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The Gentlemen Bastards

The Gentlemen Bastards

Written by: BV on 06/01/2013 18:31:06

The Gentlemen Bastards is a band dedicated to the stoner/desert rock genre, with influences from Clutch, Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss and others shining brightly through. They might even shine too brightly though, as it seems very hard from the beginning, to find a unique trait in the band’s sound that really defines them, and sets them apart from their obvious influences.

As soon as the opening track “Neverland” blasts through my speakers, I am both confused and amazed at the same time. The rhythm section is seemingly the right combination of sloppy and tight, firmly supporting the fuzzy and riffing guitars but I still feel like something is missing. I find it hard to describe, but in a general sense, I feel the tracks is missing a certain amount of low end power, or “oomph” as some would take to call it. This impression is not exactly diminished by the entry of the vocals, as these seem awkward and forced – which is nearly never a good thing, when all comes to all.

To my luck (as well as the band’s), “Neverland” seems to be the “odd one out” so to say, as the missing power in the track is thoroughly redeemed in the tracks to come. Such an example is evident in the powerful and quite hypnotic “Deja vu” where the aforementioned “oomph” is ever-present and thoroughly dominates the track, while the fuzzy guitars and the now vastly improved vocals supplement the soundscape, thus bringing this track to an entirely different league than “Neverland”.

As mentioned earlier on, I find it hard to look beyond the fact that this release, well-crafted as it is, just seems like yet another QOTSA/Clutch/Kyuss inspired release with nothing unique to really set the band apart from their inspirational sources. But despite the fact that this could very well be just that, I seem to have taken a liking to it. For the most part due to my fondness of fuzzy riffing, which this release is a regular cornucopia of. But also because of the potential that can be heard throughout the album. – Yes, they sound a fair bit like QOTSA, Clutch etc. But they write solid material that just needs a little edge, to really set them apart from the fuzzy overlords of this particular genre. I have faith in the Gentlemen Bastards, and I sure as hell hope they live up to it, because it would be more than interesting to hear what they would sound like, if they found just a shred of unique identity.

Download: Deja Vu, Take a Ride, Big Bad Wolf
For The Fans Of: Queens of the Stone Age, Clutch, Kyuss, Fu Manchu
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 01.06.2012
Self-released