Bardo

The Bardo - The Bardo

‘To Be Free’ was the first taste we got of three-piece Brighton rock’n’roll band The Bardo, but now they are back with twelve accompanying tracks on their self-titled album.

Even though guitar, bass and drums seem the only source of music playing, it sounds as though even more is plugged into these tunes and that makes them hard to appreciate and enjoy listening to. It is as though sounds are pile on top of each other, causing rhythms to be distorted and riffs hard to detect. There are times where putting your hands over the ears to block out the incessant rumble doesn’t sound like such a stupid idea.

However, this is one of those releases that the more you listen and pay attention to the more it begins to grow on you, like mould to bread. You begin to make some distinction in the tracks; the rhythms are not as garbled as they first appear. There are a few points where the music is bearable to listen to; it is not too sharp or too powerful or jumbled, such as on ‘New Testament’. It is still however not going to make you clap with acceptance.

Vocalist Paul Dawson is able to sing in a variety of tones and pitches. He hits some very sharp notes as well as some deeper devilish ones;in regards to ‘Modern Monkey’ this is achieved all in one track! The problem is neither of the vocals he decides to use is very appealing and when one does begin to stand out it seems to be buried beneath the music, such as on ‘Get Down’. Here his vocals are actually tolerable and the music is also just about manageable, however the music is just that little bit to powerful, blurring the vocals and causing a downfall.

There is not really anything encouraging or uplifting about this self-titled album, still there have been worse!