Family Average: 4.9/7

Welcome back review readers, and check out these guys coming in with all this Dirty Laundry! The Family seems to respond well to music of the indie-rock persuasion. This one comes in with a little more rock than indie. Wonder how they will react to that?

Listen along on Spotify and read on to find out:

Before I start my review: shoutout to Serge for grabbing me some new Sony noise-cancelling headphones! It’s a lot easier to review albums when I’m not putting my phone up to my ear on headphone-less walks home.

I loved the flow of this album, each song seemed to seamlessly fade into the next, with enough variety in sound and energy to keep you entertained. Basement Candy sounds like crushing watered-down beer in a...well a basement of course...somewhere upstate, in the best kind of way.

It’s raw yet polished, its punk and rock and indie and something in between it all. I particularly would have been splashing my beer everywhere dancing to “Right Now”. Also holy shit Josh is a good writer lol go read his review. 

4.5/7

I guess it’s pretty ironic that I’m listening to this album while doing laundry. Anyway, I liked it more than I expected.

When I heard the first few bars of the first song I thought “Ah post-punk type stuff, not usually a big fan of that”, but I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. It was very crisp and well recorded, unlike most bands in that genre. All the instruments sound really good, especially the drums. They don’t actually sound like your typical rock band drums; they aren’t that heavy, which makes it easier to hear every little detail, and I really appreciate that. The rhythm section is really tight overall, which makes the songs more energetic and interesting.

The guitars were a slightly different story. They were really loud in the mix and swamped everything with excess overdrive and distortion, such that you couldn’t hear the cool drums, the nice bass, and the good vocals. Goddamn guitarists, when will they understand that they’re not the center of the world!? Plus, there was no variety in the guitar parts, unlike the drums and bass which were changing a lot throughout the album. This made all the songs sound kinda similar, which could have easily been avoided if they stepped on their distortion pedal from time to time.

Overall, I think they have great potential because they managed to not sound too cliche for a new punk rock band, which is quite remarkable. They had some cool ballads in there too, which is always nice and shows some depth. Good job to the rhythm section, they are really good.

5/7

Basement Candy—great name. A name that conjures images of late night jokes from men in smokey eyeliner and tattered leather pants. A name born from an admiration of band names like meat puppets. Or a PG-13 version of leftover crack, if you will. Most importantly, its a name as loud as the volume of their music. It’s rock that celebrates the brash dissonance you would expect from basement dwellers with a sweet tooth.

Does this album lose steam after three tracks? Yes. But then again, I would be a little disappointed by a measured approach. Who needs stability when your music captures the angst of a band that enjoys dungeon desserts?

4.5/7

I didn’t like it.

I really wanted to like it, or even attempt to like it, but it was simply terrible. I’ve never been a fan of heavy metal rock, maybe that had something to do with it. This was Iron Maiden meets Suicide Silence. The only tracks I was able to tolerate were “Right Now” and “Twelve”. Even so, they started out strong, but then got muddled with distortion. “WW3” had potential but in the end it fell short because it never really went anywhere. It was just kind of there, like that weird kid on your dorm room floor, not exactly intolerable but you never really wanted to have a conversation with him or get a beer with him. "WonderW” was a good version of a punk song, if there is such a thing, but I could not say it was worth a listen.

If you are an effects pedal fan you’ll like this album. It has tons of fuzz, overdrive distortion, and gain. Not for me. I rate it a...

3/7 ...because I have heard much, much worse recently.  

You listen to the album and think, of course, they're named Dirty Laundry, and of course, it is called Basement Candy. Much like the songs, the names evoke imagery that will make you smile or cringe -- depending on your particular disposition. The energy of the album is pretty palpable. I can almost feel the sweat flying off these guys as they're thrashing on the guitar and drums -- in a dingy, mold encrusted basement, of course. It's rough, loud, and aggressive without being too jarring. It will scratch any "I need to mosh" itch you've got. Not everyone's cup of tea, but there is enough of an indie/alt vibe running through to make it palatable for those who shy away from bands that fall on the heavy rock/metal/punk spectrum. In the right mood (see: aforementioned need of a mosh), the right place (see: aforementioned basement), and at the right time (late, late, late), I'd throw this on.  

4.5/7

I can’t stop staring at the album cover cause I really like it.

As soon as the guitar started in “Caravan” the part of me that likes to go kick people and lose my shoes and maybe break a pinky with some sweaty adolescents was awoken. That being said, the guitar is what I enjoyed throughout that song, not so much the vocals. But then we get to “Right Now!” and yes now it's all working for me. Oooo “Twelve” I was not expecting this slow down, and that guitar is so pleasing. Ahh the little cracks in his voice on “WW3”, very nice. Then came “Wonder Why” , I did not like those “Oi Ois” at the end. 

When I first started listening I was thinking this to be very unimpressionable, just mediocre music, that provokes no words for me. Then it got going and I found some things to appreciate for sure. It went places I didn’t expect.

3.5/7

Review for Dirty Laundry: The album opens with a raw, punk rock garage band number. It was a bit messy but gave me hope and motivation to continue listening. However, it became very apparent, as I continued to listen that there was not going to be a lot of attention to detail or the art of creating music.

Some of the songs seemed to have that punk energy but just never really made it there. They were kind of came across like just angry boys. On the track "12" I give them credit for giving the song some structure, building something meaningful and keeping you interested. Then in "WW3" all that energy disappears. I was hoping to hear them sing this ballad with some emotion or investment but i don't feel that ever happened. Instead I was left with incessant droning. Sometimes I feel it is so easy to just record that people loose the artistry needed to create something worthy of sharing.

3/7