Indie duo Bam Bam release new Covid inspired EP ‘Rustle Up Something’
‘Rustle Up Something’ from indie duo Bam Bam has an undeniable energy, a personality and a spark not dependent on technical ferocity or sickly layered riffs. It takes cues from other blues and indie rock projects and updates the sound for a modern audience.
Tracking the pandemic not through numbers, but through humanity. At times we are made to feel guilty about our highs and lows, but every emotion is valid right now. There is no right way to feel about lockdown, no manual we can follow. Tackling every day as it comes and celebrating the very things that make isolation so difficult. Bam Bam ride out the peaks and troughs, whether in terms of mental health or musical inspiration. The EP is available on Bandcamp, and any money raised will go towards North Devon based mental health charity ‘CLARITY’.
“If we only make £10, that’s one session for someone who needs it” – Bam Bam
Just two guys, recording an EP between two houses, Bam Bam have a trademark strangeness; a quirk that follows and flows through every project they release. ‘Rustle Up Something’ is no exception. I previously reviewed ‘Flatten The Curve’ over on my personal blog and loved it. But when sandwiched between the other two tracks, I’m listening with a different context and seeing the bigger picture. ‘Flatten the curve’ acts as the peak of the EP. Holding nothing back, it’s the complex but tightly woven single that plays with Albarn-esk paranoia, sitting pride of place between ‘Beans’ and ‘KYD’.
‘Beans’ opens the EP with a dirty, Americana lick that struts over the verses, the heel-dragging vocals, similar to Grian Chatten of Fontains D.C., are sung with a snarl. The track makes a rock hymn from our mundane domesticity, it is one of the heavier tracks I’ve heard from the band, but doesn’t lose their classic electro undercurrent. It’s peppered in, keeping the track organic and real. It’s a genuine argument, the snipes and digs a result of months cooped up with someone. The lovable awkwardness and twists of a relationship expressed by the not so perfect rhymes and unpredictable guitar revs.
‘Beans’ and ‘Flatten The Curve’ are the most prog-pop tracks, a genre you can’t quite put your finger on. They play with orchestra pop remonstrant of bands like Elbow, ‘Beans’ definitely has a ‘ground for divorce’ style swagger. However, Bam Bam inject synths rather than strings to form their cushion of emotion.
Rounding off the ep is ‘KYD’, the early 2000s rock ballad, softer than the previous tracks but still a powerful chorus; with ride crashes, piano and tugging vocals. It’s the most explicit in its COVID references but acts as the gentle uncoiling, and the song ends with a hushed warning. ‘KYD’ is the descent back into ‘normality’. With unusual simplicity from the acoustic guitar and almost sarcastic whistling, it seems optimism has been furloughed. The climax is the repetition of ‘keep your distance’ over and over but defies you to join in. Showing how desensitized we’ve become, distance and separation have been drilled into us. ‘Sanitizing’ any emotion. They avoid romanticising and are all the more compelling for it.
“I read somewhere that Comedy = History + Time,” this may be the only way to interpret the world we’re living in right now. Acting as a height chart on a door frame, this project is organic, it’s changing, it can only grow with relevance and potency. Even after just the second listen, the connection feels stronger! ‘Rustle Up Something’ is a real reflection on 2020, it’s a mirror of shared experiences waving back at you. Giving permission to react in our own way, you can’t help but lean in closer, letting your breath fog up the glass.
Remember to check out the ‘Rustle Up Something’ on Bandcamp to support ‘CLARITY’. Keep updated with Bam Bam on Instagram and let us know what you think and leave an ICM Star Rating out of 10.