Bedford Falls
Bedford Falls are a four piece punk/indie rock band from Cardiff in South Wales. The band is made up from members of past underground bands such as The Take, and The New 1920’s. This four piece have spent the time since they formed gigging throughout the UK, building further experience and creating a fan base of underground punk lovers. Aside from this the past two years have also been spent concentrating on recording this, their debut album “Savings and Loan”.
Opening track “Who’s Coat Is That Jacket” is fast paced and powerful, with its chugging chords and powerful vocals you are instantly left with high hopes for the rest of the album. With the harmonies and energy of the opening track still running through your veins, the melancholy sounds of “Slowdancing” filter in. The song is well written musically but left me wanting more of the energy felt during track one. Its gloomy rhythm was a harsh contrast to the fast paced and exciting rhythm of its predecessor, and the melancholy sounds this band create continue throughout the release.
There are occasions within the album where the melancholy sounds seem to disperse, such as in “Paperbacks” and “Insipid”, where the bands quality and harmonies are strongest and most influential, but the repetitive rhythms of many of the songs couldn’t remedy the dejected feeling I had already gained.
“Temperancetown” maintains a similar rhythm but contains sections of broken riffs and chord progressions which are somewhat more imaginative and interesting to listen to allowing a short break from the sounds Bedford Falls create throughout this release.
Technically the band seems to work well together, but throughout the album I felt increasingly in need of a lift, or a break from the despondent sounds. The vocals seem to lack power on occasions and become almost monotone. Although this album was recorded and fine tuned over a two year time period I somehow feel that this length of time almost caused the band to lose some direction and emphasis upon their music. Despite the fact that this is a punk record, which is admittedly supposed to sound dirty, I would expect a higher level of recording quality and precision from a recording which was fine tuned over a two year period.
Overall I was disappointed by “Savings and Loan” as I expected a completely different record from a band with such experience and professionalism.