Blowout – No Beer, No Dad

Blowout are a quartet that formed in early 2014 in the basement in Portland, Oregon where they recorded their first EP, We All Float Down Here. No Beer, No Dad is their debut album and it will be released on August 5th 2016 via Lauren Records.

This is a good natured upbeat indie and emo tinged album that is not without it’s charms. The winsome vocals are light and refreshing, the guitars are a frantic melange of sounds and styles and the drums are precise, clear and hold the whole thing together. On the downside the production on No Beer, No Dad seems to be muddied by all the instruments being fairly equal in the mix, the bright vocals can come across as low and understated and this lessens the impact of the tracks, I found that Laken Wright‘s voice tended to get swamped when the upbeat trio of guitars was in full attack.

You get the feeling that under their upbeat exterior there is a melancholy tone underlying their material, but as Blowout admit they are influenced by 90’s emo you would exect a degree of despondency to creep into proceedings, but it doesn’t seem to come naturally to them. For all this albums faults you can’t help succumbing to, what on your first exposure appears to be, No Beer, No Dad‘s innocent charms, but repeated listens reveal there is some substance underneath the bubbly surface.

If you exclude the somewhat extraneous tracks, Intro and Interlude, which, as these things usually do, just break up the flow of the record, this is a consistent and enjoyable record. It’s a bubbly, effervescent and highly enjoyable listen, but I can’t help shake the feeling that with a few tweaks this could have been a great album.

No Beer, No Dad can be pre ordered here