Heavy guitar riffs, African rhythms and eerie vocals - this is the sound of BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) from Johannesburg, South Africa.
The current line-up of Linda Buthelezi (Vocals), Mpumi Mcata (Guitar), Molefi Makananise (Bass) and Tshepang Ramoba (Drums) has been playing together for just over a year.
Their music is a unique blend of traditional South African music, Jazz, Funk and psychedelic alternative Rock. The lyrics bear witness to the bands consciousness of South Africa's reality. Their songs are about traffic incidents, criminality and starvation.

In a recent interview with the local online magazine jhblive.com they stated

"It's a challenge for people to listen to our music, not that all the other musicians who make music that is easier to listen to aren't good, its just that we are different, and therefore challenging to the formulated opinions that are already out there."

One of these prejudices they gainsay is that a lot of people are making a big deal out of the fact that they are black and play rock-based music. In South Africa there is still that stigma that rock is for white people only.
Bassist Makanise says:

"We're done with this thing of black, white, black, white especially in music. We really want to show the world that South Africa means what it says when it talks about unity."

The band is currently in NYC to record their first EP "Mistery" at Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios.
The EP drops on June 15th and the debut album "After Robots" will follow later this year.

Download the BLK JKS already classic "UmZabalazo" legally and for free here.

My Space them or visit their blog.