Bobot Adrenaline

Have you ever been a fan of a band for a few years? You wait and wait for them to release a record and then when they release it, you’re disappointed. The vocals sound all clean and the drums sound like a drum machine did them. This is not the case with Bobot Adrenaline’s new CD, Unfurled.

I’ve been going to Bobot Adrenaline’s shows for roughly 5 years. I’ve seen them through two drummers. I saw them open for Pinhead Gunpowder at the Troubadour. This disc captures their live sound almost perfectly. Almost every track sounds like the band is playing right next to you. Not to diminish Bobot’s own role in the production of these recordings, but when you read the producer credits and the Replacements’ Tommy Stinson and the Pixies’ Joey Santiago’s names jump out at you, it all sort of makes sense.

This band is not a Ska band but I do think that Pepper Berry’s guitar riffs sometime have a sort of Ska-Punk quality to them. Corey MacGregor’s bass lines groove in, out and around Pepper’s rhythmic playing. Brian Panzeri’s drums are way more technical than your average Punk band’s doop dap doop dap beat. The sound is tighter than spandex pants on a fat man. The horns of Midway members, Emily Weber and Kevin Fischer, on the song, “School of Americas”, is an added wonderful treat.

Lyrically, Pepper tackles more social issues than you can shake a stick at. However, this record isn’t your usual Bush Sucks-Punks Rule-Snobs vs. Slobs type fodder. Pepper is eloquent and well informed. In the song, “State of Affairs”, he writes about Coca Cola vs. the Farmers in india, U.S. arms deals with Pakistan and the Halliburton scandal just to name a few. More of Pepper’s takes on world issues can be found on his blog, citizenalert. blogspot. com.


What more can be said? Fan favorite, “Radio Tikrit” kicks it off and what better way to end a CD than with the song, “So Long”. This disc is guaranteed not to end up being a shiny coaster on your coffee table. Get it now.

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/bobotadrenaline

-Joe Dana-