BAI BANG - review added 15th April 2009
Album Review: Are You Ready (2009)
For fans of: hard rock... and pomp/sleaze/punk party music
Are You Ready is Swedish group Bai Bang's 6th album in twenty years. They aren't a band who like to rush things, but when the results are this good it becomes hard to moan.
Featuring Diddi Kastenholt (vocals), Pelle Eliaz (guitar), Joacim Sandin (bass) and Jonas Langebro (drums), this 4-piece play a music with the octane of rocket fuel. It's built on a bedrock of partying... and then partying even harder. The guys are, ahem, approaching middle age now but their music (especially the vocals) sound young, fresh and dynamic. The fact they look like Motley Crue's wardrobe team clearly helps too.
'I Love The Things You Hate' kicks the album off with a firework up the jacksy. It isn't quite a balls to the wall party anthem but it ain't far off. It's like Poison running at part throttle, and has a fair amount in common with the style of new(ish) band The Chelsea Smiles.
'Born To Rock' however is the equivalent of Poison with the pedal to the metal, the nitrous valve fully opened and their heads in an encyclopedia. If such a thing is possible, this is the perfect intellectual party rock. It's a riot of a song, yet still controlled enough and lyrically engaging to be a rabid listen. 'Party Queen' is another lively little number. The chorus is a proper shout fest.
'Are You Ready I'm Ready' brings the energy levels down by half a percent. It's still a dance and sing along carnival, but boasts a tiny amount more restraint in it's rhythms. The heavy(ish) riff that pumps out occasionally gives a nice contrast to the rest of the song. 'Only The Best Die Young' starts off as an out and out ballad, but slowly mutates into a sort of upbeat downbeat song about love and loss. It's a wonderful track with a great sentiment.
'We Come Alive' has a strong feel of Giant, which in general is no bad thing. The song itself is good, and the chorus is strong, but the similarity between the main riff and the work of Sir Dann of Huff is a touch too close for comfort. 'Longtime Comin`' has a different feel again. It has a classic sound and could actually, rather sneakily, be the best track on the album.
'All The Little Things' is the other song that has a rightful claim to that throne. It has a cool sing along chorus and a deliberately slow, semi funky feel. The harmonies are particularly wonderful and the song as a whole is understated but huge. Final song 'Bigtime Party' is a pleasant way to close the album. It doesn't do anything different or massively exciting, but it's still a bubbly track with a perfect summer BBQ vibe.
Are You Ready is lining itself up to be the party album of the year. I'm torn between it being sensationally brilliant and merely bloody excellent. It has the adrenaline of a group of teenagers in a sugar and caffeine factory, and more cheese than an Edam lover's armpits, but the understated aura to a few of the songs reins matters in... perhaps in places where Bai Bang should have gone ballistic.
Overall, though, it's hard to criticise the result in any more than a picky hair-splitting fashion. Are You Ready is a great release with an almost full line-up of top tracks. And we love it.
Check out... Almost all of it if you want to par-tay! Not so much of it if you don't...
Track List:
1. I Love The Things You Hate
2. Born To Rock
3. Party Queen
4. Are You Ready I'm Ready
5. Only The Best Die Young
6. We Come Alive
7. Longtime Comin'
8. Bad Boys
9. All The Little Things
10. Bigtime Party
Label: Metal Heaven
Artist's websites: Bai Bang , MySpace
