Photo: Official Cover Art
It’s pretty easy to raise a sceptical eyebrow every time a new classic rock band comes along without as much as listening to what they have on offer. Of course, who the hell could live up to the likes of Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC when they were at the top of their game? But even those legends had to start somewhere, and northern rockers, Bulletproof Rose are proof that open mindedness is critical.
Their debut EP, ‘Loud, Hard and Fast’, which will see its release on April 27, pulls together five diverse rock ‘n’ roll tracks with influences ranging from all over the spectrum from punk to hard rock and even a tiny smidgen of rockabilly tucked away in there too.
But anyway, down to the nitty gritty of it…
It’s not a masterpiece – that’s the main thing we can draw from this EP. The band’s songwriting abilities leave a lot to be desired particularly on the band’s namesake track, ‘Bulletproof Rose‘. What is clearly meant to be the band’s statement of intent quickly becomes repetitive, overly simplistic and really falls short of the mark that the band have set for themselves. Furthermore, the EP seems to be packed with lyrical cliches – women and partying – that isn’t exactly groundbreaking (see ‘Bang Your Head’ and ‘My Girl‘).
Sadly, that’s one theme that continues throughout the EP, however it does have a couple of redeeming qualities that saves it from mediocrity. True to their genre, Bulletproof Rose manage to pull out tracks that contain strong guitars and driving beats – a sterling example of this is ‘Gypsy Woman‘: a track that undoubtedly draws influence from AC/DC, if you ask us. It makes a great track to dance to and is catchy enough to merit it being the EP’s strongest track by far.
All in all: musically, Bulletproof Rose are definitely above par owing to the crystal clear guitar work manifested on their EP. But their biggest and perhaps most damning pitfall is their sub par lyrics. If those were better, then this EP would certainly be a memorable one.
