Labels: Bombed Out Records – Fixing A Hole
Review by: MH
First of all, I love the name of this album. I don’t know if it’s a Sebadoh reference but it’s a great title either way. This starts strongly with a twinkly opening that isn’t a million miles away from Texas is the Reason and kicks in to mid-pace when the rest of the band joins in. When Chris Charlton’s vocals come in it is like an old friend appearing. Very familiar and he still sounds distinctive. I’ve been listening to bands he has been in for what seems like decades now. If you aren’t already aware, he was in Chopper and Pylon amongst others, and has more recently been active with Shake Your Halo Down. Protectors themselves are an indie/alt rock band. This time around the sound is a little bigger than before with them expanding from a three to a five piece. Most of the tracks are mid-paced and there is some piano along the way too which gives some of the tracks that bigger feel. The addition of Kerry Ramsay on backing vocals throughout the album is great too. We can talk about mature lyrics and sound all day long but I’d rather focus on the strength of the songs and they are full of hooks particularly when the choruses kick in. I like all of this but the songs that stand out for me apart from the excellent opener are the melodic “Four Sevens” which has a lovely Lemonheads-esque jangly guitar sound, and “Uniform” which follows that track and has a more powerful rhythm section. The mid-paced final track “Reminder” ends things on a high and is a hopeful song about sticking together. This one also features a sample of a stand-up talking about talking to kids about drugs. The piano line that runs through the sample as the track closes is a nice touch. This record might resonate a little lower on the punk scale than a lot of the output on Bombed Out but the label is nothing if not consistent and this is another strong release.