The Baby Seals – Chaos

After their latest single release of ‘I’d,d At Aldi’ back in March (a song that I can fully relate to!) that shared the band’s thoughts on why looking your age or younger is such a huge deal in the modern age, Baby Seals have now debuted their new album ‘Chaos’ that has just been unleashed on the punk community. What strikes you so almost immediately with this album, is the less is more sound, you get the whole DIY feel. Production seems to have been kept to a minimum, and I for one think this is for the better, music should be more of a feel than just putting an unnecessary shine on it. When ‘Yawn Pawn’ kicks in, your acutely aware of this approach, it almost sounds too raw, the fuzzy high gain bass has that live in front of the speaker thing going on, and this is damn great by the way, oh and lyrically it’s kinda on point. How can porn actually ever be anything more than a yawn, it’s like having too many Jelly Babies, it leaves you feeling sick and fed up, or then again, maybe not Jelly Babies (I love them too much), but you know what I mean.

That fuzzy bass sound is used to great effect throughout the whole album. ‘Vibrator’ gives this a whole new slant though, without going into the details that you will without doubt fully understand when you listen for yourself, it’s pretty damn close to being the polar opposite of the previously mentioned track, no yawns in this I’d say, a very liberating and true song for the grown ups of the world. This album has within it a sense of seeing the world from a grown up perspective, a less than carefree set of lyrics. Yes it’s got all the rebellion and anti bigotry you would want from a punk band, but it’s also filled with the real life issues that growing up throws at you. ‘Chaos’ feels like its saying, yes this is exactly how it feels when your world suddenly has so much more going on than ‘where do I get my next beer’ or ‘what gig do I go to next’. ‘Invisible Woman’ has a sense of tribe in its beat, it celebrates being a woman in all the ways it should be celebrated, an anti patriarchal rant at its best. But ‘Mild Misogynist’? Is that actually a thing, either you are, or your not, is where I’d be, but then again I’m more of a “having a dick doesn’t mean acting like one” kind of person, no getting away from the truth here though. ‘Nipple Hair’ is probably the catchiest song on the album, and has the most wonderful ideas running through it too, unless I’m misinterpreting the words here, it seems to give credence to choices being given back to the individual rather than dictated by trends, works on all levels for me.

Do I love this album? No, do I think you all should go listen YES!, it’s got moments of greatness, it’s got a few seconds of non greatness here and there, but then again am I actually saying yes I do love it really, oh hell, I don’t know, yes I do, no I don’t, I get why the title is Chaos now. It’s a confusing album, that I’m guessing is a grower, it throws up so much thought, but it’s fun too, that’s for sure. Go buy it, I’m sure you won’t regret it, you might even feel all grown up and liberated.

Chaos is out now via Trapped Animal Records

The Baby Seals‘ Facebook is HERE and their website HERE