“I am so sorry my friend, if there were any other way…” apologises Johnboy, as I pick up my goods and head out the door.
“…but somebody has to do an Unearthed Review.”
So I go on.
Today the RNG generated the number 1.
The first name on my list of ‘ACT bands with great names whom I have never seen’ is “The Bastard Sons Of Liberty.”
“Oh good.” I think. “Another punk band, I’ve had such luck with punk bands recently.”
Here’s what they have to say about themselves:
The Bastard Sons Of Liberty are a Canberra based punk band formed in mid 2005 and are a 5 piece band that play in your face, aggressive Punk Rock. We endeavour to bring a diverse range of influences to the band, ranging from the Proto Punk of The Stooges and The MC5, through the classic seventies and eighties English, Australian and American Punk, as well as taking influences from Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Reggae and Ska along the way as well as today’s Metal and Hardcore/Post Hardcore.
The Bastard Sons are united in their contempt for sanitised, radio-friendly Pop Punk bands that seem to dominate the scene these days. Their aim is to inject some anger and bollocks back into Punk Rock. The band espouses no particular political views or ideology in the traditional punk sense of ‘this is who we are!’ But rather we try to tackle issues in our lyrics from a realistic ‘boots on the ground’ type perspective.
We have a wide and varied experience, with members playing in bands such as Rat Salad, The Murder Meal Combo, The Junk Cats, Valerie Lives, Inspirado, Segregated Temple, The Lonely Knights, Endzone, The Persuaders and Maui Waui Cowboys.
Here’s what I have to say about them:
Ahhh that’s better! I forgot, I actually quite like punk when it’s done well.
This is fun.
It is diverse, playful, and has it’s own personality. These three features put The Bastard Sons Of Liberty above half the bands I find on Unearthed. Some of those bands may be able to play their instruments better, many can sing better, some can make much higher quality recordings, but most of these bands have a sound that I’ve forgotten 30 minutes after listening to them. I will recall the TBSOL’s sound.
The vocalist seems to keep reaching beyond his ability, but not by much, and he’s constantly switching things up and keeping it interesting. I have no doubt at some point he’ll actually sing as well as he’s trying to.
The lyrics aren’t brilliant, but they’re passionate, political, and they work.
It kind feels like TBSOL are a band still in the oven. All the ingredients are there, but they’re just not done yet. I don’t know how long the members of the band have been playing together, but they feel like they’ve still got a ways to go.
I don’t mean this to be negative. I quite enjoyed the two tracks I just listened to, I just felt like i could hear some better ones hiding in there somewhere.
So have a listen, at the moment they’re a rather good punk rock group.
I get the feeling in a few years we’ll be listening to a great one.
Three and a half stars.
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