Black Heart Procession

The Black Heart Procession may hail from San Diego, but their music has nothing to do with good vibes and constant sunshine. Instead, it's proof that love not only hurts, but is an agonizing, crushing, dehumanizing torture that, paradoxically, has probably never sounded this grand. In the tradition of The Cure, Nick Drake and the darker side of Nina Simone, the BHP creates sparse guitar, piano and drum arrangements that show that misery not only loves company, it also makes for a good tune or two.