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Band Of Beards

Fuerteventura

Written by: PP on 11/05/2011 03:38:21

Sometimes releasing your record for free on a torrent site gets you mentioned on the internet. Sometimes it also gets you mentioned in a real music magazine, so all you young bands reading this take note of the following: had Band Of Beards never released their record "Fuerteventure" on a music torrent site, the chances of me hearing about them would be rather astronomical. Who needs a marketing department anymore? Moving on, though. Legend says that the moniker Band Of Beards was coined because each member owns an impressive enough beard to challenge all of the 'beardcore' bands in a mightiest beard contest. Now before you ask what the hell is beardcore, just imagine a blender with contents like Bear Vs Shark, Hot Water Music, The Serious Geniuses, Attack In Black, Castevet, Bars Of Gold, Monument, et cetera.

As you might imagine, the outcome is a band that dwells somewhere between melodic original post-hardcore, bright punk, indie-flavored rock and the quiet/loud dynamic from the old days. If all those styles and genres would each have a corner in a square, then Band Of Beards would be somewhere right in the middle. The band they owe most to musically, however, is very obviously Bear Vs Shark, given how closely their vocalist mimics the explosive singing style of Marc Paffi. The music, too, on several tracks relies on a similar quiet/loud dynamic as Bear Vs Shark, where they go from punk attitude to post-hardcore energy in a split second. They are a little more indie-flavored and less aggressive in many ways, though, but not enough for the listener not to make the parallel.

The record starts with a couple of solid songs that don't necessarily bring anything new to the genre, but just remind us how the good old days used to be like. In that sense they are retrospective, but that need not be a bad thing always, which Band Of Beards prove effectively throughout the record. There's also a little old school rock'n'roll embedded into their sound towards the second half of the album, but really what you take out of "Fuerteventura" is how simple and honest it is in its execution. It might not be as good as any of the bands mentioned in this review, but hey, it's still strong enough to warrant a cautious recommendation.

Download: Multiple Choice Questions, Want vs Need
For the fans of: Bear Vs Shark, The Serious Geniuses, Bars Of Gold
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 26.04.2011
Self-Released