Bass Drum Of Death ‘Rip This’: Rooting For The Bad Guy

Nashville – The term “garage rock” usually draws pictures in my mind of skinny lead singers in torn jeans, Gibson Flying Vs blasting through Marshall stacks and low-slung Rickenbacker basses pounding through Ampeg cabinets. Unlike more refined acts who spend hour upon hour laying tracks in the studio until each song has reached perfection; garage bands are not known for the painstaking craftsmanship or artistic finesse. But for Oxford, MS garage band Bass Drum of Death, crafting gritty garage rock has become somewhat of an art. Their latest album, Rip This, marries the two camps into a beefy, symphonic blend.

Rip This is 12 tracks of pure, 3-minute, garage rock bliss. “Electric,” the album’s opening track, lives up to it’s name with biting guitar chords, a raunchy distorted bass line, and a thunderous backbeat courtesy of BDOD’s newest addition, Len Clark, on drums. Right away there are some sharp lines drawn separating this new album from founder John Barrett’s earlier efforts with Bass Drum of Death. The production is crisper and the musicianship is more refined, yet none of the rawness of the band’s sound is lost in the development. The instrumentation is super simple. A few guitar tracks backed by heavy bass and drums drive an edgy wall of sound out of the speakers, proving that good things do come in small packages. After all, Bass Drum of Death is the work of Barrett and Clark. This duo creates all the sounds heard on the record.

“Left For Dead” and “For Blood” follow up the opener and are as equally destructive and anxious, with glimpses of The Hives and The New York Dolls shining through. “Everything’s The Same” kicks up the speed a notch and rides a more Ramones-like wave.

The B-side of the album provides some contrast to the fast and loose barnburners of side A. “Lose My Mind” has a bit more of pop punk feel to it. “Better Days,” the album’s only acoustic song, is a mellow take on the wasted time put into a failed relationship. Rip This wraps up with “Route 69 (Yeah)”. The song opens with a Peter Gunn-like intro that repeats in the chorus and has an infectious hook.

Bass Drum of Death has enjoyed quite a bit of commercial success with their previous releases. Their music has been used in movies, television and popular video games like Grand Theft Auto V and Gran Turismo 6. There is just something about BDOD’s sound that conjures up images of degenerates and criminals driving fast cars, smoking cigarettes and knocking off liquor stores. It creates the kind of soundtrack that inspires me to root for the bad guy. Rip This contains another cache of songs that fill this niche and are likely to find their way into a future virtual crime spree.

Bass Drum of Death harkens back to a time in the early 2000’s when garage rock was poised to make a comeback. After the closing of CBGB’s and the breakups of many of the movement’s power players, hopes were dashed only a few years later. Rip This breathes some new air into the deflated garage rock circuit. The band has a dedicated fan base in both the U.S. and worldwide; a U.S. tour begins this week.

Rip This is in stores on October 7 from Innovative Leisure. Pick it up at your local record store.

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Kevin Ott

Originally from Trenton, NJ, Kevin Ott currently resides in Nashville, TN. He grew up playing guitar and bass in central NJ's punk rock scene and listening to Van Halen and KISS records. He is a 2011 graduate of William Paterson University with bachelor's degrees Environmental Science and Earth Science. He writes about music, environmental conservation and the outdoors. He likes running, hiking, playing banjo, and reading. Follow him on twitter & instagram: @nashresonator