Bedtime For Charlie

It Ain't About The Music

Written by: PP on 04/04/2009 13:41:36

So the last few days have taught me that it's bad karma to proclaim prejudice against a particular scene. I did it for the New York City scene and immediately I was bombarded with a few excellent releases from the place, and I've previously done it on Italy, and now it seems I've jumped to conclusions too hastily once again, as punk rockers Bedtime For Charlie have proved with their sophomore full length "It Ain't About The Music".

The band lists NOFX, Lagwagon, Good Riddance, No Use for a Name and Bad Religion as their main influences, but it's overwhelmingly NUFAN that can be heard on the record. Just like Sweden's Adjusted, Bedtime For Charlie play by-the-books melodicore with a vocalist who sounds just like Tony Sly, focusing on the clean vocal harmony and a fast punk rock drumbeat in pretty much every song. One effect of such an approach is that all the songs sound like they're just slight variations of track 1, but a more positive effect is that the songs automatically become tight - the single most important element about playing melodicore other than the good choruses, of course.

Although it's hard to shake the NUFAN-feel away because of the vocalist, songs like "Today" actually do bring forth some NOFX/Lagwagon style guitars to the mix. But again, most songs sound like "Words To The Wind", which essentially sounds like a b-side of "The Feel Good Record Of The Year". The key word here is b-side, because although Bedtime For Charlie's songs can be very good ("I Hate Punk Rock", "Golden Age Of Reason", "Idlebill"), they're still lacking the final touch before you can call it just as seminal as No Use For A Name's best material - "Supersize" could be one candidate but honestly I'm having trouble telling this song apart from a No Use For A Name song, that's how similar they are. The choruses are catchy, but not overwhelmingly so, and I wouldn't ever mind listening to the instrumentation because it's basically my favorite genre, but overall the songs don't have the same punch-effect as the latest No Use For A Name record. That's why "It Ain't About The Music" is more on the level of "Keep Them Confused", an okay/good record without being overly special, but nonetheless an impressive one to come out from the European punk scene.

Download: Idlebill, Golden Age Of Reason
For the fans of: No Use For A Name, Adjusted
Listen: Myspace

Release date 09.02.2009
Wynona Records

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