Album Review: Bandaid Brigade – I’m Separate

Hello? Is this The Punk Site? It is? Oh, ok … When an album by a US punk ‘supergroup’ drops onto the digital doormat, the last thing you expect is a kind of breezy nostalgia redolent of all the giant pop hits of bygone eras. For that is what I’m Separate is – unashamedly melodic, warm and fuzzy mainstream pop with just enough dissonant episodes to retain that punk badge. OK, the punker-than-you, self-elected punk elite and angry crusties are unlikely to approve of this kind of polished and soulful lite-rock, with its piano motifs and jaunty saxophone solos, but c’est la vie. It’s their loss.

So how did members of PEARS, Scorpios/Gods of Mount Olympus, Street Dogs and the Gamits come to be recording this fine collection of instantly comfortable yet also oddly unsettling songs? It’s partly the result of PEARS‘ Zach Quinn connecting with Scorpios/Gods of Mount Olympus’ Brian Wahlstrom on a song-writing/recording retreat. Complemented by Paul Rucker of Street Dogs and Chris Fogal of The Gamits, the pair have created a sublime and slick pop unit that so polished, you could see your face in it. But is it all surface and no substance? Definitely not. There is a dark genius at work here that is suspiciously self-aware and knowing. That is to say, the eclecticism is clearly joyously deliberate. The intention must be to bewilder and unsettle. Yet you can enjoy this without giving it any thought at all. When you start to unpick these gorgeous arrangements, or listen to the more introspective tracks such as I Think It’s Going To Rain Today, it’s clear that there is nothing left to chance. All of the careful Jesse’s Girl guitar posturing and fizzy organ of Break The Grid can only be designed to generate feelings of nostalgia for an age gone by. Yet it’s modern. And if Travel Light sounds like the theme to The Love Boat, you can bet your ass it’s supposed to. Nice work.

You can catch Bandaid Brigade on a short tour in the UK (8 dates) from 29^th January.

I’m Separate is s now available via Apple Music, Bandcamp and Spotify.