Bass Drum of Death - GB City

Bass Drum of Death’s debut, GB City, hit the lo-fi heavy rock scene this month with little effect. Their rather anonymous effort stands out in no way whatsoever. As more and more bands try to ride the wake left by No Age’s successful splash into the genre of blessed out synthesizers, it is becoming harder and harder for young bands to establish a sound of their own. Just layering static above synthesizers and loud vocals isn’t cutting it anymore. This is the problem that Bass Drum are suffering from: a near complete lack of originality.

The general sound of GB City is evident only ten seconds into the opener, Nerve Jamming. It borrows a couple lines from the Black Keys, gives a quick nod to No Age, but, as a whole, goes nowhere. I found this to be true about most of the album; not much grows or changes. GB City is, for the most part, eleven songs that all are a bit too reminiscent of someone else.

Bass Drum do find themselves a few times on the album, such as on the throwback Heart Attack Kid. However, thirty seconds in one or two songs just isn’t enough to make me take any interest. Bass Drum of Death are a genre band, they would make great playlist fodder, but I don’t recommend picking up GB City. If you like this type of music, you’ve probably already heard everything that’s on here, anyways.

Tracklist:
1. Nerve Jamming
2. GB City
3. Get Found
4. Velvet Itch
5. High School Roaches
6. Spare Room
7. Young Pros
8. Heart Attack Kid
9. Leaves
10. I Could Never Be Your Man
11. Religious Girls

-Owen