ALBUM REVIEW: Above The Static – The Bar Stool Preachers
Punk rock rhythms ensue on THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS‘ third studio album Above The Static. That means this record is fast and full of attitude and it makes for one hell of a ride.
Call Me On The Way Home is the first sonic offering from the Brighton punks and it’s instantly clear that this track is something else. It’s got a really great acoustic feel to the verses but it soars and gets heavy in the choruses and the vocals are great as they sound like the guys are just having so much fun. It’s got an anthemic feel to it with a singalong chorus and breakdown section which is going to be incredible at live shows. Second up is Flatlined which sounds a little reminiscent of a MISFITS song so it’s almost guaranteed to be an absolute banger. The lyrics are little melancholy but once again it has that anthemic feel to it and it’s super fast and fun with a hard bouncy rhythm so it’s not like it’s a sad song.
Released as a single is third track All Turned Blue, and it’s a little more chilled out than the other two tracks so far. It’s incredibly well structured as it doesn’t try to be fancy with it and keeps things simple with a less is more approach that really works. The guitar parts are really what seem to be the driving force with single chords played over the verse and coming in hard for the chorus. It’s a song for lovers about just being together and growing together and being there for each other no matter what.
A couple of tracks on, Never Gonna Happen provides more of a defiant punk rock song. It’s about how a lot of what people want out of life is not going to happen or at least with how things are going right now and how people shouldn’t just sit by and be ok with that. It’s great as it comes with a clear message. These guys aren’t happy about something so they wrote a song about it – there’s nothing more punk rock than that.
Elsewhere, the band slow things down on Lighthouse Keeper. It’s mainly just vocals and a piano piece which is a massive change from the rest of the album but it just shows the versatility of THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS as musicians. It’s really beautiful as the vocals rise and fall throughout the track, pained and tinged with sadness and longing. Following this is Love The Love, which has a 50s feel to it. It’s almost like a show tune till the drop and the distortion kicks in and the punk vibes are revived. It’s an energetic little track with a clear defiant message – euphoric but in a punk way.
The album closes on Going Forward, which is another slow one. It’s mostly just vocals and acoustic guitar and the instrumentation builds as the song moves forward. It’s hopeful and inspirational, about how we’re all going somewhere and moving on with our lives and even if we fail at something we can always keep moving forward. It’s the perfect sort of track to end an album on.
THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS have really got something special with this album. It feels very much reminiscent of classic punk but it doesn’t feel out of place today. It’s like an awesome throwback that no one could complain about. Full of punk sensibilities, Above The Static is not one to miss.
Rating: 8/10
Above The Static is set for release on March 31st via Pure Noise Records.
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