B DOLAN – FIGHT NAKED

Hip Hop stalwart B Dolan returns with his new album Fight Naked. As intriguing as the title may seem, the only think stripped down and out are the beats and his lyricism. The title track alone relishes heavily on the boom bap, and regardless of what you’ve been told, it remains a viable style of play. Dolan milks it for all it’s worth here. His phrasing, his wording fits perfectly within the mix of the catchy melody. He starts,“Even when after you burn the last book from out the library/the future is non-binary” and yes, it forces you to contemplate life a different way. The flexibility of his words jump right off the track, offering more than just two dimensions. There’s humor in “Advice To Young Writers,” which should be directed to those who mumble or create nonsensical rhymes while their popularity rises. The melody, still that boom bap, has a repetitive sound that never lets up lingering in the background. It’s a dissonant sound you won’t even notice until the track’s eventual conclusion. B Dolan marches to the beat of his own drum, and here it’s no different. These days, that’s rare.

BITTER BRANCHES – LET’S GIVE THE LAND BACK TO THE ANIMALS

The world is on fire. That’s what I told a pastor from a local church recently, as I expressed my own distaste for churches all around the country for either stepping in line with a fascist ideology or remaining completely quiet about social issues around us. Yeah, the world is on fire, and the embers are burning in our neighborhoods. More and more though, artists are stepping out and stepping up to eloquently delivers their disdain for the inhumanity that’s seeping in all around.

Philly’s Bitter Branches just released its sophomore release with Let’s Give The Land Back to The Animals (Equal Vision Records), its follow-up to the band’s 2022 full-length debut, Your Neighbors Are Failures. The new album is unwavering in the face of autocracy. While the authoritarianism may be masked as national patriotism, the band doesn’t remain silent. We shouldn’t get confused though, because Bitter Branches is much more than just a “political band” with a simple message. Comprised of vocalist Tim Singer(Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye), drummer Jeff Tirabassi (Walleye), guitarists Matt Ryan (Cavalry) and Kevin Sommerville  (Lighten Up!), and bassist/vocalist Dan Yemin (Paint It Black, Kid Dynamite, Lifetime), a pedigree as impressive as anything.

This is highly intuitive hardcore punk, which is unrelenting in its delivery and focus. Bitter Branches hold your attention from the start with the menacing “Rat Poison” as Singer’s words sting with every turn. The frantic interplay between band members is palpable as guitars smother the rhythm but allow breathing room. Oh, this is what we’re doing? Ok! At just two and a half minutes, the band can hold your attention to see what’s to follow. “Pity Party” gets heady as the band leaves room for Singer to explore the extent of what’s left of our humanity, for both people and animals. The song grinds heavily

“Basic Karate” initially leaves a good amount of open space as Singer spirals into the darker corners of his mind while the band unassumingly thunders into oblivion. Dissonant guitars ring out while the rhythm section holds things together. But we know it’s all hyperbole Singer delivers because deep down, he cares. But it’s “Here Comes The Chisel” that hits like a hammer with Singer’s dark & prickly words throughout the song. He screams “I don’t care what the other one says / I don’t care what the other one does / I don’t care what the other one thinks / I don’t care what the other one does / or think…!” and he directs his annoyance at “false prophets” before telling us “Here comes the chisel, you better start looking busy,” which is an obvious shot at corporate America. It’s when he screams, “generous with flag, incapable of shame,” this offers clearer imagery; doing the utmost with bland and blind patriotism, covered with lies, hate, and no compassion. The band circles around him and his guttural voice, a sheath of sorts, moving as one unit.

Do I come here with biases because Kiss It Goodbye was a favorite of mine back in the mid-90s? Maybe. Eh, to hell with it, yes, I do. But Let’s Give The Land Back To The Animals is more than just one part. Every member contributes their own identity to what Bitter Branches is and has become. Who knows, the government may plan on putting dissidents like them in detention camps for reprogramming and reeducation, but you can’t stop Bitter Branches. This is a force to be reckoned with. The group has created an album with a trajectory that shoots for the moon. And as the saying goes, even if it doesn’t reach the moon, the music on the band’s new album is going to be littered amongst the stars.