Myspace: Baker Act
After my review of the Explicits, their fellow Jacksonville band Baker Act contacted me about doing the same. After a brief listen, I agreed. It's always nice to hear a new punk band without a trace of emo and Baker Act has the emotion without the whining.
The four songs on their page all show influences from the artier side of punk. They're more moody, but not sappy, with some rough edges. Their influences seem varied from song to song, yet the result is a cohesive sound. "Psycho Chick" taps into the old Dead Kennedys sound that, oddly enough, few bands have been able to capture. The harder chorus is more straightforward and rock oriented, but taken as a whole, the song has a unique ebb and flow to it. They draw more from darker mid-80s punk/alternative bands like Jet Black Berries and Naked Prey, with a hint of the Avengers. Once again, the song has enough variance to its course to keep it from the doldrums that so many punk bands fall into. "Ignorance is Bliss" is the most straightforward of Baker Act's songs, but still throws a few curves and is carried by Danielle's passionate vocals. It's a pretty angry song and while the anger isn't focused, it is somewhat articulate. Appropriately, they finish up with "Story of Faye," a song that shows Baker Act's unique strengths most obviously. Like the other tracks, it reaches back to some of the dark side of underground 80s American rock, but more successfully. "Story of Faye" is certainly their emotional peak and they show a real mastery of their own creativity, striking a perfect balance between tight and loose.
Baker Act isn't doing anything completely new, yet their sound as a whole belongs to them alone. They don't draw from the hardcore or pop punk wells as many of their peers do, but they are without question a punk band. They are rooted in many things that have remained buried for years and benefit from Baker Act's fresh take. They've been together long enough to have developed a collective intuition that makes their music more subtle and compelling. While Danielle's vocals are particularly evocative, the solid work of the rest of the band, while less overt, is the subtlety that gives them real potential.
Baker Act has been together for about two years and have a demo EP titled Co-Dependent for sale or download via their Myspace page. In October, they head into the studio to record their first full-length and I for one am anxious to hear the results.
The four songs on their page all show influences from the artier side of punk. They're more moody, but not sappy, with some rough edges. Their influences seem varied from song to song, yet the result is a cohesive sound. "Psycho Chick" taps into the old Dead Kennedys sound that, oddly enough, few bands have been able to capture. The harder chorus is more straightforward and rock oriented, but taken as a whole, the song has a unique ebb and flow to it. They draw more from darker mid-80s punk/alternative bands like Jet Black Berries and Naked Prey, with a hint of the Avengers. Once again, the song has enough variance to its course to keep it from the doldrums that so many punk bands fall into. "Ignorance is Bliss" is the most straightforward of Baker Act's songs, but still throws a few curves and is carried by Danielle's passionate vocals. It's a pretty angry song and while the anger isn't focused, it is somewhat articulate. Appropriately, they finish up with "Story of Faye," a song that shows Baker Act's unique strengths most obviously. Like the other tracks, it reaches back to some of the dark side of underground 80s American rock, but more successfully. "Story of Faye" is certainly their emotional peak and they show a real mastery of their own creativity, striking a perfect balance between tight and loose.
Baker Act isn't doing anything completely new, yet their sound as a whole belongs to them alone. They don't draw from the hardcore or pop punk wells as many of their peers do, but they are without question a punk band. They are rooted in many things that have remained buried for years and benefit from Baker Act's fresh take. They've been together long enough to have developed a collective intuition that makes their music more subtle and compelling. While Danielle's vocals are particularly evocative, the solid work of the rest of the band, while less overt, is the subtlety that gives them real potential.
Baker Act has been together for about two years and have a demo EP titled Co-Dependent for sale or download via their Myspace page. In October, they head into the studio to record their first full-length and I for one am anxious to hear the results.
posted by bob_vinyl at 2:11 PM
4 Comments:
I was a little hasty in getting this post together and I missed one of Baker Act's songs. "Institution Girl" has great texture, with guitar and bass creating waves of subdued force that explode in the chorus. This is actually the tune where I hear the Avengers influence most of all. Sorry to have confused things.
"Institution Girl" just came up on my iPod shuffle. I really wanted to like Baker Act, but her voice reminds me of a singer I knew years ago in L.A., who had a great voice with absolutely no growl or bite or fire. The music needs a singer with some fire, and I don't hear any fire in this performance.
Oh, and the bass line reminds me of "Bloody Mary" by Lizzy Borden. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it's not like Lizzy Borden has a copyright on arpeggiated bass lines, but still... I just think it's a good rule of thumb to never do anything that would make people compare your band to Lizzy Borden. It's kind of like the way actors should never do anything that could remind them of Keanu Reaves.
Good post.
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