Album review: ROB TOGNONI – Black On Black

August 24th, 2026 by petefeenstra

Bandcamp [Release date : 09.07.26]

Rob Tognoni’s ‘Black On Black’ is a hard rocking album, full of his unrelenting energy, focussed intensity and uncompromising lyrics, which frequently mirror his steely riffs (or vice versa).

‘The Tasmanian Devil’ enjoys moments of trademark intensity and percolating rhythms, but more carelessly he is not big on flow, a job made slightly more difficult by a couple of lightweight tracks.

One unexpected key to the experimental nature of the album is his use (as on his previous ‘Rebel’ album), of a cheap second hand Chinese Stratocaster, which finds him delving deeper into tone.

But while the album is adventurous, he sometimes gives the impression that he’s impatient and can’t wait to rock out.

Indeed the opening title track marks out his post AC/DC territory, on a riff-driven broken relationship song with a significant hook.

And yet, he does surprise us with ‘I Switch Off The Switch’, a rhythmically strong and politically charged critique of Trump’s corporate America.

He uses low-register Covid inflected vocal and a razor sharp tone, over a busy rhythm section with some feverish rapped out vocals: “I switch off the switch to all this division.”

There’s also a sense of incredulity in his anthemic ‘America’, on which he matches lyrical detail with a heavier arrangement, shot through with requisite tension as befits his potent message.

It’s a bone crunching number with a big wall of sound which frames his message on an outstanding track:

“Demonize, Dehumanize, Anything that goes against your belief,

I believe, there’s something wrong, America, America,
Wake up America, America.”

‘Trooth’ is more of the same, except he satirizes rather than preaches:

“There was Elvis flippin’ burgers, And they never landed on the moon (’cause not),
Because the photo’s don’t show no stars, It must be lampoon (yeah),
And the earth is flat, Say’s just another Loony Tune.”

It’s a raucous shuffle with a shrill tone which takes a dig at the results of algorithm driven life.

The album also reintroduces two previous releases.

Dylan’s 1976 ‘Hurricane’ was previously released in 2025 as a single, and his passionate vocals illuminate Dylan’s original sense of injustice, before he adds an unexpected harp blast as part of a perfunctory ending.

And then there’s the booming remix ‘Words of a Desperate Man’.

One of his career best rockers, it hits you in the face as he smashes the riffs and doubles his vocal on the hook of a classic guitar driven rocker.

His exploratory sense leads him to ‘Can I’?, on which he answers his own titular question by successfully integrating a re-digitised 1993 recording with his new bargain bin Strat, which replaces a would be vocal line.

In Tognoni’s hands it’s not what you paid for your guitar that is important, but what you do with it.

The result provides the duality of a futuristic feel with an 80’s sounding drum track!

He also dabbles with tone on an instrumental called ‘Twins’, on which he doubles the guitar lines to presumably give the song its title.

He also shifts the focus to his own production skills to imbue Derrin Neundorf’s noir and primeval sounding ‘Devil Running From Me’, with some eerie howling guitar and drums.

And while these big hitters on their own make this an album worth seeking out, with Rob Tognoni you have to take the rough with the smooth, as with the mono message of ‘No More War’.

A growling toned sparse arrangement mirrors the simple titular message, as he channels his emotion into his spiky guitar playing.

He’s switches to a rasping vocal on ‘The Shit I’m In’; a morning after the night before rocker, while the pulverising ‘Tie Me Down’, rocks hard with unreconstructed wry humour and a unexpected post-Shadows tone: “You don’t seem to realize a man will get around, You better let me walk before you Tie Me Down.”

And yet there’s more than a germ of disillusioned idealism on ‘Where’s Woodstock Now’?

He uses a Zappa style rapped out vocal with a post yuppie message, on a very effective chanted hook bolstered by lashings of wah-wah.

“It started out, “stick it to the man” All we really wanted was love across the land,

Smokin’ weed and sharin’ what we could, The days faded in, everything was good, Hey You, Where’s Woodstock now?

He actually seems to find a sense of contentment on ‘Alright’, on a deeply toned shuffle with a celebratory feel and even la-la section, over a heavy drum sound and trademark ripping solo: “Love’s a condition, That you need to live through, Everyday’s a winner, When it’s comin’ home to you.”

Either by design or accident, Tognoni never settles into a groove long enough to suggest a clarity of direction.

But with over 25 powerhouse albums in his catalogue, he’s not about to radically change course now, and you fancy his die hard fans wouldn’t want him to either. ****

Review Pete Feenstra

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SESAME GIRL Prettiest Girl In The World (indie)

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