Customer Reviews

Bastards of the Beat

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just like upon hearing Whiskeytown's "Stangers Almanac"...which I fell in love with immediatley...and turned me on to Ryan Adams....I get the same chills and feelings from this cd.

This is the "feel good hit on the summer", that I gravitate towards nowadays, heartfelt, well sung and well played music like this. I highly recommend this cd....standout tracks for me..."I'll be around", "sleepsinging", "the sound" and "kiss catastrophe". With so much crap out there..good stuff like this shouldn't be missed or ignored....a real strong collection of songs...and I see a bright future for these guys.

I picked this CD a while back just to try something new. It didn't make into my CD player until recently and much to my surprise, it remains in regular rotation. This is a strong album, solid lyrically & musically. Categorizing is difficult, but I guess you could call it alternative soft rock. Very easy listening, enjoyable from start to finish, enough variety to remain interesting, and not too `jammy' (I'm not into jam bands at all). Puree the Lemonheads, Toad the Wet Sprocket & Bodeans and you'll start to hear The Damnwells, but they definitely have their own sound. Me Likey!

Incredible!! This really is!

"Bastards of the Beat" isn't just another good album by another good new rock band, this is a great band and the album they have given us is truly great!

I first came across the Damnwells' from a live show.. they totally blew me away.. they were so unique..Incredibly powerful and put on a great show.. I just had to hear the album.. and when I finally did I was blown away once more.. it all comes down to great music and great songs... and that's what's going to make this band last so long.. Theyve created something very special here, full of emotion, and I'm sure that very soon they will be a household name..

Great band, great music, amazing!

highly recommended

Pip

Front man/writer Alex Dezen seems like one of those old souls. . . The songs on Bastards Of The Beat range from heartfelt to playful to pensive. Dezen is one of the best new songwriters for this new millennium, echoing some of the best from the last one. This record contains songs that not only come to mean something to you, but stick with you for a long time to come. I predict that The Damnwells will be around for a long time to come, too. Fans of Wilco, Ryan Adams, Old 97s, R.E.M., and John Mayer shouldn't miss out on this great CD.

I found this album a few years ago and every time I listen to it I remember exactly where I was ever time I was listening to it. The Damnwells are the single most underrated bands of our time.

My husband brought this cd home for himself. We never have much overlap in our musical tastes, so it was awhile before I picked it up. He's more alt-country & blues. I'm more acoustic and jangle-rock. About the only artist we have ever agreed upon is the Replacements. After hearing this, though, I swiped it from him. It's MINE now. You could call it alt-country if you like. You could compare it to Whiskeytown and its temperamental, prolific singer, Ryan Adams. I hear that, but I hear other things as well. I hear a bit of U2 in Sleepsinging, and truthfully, U2 should WISH it were their song. It's powerful. I hear the Old 97s in New Delhi. I hear a bit of Paul Westerberg in I Will Keep the Bad Things From You, which I think is one of the most REAL and beautiful love songs I've ever heard. I never found the lyrics to be goofy, but earnest and realistic and downright sweet, instead. Old Paul should WISH that were his song as well. (BTW - I am a lyrics fanatic, and I never once found the lyrics on this cd lacking. They're intelligent, so the subject matter of song might not be obvious from the get-go, but they're certainly not throw-away lyrics.) Fans of good, intelligent, pop-rock music should pick this up. It grabs you from the start and leaves you wanting more -- which of course, I'll be getting when their next cd, Air Stereo, comes out August 15th. My husband and I are BOTH looking forward to it. :)

I first heard the Damnwells over the summer, when they were in Chicago opening for Cheap Trick. They put on a great show and I bought the album. I have been listening to it on my Mp3 player since then. The album is very good overall, but the standout tracks are the extemely catchy "Kiss Catastrophe", and "I'll be Around".

I was just exposed to the Damnwells for the first time earlier this week when they opened for Juliana Hatfield. I'll be totally honest...I got to the show early, but before the Damnwells came on I left to go eat. I planned to come back for Julianna.

I ended up only seeing the last two songs the band performed (including Sleepsinging). I was immediately disapointed that I didn't stay for the whole set. These guys were really good.

I went over to the merchandise table and bought this CD (Julianna Hatfield was staffing the table herself...damn I love her!). I popped it into my CD player on the way home and was not disapointed. This CD is a great effort by the band. It doesn't capture all of the energy and emotion of their live performance, but studio CDs rarely do. The songwriting is quite good though I believe future efforts may be more complex as the band matures.

I can't say that this CD will stand the test of time...it gets a little tedious after awhile (as opposed to say, Sonic Youth who's better albums seem to get BETTER with more listening). That said, I do think the CD is worth your hard earned dollar if you've already acquired some of the other truly great new music out there (e.g. My Morning Jacket's "It Moves", Sonic Youth's new CD "Sonic Nurse", Doves - "Lost Souls", Badly Drawn Boy's "The Hour of Bewilderbeast", ...And you will know us by the Trail of Dead - "Source Tags and Codes", etc.).

Happy listening!

I like this CD. It's a good rock/pop album with some very good guitar and flawless melodies in some cases. When I first got this album (because of all the wonderful recomendations I was getting on the itunes store and on this site) I fell for it immediately. The songs are catchy and the lead singer's (Dezen) voice is slightly goofy (in an adoring sort of way)yet inviting, and the casual fun atmoshpere the band sets is entrancing. However, the more i listened, the more i began to notice the lyrical deficiencies in many tracks. I know everyone says the lyrics are really good and are a plus for the album but i disagree. Dezen by no means writes complex songs, and even tracks like New Delhi, a fun bouncy number, could have a lot more depth. Some song lyrics seem almost juvenile like in "kiss catastrophe" and "I Will Keep The Bad Things From You." I'll spare you the tediousness of writing the lyrics out seeing as how there are a million sites that could provide you with those services. But trust me, they ain't pretty (minus two stars). The music is very good though, I suppose i'm just a stickler about well written songs. I got tired of this after a while and took it out of heavy rotation but that's just me. They're a solid band and I'd recommend them for anyone's music collection. If you like this CD check out their There's No One Left In Brooklyn But You - EP. It has the full length A**holes (although its not acoustic like you would be led to believe on this CD. that kinda pissed me off.) and some good acoustic versions. If you can get it in a bargain bin or used that'd be quite economical...

i got this album when some teacher of mone was giving it away and i happened to raise my hand first and its been great. they have a good raw sound and with one exception ilove the cd. one song, a******s was not that good. but the rest were great, like New Delhi with its great vocals and melody, aswell as electric harmony and one of the best songs on the album, Newborn History, which is a great slowish song with an addicting chorus. overall this heartfelt album is one of my favorites, and i haope the next album keeps this theme