ van Heuvelen: bass guitar/singer
Theo Thumper: drums
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