Bastard Poetry - whole.

Bastard Poetry 

Whole.
self-released; 2013

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Hailing from Saskatoon Canada Bastard Poetry is a four-piece rock/punk/ acoustic band that recently released their debut album entitled Whole. There isn’t a whole lot of guesswork as to what you are to expect from the group. The album serves up eleven straightforward tunes that well written, full of energy and have good production value. 

Whole. opens with a quick “Intro,” which revolves around guitar harmonies and an overly serious spoken word piece before seguing into “Optimism.” “Optimism” takes its cues from commercial pop 101 and revolves around acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums and a vocalist whose voice sounds ubiquitous. It’s a solid song that has a good amount of energy and quickly establishes the foundation of the band. 

“Stages” is one of the highlights of the album and also has one of the most inspired vocal performances. The vocalist contorts his voice and sounds different on almost every measure. On the first measure he clearly goes punk rock but by the second verse the “attitude” is gone and he sounds like a rock singer. 

“Starsy” choses to go for straight forward lyrics rather than poetic ramblings. The vocalist sings “I've been drunk more than i should. / Another night of this, i dunno if i could. / My heart sorta hurts from the night we met / Never said it then, just dealt with regret / So now i'm trying to move on.” The album closes with “Lonely Little Camping Song,” which is the band’s attempt to end with an emotionally resonant song that the listeners will remember. 

Bastard Poetry is a band that seems destined to be played on commercial rock radio. The band plays comfortably inside a box that sticks to a tried and true formula that appeals to a certain demographic. They may not be the most original sounding band in the world but they deliver consistency as well as a couple of inspired moments. 

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