No Glory – Bastardes
No Glory is the second album from Swedish punkrockers Bastardes. The band is a project started by Stefan from City Saints and Arild from Troublemakers. The first album was made by the two of them together with guest musicians, but they have now been joined by Daniel from the Liptones and Daniel from Bombfors.
I can’t remember having listened to the debut album so I went into this without any prior expectations, not knowing in which direction Stefan and Arild had taken this project. What comes to me on the first track is super melodic punkrock/Oi, very much reminiscent of Cock Sparrer (who also gets a mention on a track) when they are in their most melodic mood. If it hadn’t been for recognizing Stefan’s voice I could have been sure it was that band I was listening to. Bastardes doesn’t make a secret of the fact that they are very much inspired by Cock Sparrer though, guitarist Arid even stating that this is his tribute to the band.
And this echoes through the rest of the album. It’s melodic, it doesn’t always go full speed but dares to slow things down every now and then. Lyrically it threads the pretty classic punkrock/Oi territory. It’s the gang against the world, united, strong and to hell with authorities, the passion for music and the need to speak up, in a beer fueled attitude. It’s music standing on the shoulders of giants, but that doesn’t take away from the stellar writing and musicianship on this album. Just because you have great influences doesn’t mean it’s straightforward and easy to write your own great songs.
It’s such an easy listen, nothing that begs to be skipped and it’s pretty engaging throughout. I say pretty engaging, because I can at times feel a little bit repetitive in that I can have a hard time separating the songs (perhaps this feeling is being strengthened by the fact I got the record in two files, one being the A-side and the other the B-side, making it harder to tell what track I’m actually listening to). But after having listened to it some more times that feeling starts to fade away more and more.
No Glory by Bastardes is a celebration of and a tribute to one of the longest standing acts in Oi/punkrock, and it does it with the honors. Great songs throughout, and the album doesn’t right away make me want to listen to Cock Sparrer, but rather play the album once again. It’s not original, it’s not very surprising either lyrically or musically, but more importantly, it’s damn good.
The album is being released in August and Skrutt Magazine has made an interview with the band that can be read here.