Is it a crime punishable by death to rip off Bob Dylan? It should be. To be fair to these northern Californians, they don’t sound all that much like Bob himself, bar the name, instead coming up with a strange Muse/poppier Mars Volta sound. Of the six tracks on offer, it’s all very palatable; at times BOTT come across as quite a nice little band, but they also stroll a bit too close towards bland territory. Opener ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’ is a little too nicely packaged, while ‘In Flames‘ builds up but never quite hits the spot.
But for all its niceities, there are a couple of gems hidden away. ‘Tonight’ finally gets somewhere like what you’d expect a band like this to sound like, while ‘Love Is Dead’ really does stand out a lot. The bassline thuds nicely and the vocals waiver enough to stray off the generic line, although if there were ever going to be any Muse comparisons they would come on this song. Still, the choppy guitars and vocal harmonies get a big thumbs up from me and rescue an EP that all too often flatters to deceive. There’s quite obviously a lot of talent here and with a few bigger tours lined up this year, I’d expect BOTT to make a name for themselves. A couple of good songs suggest bigger things may be around the corner if they sharpen up their act.
www.bloodonthetracksmusic.com
Em Dash Music
paul