Uh, I’m crushing hard on the Bourbon Armory. I’ll be honest... I saw this show listing and even though I’d never heard of the band before, the fact that the word “bourbon” was in the title, and I happen to love bourbon, compelled me to review them regardless of their sound. If they played polka rap, I would want to write about them.

And if I believed in fate, I would say it was destiny that I’m doing this, because they sound exactly like a blend of every band I am obsessed with. I listen to one song and think whoa, Tool! (How I love Tool. When is Maynard gonna stop making wine in Arizona and make another damn album? We all literally sit on our hands and wait for a new Tool album to drop every decade. Lame, but they are so worth the wait.) Another song... White Stripes. New song... Green Day. I check the band’s MySpace and lo and behold, me and the guys from Bourbon Armory are all crushing on the same bands. I guess we all have excellent taste in jams. And if you’re gonna steal sounds (ahem, I meant “be inspired by”), make sure they’re good ones is all I’m sayin’. Do them justice, do ‘em up right.

Which they do. Mmm, the metallic sounds of a ripped amplifier. A distorted chord thrown in here and there. One charismatic, throaty-voiced frontman, like Maynard from Tool. Cascading guitars. It’s all downright amazing, loud, rambunctious, and relaxing. Bourbon Armory took the best of every group I give a hoot about and just hit blend. Half of what I listened to has a very NIN vibe (the older stuff and a bit of The Slip) on tracks like “Vices”, and then a song change literally makes me think I’m listening to Lateralus for the first time. (Self-titled album available, and according to the band’s MySpace page, new album in the works.) The best is the Green Day-esque punk drum work (check out “Gnarwall”), it creeps up and changes the direction of the song in a whole new way. Whatever a bourbon armory is, they sound like it, burning and acidic at first, leaves a mad yummy aftertaste. Ahhh, to hear them live would be like a monster Bonnaroo-type megaconcert where all my boys played at once. My head would probably explode; I can’t say for sure, because I have yet to go to Lollapalooza and that will probably be the musical litmus test for me. Then again, it probably wouldn’t.

Thursday, January 21, 2010, 9 p.m.
The Bourbon Armory w/ Willpowerless, The Double Planet
The Note, 142 E Market St, West Chester, PA 19382
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