Tattooed Smiles is a 2018 release by the Belgian rock band The Black Box Revelation, issued as an album on Universal Music after a single of the same name. This page collects what named sources say about it.
It is written as an independent note on a Belgian rock record, with no connection to the band, its label, management or booking. For the wider genre, start with the rock music guide.
What Tattooed Smiles is
The Swiss promotion company Irascible lists Tattooed Smiles as an album by the Belgian act Black Box Revelation with a release date of 26.10.2018 on Universal Music. The same page lists a single, also called Tattooed Smiles, dated 31.08.2018. The title therefore reached listeners first as a single in late summer and then as the full album in October.
The Brussels concert hall Ancienne Belgique, known as AB, describes the record in its own news item as the long-awaited new album, in stores as of October 26. That Session AB announcement names Jan Paternoster and Dries Van Dijck as the musicians behind the project.
Spellings of the second name vary across sources. The promotion company’s press text writes Dries Van Dijk, while AB and other pages write Dries Van Dijck, which is worth knowing when searching for the pair.
The band behind the record
A profile on the Belgian music site GRIMM Gent describes Black Box Revelation as a Belgian rock ‘n’ roll band founded in 2005, with Dries Van Dijck on drums and Jan Paternoster on guitar and vocals. That makes it a guitar-and-drums line-up, a format discussed further below.
The AB announcement adds background on what had happened before the album. It says the pair toured the world and provided support-acts to the likes of Beady Eye, Jane’s Addiction, Iggy Pop and Seasick Steve. It also says they worked with producer and Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Alain Johannes, provided songs for the soundtrack of American series such as True Blood and Sons of Anarchy, and even made it onto David Letterman’s show.
All of those credits come from the venue’s own text, not from an independent history, so they describe how the band was presented to Belgian audiences when the album came out.
How critics and press described the records
Independent coverage is thinner than promotional text, so it helps to separate the two. The Irish magazine Hot Press, reviewing the earlier album Silver Threats, called it a swaggering record from start to finish. That review concerns an earlier release, but it shows how the band was received outside Belgium before Tattooed Smiles appeared.
The Festivalinfo review mentioned below looks back on Tattooed Smiles from the follow-up. It recalls that on that record Paternoster had never before made himself so vulnerable, speaking about subjects such as insecurity and bad habits. It also recalls that the band first drew attention at Humo’s Rock Rally in Belgium. Both points come from a Dutch-language reviewer and are reported here as that writer’s account, not as settled fact.
Press material from labels, agencies and venues serves a different purpose. It lists collaborators, dates and credits, and it frames the record in the most favourable light. Used together, the two kinds of source give a fuller picture than either gives alone, which is why this page names its source each time a claim appears.
Release timeline and tour plans
The dates give a simple order of events. According to the Irascible listing, the single came out on 31.08.2018, and the album followed on 26.10.2018. A booking agency page from Live Nation Belgium adds that an official release concert was planned for the 7th of December at Point Ephémère in Paris, and that the band was taking the new record on a road trip through France with Triggerfinger.
The Live Nation page is a promotional biography written to present the act to venues and festivals. It is best read as the label-side account of the release rather than an independent review.
Collaborators named by the press material
The AB announcement says the duo collaborated with the likes of Roméo Elvis and Seasick Steve for the album. The Live Nation biography fills in the detail. It describes Roméo Elvis as a Belgian hip hop artist and says the album’s collaborations show its cultural mix, and it says Seasick Steve supplies vocals on a song titled Built to Last.
The same biography says the old school American blues rock atmosphere lingers on the album’s title track. Because the single and the album share a name, anyone looking for the Belgian rock track in the title can start there.
Production and artwork
Two details in the press biography concern how the record was made. First, it says Jan Paternoster was confident enough to get behind the wheel as the producer for the first time. Second, it says the tattoo designs on the covers resemble those scattered around his own body.
The same text describes the album as embracing the raw beauty of the band’s cradle, Brussels. Together those lines show how the label framed the record: personal, local and tied to the city where the band is based.
Where it fits in Belgian rock
The record is a useful example of a two-person format. Readers who want background on how bands built around guitar and drums create a full sound can read about rock duos on this site.
Terminology is a separate question. Labels such as independent and major are used loosely in music writing, and how the genre label is applied is covered in indie rock. The release itself appeared on Universal Music, according to the Irascible listing.
For a later look back, a Dutch-language review on Festivalinfo of the follow-up album, Poetic Rivals, calls it the successor to Tattooed Smiles and says it took five years to arrive. The review says Andy Savours handled the controls on the new record, and GRIMM Gent adds that it was recorded in London. Those details are about a different album, but they place Tattooed Smiles in the sequence of the band’s releases.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tattooed Smiles an album or a song?
Show answer
Both. Irascible lists an album called Tattooed Smiles dated 26.10.2018 and a single of the same name dated 31.08.2018.
Which label released it?
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The Irascible listing names Universal Music as the label of the album.
Who collaborated on the album?
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The AB announcement names Roméo Elvis and Seasick Steve, and the Live Nation biography says Seasick Steve sings on Built to Last.
Is this site connected to the band?
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No. This page is an independent music publication and is not affiliated with the band, its label, management or booking.
