Demo Title: Red Hair Revolution
Band Members: Wayne - Bass, Mick - Vocals, Dustin - Drums, Eli - Guitar
Location: Detroit, MI
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Band Name: Bowlscraper
Demo Title: Red Hair Revolution Band Members: Wayne - Bass, Mick - Vocals, Dustin - Drums, Eli - Guitar Location: Detroit, MI Rating: 3 Skulls
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Redwolff's Review:
Being a redhead, I felt an initial affinity to this disc simply because of the title . . . but then after a moment's reflection I realized the red hair they refer to does not grow on a human head; nor does Bowlscraper refer to cleaning toilets. I have a hard time, at this point in my life (or perhaps at any point in my life) understanding why someone would want to associate themselves so thoroughly with substance use. I like beer, but I don't call myself Beer Girl and wear promotional tshirts from brewing companies. In case the band's name and album title didn't tip you off, song names include "STONED" and "Higher;" lyrics like "We'll drink it all! We'll smoke it all! We'll fuck it all! I'm Stoned!!" and "Yeah, I got a fat bag of kind stuff, I need to make it disappear. Can you help me out man? Is there a bowl in here?" clear up any remaining confusion. In general, I don't think that pot is any more harmful than tobacco when used responsibly and should be legalized, but I don't really understand the freak flag flying some people do for it. It's a fucking weed, dude. But whatever, just because I'd rather be in a gym than a hash bar doesn't mean I can't attempt to judge this music objectively.At an hour's playing time, this is pretty long for a demo CD. Thankfully, it's also pretty good. Bowlscraper's music contains some hardcore influences but it's more thrash and old school metal than anything else. In photos, the band appears to be straight from the metalcore factory, but their material does not sound like it's influenced by any current trends. They wouldn't be out of place opening for Black Label Society, Superjoint Ritual or the sadly defunct Damage Plan; despite being from a Northern state, the band has a definite Southern flavor to them. And while I usually expect slower doom/stoner tempos from bands that worship the sweet leaf, Bowlscraper surprised me with the unrelenting uptempo of their fourteen tracks. The singer's strong, scratchy voice is very appropriate for the music. According to the website, they are auditioning for a new drummer and guitarist, and will be working on new material once the roster has gelled. The band, as it existed at the time of this recording, is tight and obviously used to playing together - hopefully the new members will be able to fit in well so Bowlscraper does not lose this quality on their next CD.
The production is not as clean as I'd like but for the type of metal they are playing it's probably fitting that it's a little dirty. The mix itself is well-balanced, and the packaging is very professional. Bowlscraper has an informative and easily navigable website with plenty of mp3s available for download and a 20MB video for the sixth track, "M.L.P." (stands for Major League Player), which even on a T1 took too long to load.
Bowlscraper's music itself is palatable and gets the job done, although I found some of the lyrics a bit silly. To be fair, a thorough examination of the lyric sheet printed on the inside of the CD liner does demonstrate that Bowlscraper thinks about more than getting high; there are the usual angsty themes of fighting against this or that tyranny, whether it be conformity or terrorism or liars or greed, but lines like "When it's up and down I fuck to win . . . FUCK!" just make me shake my head in bemusement. Still, for a first full-length, Red Hair Revolution has a lot of potential, and I applaud these guys for staying away from the rapping, the breakdowns and the temptation to write pablum in order to get radio play.
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