Thirteen tracks of pop-punk like it ought to be!
There’s a lot to be said for older folks playing punk rock. What they may (and that’s a very big MAY) lack in youthful energy is often compensated by superior musical ability and also the kind of lyrical depth that can only come from years of recording, touring in battered old transit vans, and just experiencing the highs and lows of life in general. New Jersey’s Bamberdöst are a case in point; they’ve all been playing in various bands since the early 90s, and ‘Dharmageddon’ is their second album in less than a year. Whatever they’re on, we want some.
Musically, they could loosely be described as SoCal style pop-punk, but there’s a slightly gritty edge to their sound, as well as a certain world-weary humour – again, what you might expect from folks who’ve not just played but lived punk rock for most of their lives. They hit the ground running with ‘Small Shoes’ and ‘Loose Canon’ (no, that’s not a spelling mistake) – both earworm tunes with choruses that would surely demand mass audience participation – and that sets out their stall pretty clearly for this 30-minute record.
Lyrically, they touch frequently on matters of the heart, most notably on ‘Boyfriend Material’ (they aren’t, apparently) and ‘Conversation Heart’ (which boasts a chorus replete with cheesy chat-up lines). On a more serious note are tales of close ones gone astray on ‘Someone Should Tell Michelle’, and we have a feeling that the magnificently-titled ‘18 Holes While It All Burns Down’ is about politicians turning a blind eye to the world’s most pressing problems. All served up in gloriously melodic style, natch.
Overall, nothing that we (and most likely, you) haven’t heard before, but it’s not as easy as it sounds to come up with songs of this calibre. Bamberdöst are clearly on something of a creative roll, and on ‘Dharmageddon’, they boast tunes and tales that lesser pop-punk bands would kill for. Keep up the good work, folks!
‘Dharmageddon’ is out now – buy the digital version HERE.
- Small Shoes
- Loose Cannon
- Nowhere
- Boyfriend Material
- Sober Days
- Someone Should Tell Michelle
- Conversation Heart
- Off Limits
- 18 Holes While It All Burns Down
- Chase The Burn
- Half Understood
- You Drain Me
- Hobosexual (When The Trash Takes Itself Out)
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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