Smokey Bastard – “Back To The Drawing Room” [Album Review]

So, from the outset I feel I need to state that Back To The Drawing Room is one hell of an album! By incorporating instruments such as the banjo, accordion and even what sounds like a mandolin, it seamlessly fuses to perfection a classic folk style with punk rock; not the sort of thing you would normally expect of a punk band.

Right from the get-go Smokey Bastard establish what will be a memorable and delightful album with “Archipelago.” Almost instantly it literally had me reaching for the volume control to crank it to the max! Expect fast-paced, distorted guitars, booming bass lines, thumping drum beats all held firmly together with an array of other instruments, not to mention gang vocals being led by the singer’s distinctive gritty style.

Following from “Archipelago” is “Rats” which maintains the momentum established by the disc’s opener. The album follows suit and, after a few more tracks of this delightful ear candy, the band share what’s possibly the album’s finest (albeit shorter track) “South Australia.” This song is pure a capella, not a single note aside from a exceptionally well-synchronized troop singing about being bound for South Australia. For those out there who’ve ever played Black Flag of the Assassins Creed franchise, you could quite easily mistake this for an old pirate sea shanty, the simple one word description I have for this is “epic”!

If you’re like me and love punk rock but sometimes feel let down by the saturation of generic bands, Smokey Bastard is for you – this release is definitely in my top 5 albums of 2015! The guys describe their music as being “like milk, for your ears,” a very well-deserved description at that. So that’s my review, I’m off now to add their back catalog to my collection… I urge you to do the same.

Track Listing:

01. Archipelago
02. Rats
03. Baba Yaga
04. Faster Then Light
05. Screens
06. South Australia
07. Rotter
08. Alcobatical
09. Jester
10. Can Of Worms

Run Time: 40:47
Release Date: November 13, 2015

Check out the album ‘Back To The Drawing Room’ here.