Bad Boat: Lonely Doom

Lonely Doom by one-time Irish blues soaked doomsters Bad Boat is the second recent, short retrospective release of vocalist Tom Clarke's recorded output from Freak Flag records. With the rather spiffing two track single by Howlin' Widow (reviewed elsewhere on this site), being the other. Howlin' Widow, who Clarke would go on to join when Bad Boat folded, may well be rooted in the classic Sabbath, MC5, Blue Cheer mould. However Bad Boat were more reliant on a stoner-doom fixation for their inspiration, with comparisons to the likes of Fu Manchu and Cathedral being fair.

The band came together in the early 2000s, recording a pair of well received demos in 2004 and 2005, before releasing their only album, Blues Gone Black (great album title!) the next year. However it would be three years later before this now re-released four track effort saw the light of doom, featuring three original compositions and "Mechanical World", originally by Spirit. Only a handful of tracks there may be here, but the end results run to around the twenty five minute mark, making this limited edition 12" release decent value, especially when you consider the standard of the fare on offer. The opening title track sets the scene perfectly, with fuzzed up guitars and freaked out vocals making for a slow deliberate attack that somehow feels rather frantic, before "Mechanical World" is transformed from the quirky, yet hard hitting original into a surging staccato shock to the system. "Lucky To Be Breathing" puts the foot on the gas a little to add a shot of vitality to the gloom found elsewhere, which leaves "Uphill Struggle" (a title possibly derived from being a band this heavy trying to survive in Ireland) to spit and gargle with a truly hard hitting ferocity.

There are many, many bands out there operating in the dooming, stoner circuit. However had Bad Boat received the breaks, there's little doubt that they maybe should have been a major player in the scene. Pick up Lonely Doom to find out what could have been for yourself and while you're at it, grab a copy of the limited 7" single by Clarke's next band Howlin' Widow, which is even better.

Track Listing
1. Lonely Doom
2. Mechanical World
3. Lucky To Be Breathing
4. Uphill Struggle

Added: March 2nd 2013
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Freak Flag Recordings
Hits: 2433
Language: english

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