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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Review: The BAcksliders - Thank You


The BAcksliders - Thank You
2009, The BAcksliders


The BAcksliders are a Dallas, Texas quartet featuring Kim Bonner, also known as Kim Pendleton, lead vocalist of Vibrolux. The BAcksliders are filled out by Chris Bonner on guitar, Jason Bonner on bass and Taylor Young on drums. The BAcksliders play an aggressive form of Garage Rock based in classic Rhythm N Blues, and at their best will make you want to get up and dance. The BAcksliders 3rd album, Thank You, was released in May of 2009.

Thank You opens with Have You Ever Been Down, sounding a bit like Janice Joplin gone punk. Old school Rhythm N Blues with pink attitude makes you want to dance. The guitar work and energy are great, and there's a bit of a Garage quality to the overall sound. Maybelline Don't is a well-written tune that's highly listenable. Vocalist Kim Bonner has the rasp of Joplin without the extreme screaming dynamics. Last Call might be subtitled "Theme For A Career Bar Band", as it plays off the continuing experiences of the band on the road. The second half of the disc just doesn't match up the energy of the songs above with one exception. The BAcksliders' take on Little Richard's Keep A Knockin' blows the roof off.

The BAcksliders really know how to rock, even if they don't always sound the part. The musicianship throughout Thank You is outstanding. Vocalist Kim Bonner is competent but doesn't set the world on fire here. Male vocalist Chris Bonner was excellent; it would be good to hear more from him in the future. For the time being, Thank You made a strong if uneven first impression.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The BAcksliders at http://www.thebacksliders.com/ or www.myspace.com/theBAcksliders. You can download The BAcksliders’ Thank You for free on their website.

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