by Derric Miller
— Managing Editor—
If you want to hear what kind of attitude New York-based Punk Rock band Bad Mary plays with, it doesn’t take much more than a minute into their new EP to hear lead singer Amanda Mac snarl, “Bashing on your keyboard, like you’re the fucking king … everybody likes to talk too much!” The EP is called Glitter Bomb, and it’s a brief foray into a band that needs to at least double their output and get a full-length out soon.
“Motor Mouth” is that aforementioned opening song, and it’s a grimy, dirty bit of rat-a-tat-tat Punk noise. It’s also played with a surprising technicality that lets you know, yes, it’s Punk, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play the hell out of their instruments.
As a female-fronted band, they are going to (fairly or not) get comparisons to other bands, and on “Will You Still Love Me,” at least vocally, there’s a lot of No Doubt-era Gwen Stefani in the vocals. In fact, as a band that originally got together to play covers, there’s little “doubt” that the band played a No Doubt song or two. Anyway, at three minutes, it’s the longest song on the EP, and also the one that sounds the most like a hit song on Glitter Bomb.
The title track is another burner, two minutes of breakneck speed. Mac either studied voice or is just insanely articulate, because every word, though biting, is clear as hell. It’s nice to see sloppiness isn’t part of Bad Mary’s repertoire. While sometimes a bit throaty, melody is always at the forefront in her vocals.
Wanna know what the Misfits would sound like if Amanda Mac was their lead singer? Check out “Hybrid Moments.” This is the best song, easily, on the release and holy guacamole can she channel Misfits-era Glenn Danzig, but it helps to have dual vocals on this track.
Everyone wants to be big in Japan, including Bad Mary, thus they end it with “Japan.” This one is a bit disjointed, with some more hyper speed delivered vocal moments, and sort of falls off on the quality the other tracks confidently fist-bumped with.
Glitter Bomb wets the whistle and makes you want to hear more, which is what an EP should do. You’ll hear the shout-outs to the Ramones, and Green Day, but there’s just more razors being thrown around sonically, which is a good thing. The best songs are great, the average ones are just there, but the band shows a lot of snarky promise, filled with deserved bravado.
Genre: Punk Rock
Band:
Amanda Mac (lead vocals)
Mike Staub (bass/vocals)
Bill Mac (drums)
David Henderson (guitar)
Tracklisting:
1. Motor Mouth
2. Will You Still Love Me
3. Glitter Bomb
4. Hybrid Moments
5. Soul Mate
6. Japan
Label: Bad Pill
Web:
www.badmary.com
