BAD POETRY BAND – The One Way Romance (2012)
*
With their curious band name and quirky sixties stoner art, one wonders; what lies within BAD POETRY BAND’s 2nd album, “The One Way Romance”?
Hailing from Sweden might give you a clue, where rock bands from classic rock to hard to eighties glam are still rising. Now we’re getting closer to Bad Poetry’s sound.
The group really need to drop the ‘band’ part in their name (it just sounds better without it) and hire a new artwork designer as both does not represents their sound nor their style.
Bad Poetry blends retro hard rock with some glam and some surf-like rock&pop driven by fuzzy twin guitars and poppy sing-a-long choruses, and on a couple of tracks they throw in some post-punk riffs. Believe or not, it works.
We have cool rockers in “Not in Love”, “Dig Me When I’m Down” (great chorus), and the really smooth “Regret It”.
“Make Up Made For Make Out” is a clever little tune with the great refrain that sticks like glue to the back of the mind, while “Half Hearted” reminds me The Damned, which is not a bad thing.
Title track “The One Way Romance” mixes glammy rockin’ melodies with the frenzy uptempo style of The Hellacopters, while “Predator” is a simple short 2 minute (yes there’s bands still doing songs that short) straightforward rock with some punky noise.
The best song to me is closer “So Long”, a contagious and melodic midtempo much in the vein of Swedes The Gloria Story.
It may looks a bit odd, but Bad Poetry Band mixes retro hard rock with glam and a dollop of modern poppy punk and it works.
Surely not the usual band coming out from Sweden, but BPB can turn a phrase and offer fine hooks in lyrics and arrangements. The songs are simple but long on rock groove, large on easy melodies and vocal harmonies.
Frankly, “The One Way Romance” is a ton of fun; call it party rock, if anything. Certainly it’s good for a barbeque and a couple of beers at the beach.
01 – We are going down
02 – Not in love
03 – Wait for tomorrow
04 – Dig me when I’m down
05 – Regret it
06 – Predator
07 – Make up made for make out
08 – All in vain
09 – Half hearted
10 – So long
Martin Mula Gustafsson: vocals & guitars
Daniel Birath: guitars
Johan Lundh: bass
Peter Müller: drums & vocals
BUY IT !
www.hrrshop.de/BAD-POETRY-BAND-The-One-Way-Romance-CD
