Released on Fat Possum Records, the Oxford, Mississippi label known for producing albums by the late blues great R.L. Burnside, Bass Drum of Death's self-titled LP sounds like something you might throw on while tinkering with a rat rod in the driveway: it's a decent showing of fuzzed-out, reverb-laden, throwback rock.
There's a thin line between punk and garage, and there are stretches on this album where the line gets so thin it disappears. "I Wanna Be Forgotten" sounds like an unholy union of the Misfits and the Ravonettes backed by a shitfaced drummer. It takes a kind of genius to know when to leave it sloppy and when to ask for a better take - and the lack of perfection throughout this record puts it in close communion with the rock and roll Godhead.
On the whole, the album is a soup of fuzz and reverb peppered with lyrics about teenage love, boredom and angst. I hear "and if I flipped out on my own/whatever would I want for you to say/on 18 years now all alone/I’m feeling smaller almost everyday" and I'm as nostalgic for an American Graffiti-style drag race as I am for another time in my own life - a little younger, a little dumber, and just a little cooler.
I heard a review on the radio the other day of the new Smith Westerns record, arguing their sound is a nostalgic one, but it's nostalgia for feeling nostalgic about whatever young musicians' grandparents are nostalgic about. I think that applies here: BDoD are a group of kids playing iTunes-ready rock and roll that might have raised the rafters at a barn show half a century ago. And that's just fine. If you like King Khan and the Shrines, or local stompbox specialists The Tell Tale Signs, you'll like Bass Drum of Death. If you've never heard of any of them until now, you're welcome.
Grading this one is tough. There's no new ground broken here. Nothing stands out as new or original. But that's sort of the point. I've never heard a Reatards album I'd rate higher than a B, but I keep them at the front of the drawer just the same. It's not so much the sound as it is the feeling. Don't let the letter below fool you - this one feels right.
Grade: B
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