Bad Astronaut - Twelve steps one giant disappointment

Honest Don´s records . release date: 11-10-06 . written by Oliver

The Bad Astronaut era has come to an end: This is their last record ever. Joey Cape of Lagwagon has found the band together with Derrick Ploude who recently died. Derrick has played in a few bands, like Sweet Action, which was a Mad Caddies side project and he also played drums on the very first The Ataris record. Derrick has commit suicide one year ago. What you hear on "12 small steps.." are the original drums paths, played by Derrick Ploude about one year ago. Joey thought of throwing away all the recorded material, but then he felt that it might be the right way to release all the music and to dedicate the material to Derrick and his fans. Bad Astronaut still sounds so mature and intelligent like on the previous releases before. Derricks drum style is distinctive for real, but I need to admit, that "12 small steps" is not really the bands best record. I mean, their style has not really changed, when you compare it to the foregoer records. On the new record you find again dark and depressive music, paired with organ and intelligent songwriting. But I do miss all the creativity, the piano passages and the breathtaking melodies that impressed me so much on their previous releases. I was so stocked, when "Houston We Have A Drinking Problem" came out, because it contained violins, piano and a lot more. This time there is still piano, synthesizer and organ on the record to find, but it seems, as if the band has not payed to much attention this time on such instruments. I have the impression, that the drums and the guitars should be lighted up. This is a huge minus in my opinion, because I really miss those depressive piano and violin parts. Just think of their songs like "Jessica Suicide" (EP) or "These Days". Those songs always impressed me very much and I really liked them more than even the newer Lagwagon stuff. Anyway, BA is a great band, inspired by serious songwriters, like Ellioth Smith and Scott Garth and so I can assure you, that you´ll buy a solid record, if you decide to get the record.

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Rank: 3 out of 5

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