BNLX album 'Good Light' delayed due to label interest

BNLX is hosting another two-night BNLX Fest this weekend to promote a record it isn't really selling yet. That's because the latest offering from the reverberating, melodic fuzz-rock group – led by Polara's Ed Ackerson and his former Mood Swings-fronting wife Ashley Ackerson – has garnered interest from a major record company, one that can't be named because the deal isn't done yet.

It must be a sizable, impressive label for the Ackersons to not just issue the new album, "Good Light," on their own reputable little imprint, Susstones, also home to the likes of Two Harbors and Stereo Confession. Both those bands are playing this weekend's BNLX Fest III along with some of the Ackersons' other local favorites, including the Melismatics, Frankie Teardrop and newcomers the Stress of Her Regard (ex-Idle Hands members) and Pale Spectre (ex-members of Gloss). The fest is spread over two clubs, the Turf Club on Friday and 7th Street Entry on Saturday, after its original hub Cause nightclub closed last year.

Upon hearing "Good Light," it's no surprise the album has brought some extra attention to BNLX, which has rather naturally evolved from a drum-machine-anchored duo to a rounded quartet over the past couple years with the addition of drummer David Jarnstrom (ex-Gratitude) and second guitarist Jim McGuinn (moonlight from his day job as 89.3 the Current's program director).

Earlier BNLX recordings were charmingly lo-fi – as lo-fi as Flowers Studio owner and veteran producer Ed Ackerson could allow, anyway – but this one doesn't skimp on anything sonically. The guitars roar, whir, purr and echo loudly but lushly over the 11 songs. The bass lines are prominent and melodic throughout as if Peter Hook snuck into the sessions just to spite his New Order bandmates. "Good Light" funnels all of the Ackersons' obvious '80s Brit-rock influences into one intoxicating blast, from the Charlatans/Stone Roses-esque vibe of the moody opener "No Soul to Save" to the Psychedelic Furry moody pop sound of "Last Days," and from a little wiry, percussive Gang of Four guitar work in "Arrows Underground" to the glorious My Bloody Valentine-esque warped fade-away of the finale "Out of the Air."

Here's a slightly remixed and retitled version of the opening track recently issued online by the band.

BNLX will be selling a limited number of promotional copies of the album on CD at this weekend's shows, but the formal release won't be for at least several months. Coincidentally, the Ackersons have another big due date on the horizon with the mid-summer birth of their first child. So this weekend's sets will also be a chance to catch them live before their baby break. Here's the lineup for the fest:

Friday, April 24 at Turf Club (21+, $8-$10)