Hailing from the Oxford, Mississippi gig circuit, John Barrett debuted with a Fat Possum 45 in 2008 before hooking up with Mellowhype and releasing 2011’s GB City album on Inflated, before then going on to uncork last year’s self-titled debut for Los Angeles’ Innovative Leisure.
These recordings were done at home using basic GarageBand software, but for the first Bass Drum Of Death studio album he is joined by drummer Len Clark and Unknown Mortal Orchestra bassist Jacob Portrait, who also produced in a California studio.
The proper bass drums of death were mercilessly pounding the seething dancefloors of Ibiza this summer, but here the irresistible tag masks some solid riff-heavy whoopee (with powerful but non-life threatening timekeeping) on titles such as Left For Dead and Sin Is In Ten, while Burns My Eye and For Blood recall late-period Alice or Ramones. Thankfully, Barrett injects enough personality to suggest inevitable LA takeover before next year’s festivals./o:p
