Boilerman - Doing Great 7"

86'd / All In Vinyl (2015)

This 7" sort got lost in the shuffle with some other records sent to me for review.  It may sound silly, but my record piles still feel pretty disheveled since my Japan trip.  It sort of feels like I'll never be able to catch up.  I will try however, so today let's talk about this Boilerman 7".

I've reviewed two other Boilerman releases, though this 7" seems to be older than the other two.  I've said a few times that Boilerman is a band that's trying to mask their catchy hooks in some fuzzy yelling.  The three songs on this 7" are much more straightforward and I may actually like them the most of anything I've heard from the band.

Sure, things get a little crazy about halfway through "Doing Great," but that's only after the band has established a nice little guitar riff into palm mute verse with vocals that reming me a bit of middle era Plow United.  "We're The Worst" is a crunchy blast of guitars and even their Warren Zevon cover of "The Factory" hits all the right notes.  Boilerman are a consistently good band to check out, especially if you're in the mood for something a little louder.

Boilerman - Doing Great 7":

https://86drec.bandcamp.com/album/doing-great

Go White Bronco - Population: Ghost Town LP

86'd (2016)

Doing the whole book by the cover thing, I thought I could have figured out what Go White Bronco probably sounded like.  It just looks like a hardcore record to me (or maybe a mid 90's midwestern band I suppose).  Needless to say, I was kind of taken aback to be presented with a two minute long acoustic instrumental to start the album.

Still, that was just the intro, so I braced myself for some blistering guitar noise.  Track two comes on and would you believe it's move acoustic guitar?  Though they threw me for a loop based on what I was expecting, Go White Bronco is more my speed than any loud shouty hardcore record would have been.  I won't go so far as to say that I love this or I expect to be listening to it on repeat, but it's actually pretty good.

This isn't singer songwriter nonsense, this is a full band playing passionate songs who just so happen to favor acoustic guitars to electric.  It's very rootsy in its approach, some might even tag it as Americana.  To me, it seems more rooted in the sort of folk protest songs of a time long gone.  The lyrics are serious, but try to paint an uplifting picture while still acknowledging the bad times.  Let's be honest, a lot of the records people send me I don't like all that much.  Those records don't make it to the collection, they get tossed after I've written the review.  There is a place in my collection for Go White Bronco, so take that recommendation for what it's worth.

Go White Bronco - Population: Ghost Town:

https://86drec.bandcamp.com/album/population-ghost-town-2

Boilerman - Feel Ways About Stuff LP

86'd / All In Vinyl / Sad Punk / Waterslide (2016)

I've been lucky enough to have some familiarity with Boilerman prior to this album, though that's 100% because of this website and kind folks providing me with their records.  I'm appreciative of it, because I don't really think I would have given Boilerman much attention if left to my own devices.

Here's the thing with Boilerman, they're a really catchy band masquerading as a hardcore band.  If you casually jump through the songs on this record, you're mostly just going to hear loud, fast guitars and a singer with strep throat shouting incoherently.  However, if you really spend some time listening to everything you'll see the way the riffs are laid out and how the hooks are packed in just below the chaos.  They always remind me a little bit of the sort of things you'd find on Lookout during their early, more adventurous days.

I always feel like Boilerman is right on the cusp of being the sort of band that's right up my alley.  If they could just put the hooks a little closer to the surface, we'd be in business.  Still, Feel Ways About Stuff is definitely worth checking out, particular if you're more into hardcore-ish stuff than I am.

Boilerman - Feel Ways About Stuff: