A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Bass Drum Of Death’s “Live… And Let Die” LP. Even on first glance at the cover of “Live… And Let Die“, I began to get excited. The cover of the album reminded me of so many other live albums I’d seen before; with a black and white photo and an arguably trite title, the album instantly calls to mind similarities to live albums by bands like Aerosmith, Judas Priest, The Black Keys, Neil Young and others which appear to have been hastily assembled and favor urgency over craft. It might seem unlikely, but that sense of familiarity excited me; in this day and age when concerts featuring playback to to basically make a show is the norm, simply presenting a performance with no frills is exhilarating – and such is precisely the appeal of Live… And Let Die.
Recorded in 2023 in Chicago, the A-side of “Live… And Let Die” opens earnestly with a great version of “I Wanna Be Forgotten” that is just captivating. There, after introductions are made, Bass Drum Of Death just launches into “I Wanna Be Forgotten” and never looks back; guitars are overdriven to the point that they nearly melt down, and Colin Sneed pummels his drum kit mercilessly while John Barrett’s vocals season the song and make the high end sparkle. As potentially nihilistic as the grind of the guitars could get, the song stays bright and exciting throughout and, when it does slam shut (after just two and a half minutes!), listeners will feel as though they’ve been slapped in the mouth – and so will rush to keep up with the album’s running.
After the album’s precedents have been set by “I Wanna Be Forgotten,” “Nerve Jamming” lifts the introductory beat from The Ramones’ “Teenage Lobotomy” but makes the guitar tone in the song just a little more grimy and gnarly in keeping with the band’s image before evening out the sound of those two extremes and finding a balance with “No Soul”and “Left For Dead,” which strike every primal pleasure centre in listeners’ brains and “Velvet Itch” just batters the last functional nerves that listeners might have in them before stylus lifts and asks listeners to flip the record over if they dare.
Those listeners who do take up the challenge will be handsomely rewarded as soon as needle touches down and “Everybody’s Gonna Be There” starts the B-side running. There, after some obligatory screech and skronk, Barrett taps an instantly gratifying vein as he balances melody and urgency – bolstered very well by Sneed and Trent Cocteau – and rips through two and a quarter minutes of spectacular rock that is as molten as it is melodic. After that, the running does not slow as the bandmembers each exercise their vocal chords through the hard stomping of “Say Your Prayers” and batters through an excellent, revved up take of “Shattered Me” before sounding as though they’ve spontaneously chosen to walk out into the desert (whether imaginary or not) through “Get Found” and then remaining there for the grunting, grinding showcase of “No Demons” and finally closing on a lighter and brighter note in the form of “Crawling After You.”
Now, after having ground and stomped their way through most of the B-side’s play, closing on a brighter, speedier note as “Crawling After You” does offers a solid way out of the album, but it could easily be argued that the close of the album doesn’t want to make those who have run front-to-back with “Live… And Let Die” start over and indulge repeated plays so much as just wishing the album was longer. Listeners who run front-to-back with “Live… And Let Die” may find themselves wishing that the release was a double album or, failing that, on a different medium altogether – which could offer a more complete presentation of the concert experience. Simply said, “Live… And Let Die” will leave listeners wanting more but the nature of the medium tries not to leave any loose ends dangling from the record too. In effect, what listeners end up getting from “Live… And Let Die” is a very challenging album which starts strong but leaves demand very high by record’s close. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
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Album:
Bass Drum Of Death’s “Live… And Let Die” LP is out now. Buy it here from Cobraside Records’ official web site.
