When I woke up to an email from Suzy asking me to review a single from a band called ‘Bone Wars’, I knew it was going to be a spicy day. First of all, naming your band after a fight between two dinosaur-obsessed old dudes is so niche I can’t help but love it, and you’d be hard pressed to find another band that fits into the dinosaur rock niche (apart from the Zipheads, but for arguments sake). The band's debut single, Terrible Lizards, was released on January 31 and stands at just over 6 minutes.
This is an absolute marathon of a track, and I mean that in a positive way. It has all the stages of an endurance race — the excitement at the beginning when you hear a naughty lil’ Balkan folk riff (representing my heritage so nicely), the midpoint where you question how you ended up here, the prominent breakdown and reflecting fondly on the experience once it's over. It genuinely feels like they’ve combined three separate songs, but it all blends together rather nicely so you’re not left shrugging your shoulders. You don’t expect the progression, but it all somehow makes sense as a unit? Not sure how they made it work but it’s an enjoyable experience overall.
One thing that stands out about this track is the range of different sounds it blends together, with parts of it sounding vaguely like Pink Floyd in terms of instrumentals, but then it morphs into a synth plus guitar breakdown and then it’s back to the Balkan riff. This definitely helps to keep the track spicy, but it removes the “ear worm” factor for me slightly. Bone Wars, who are signed by the appropriately named Birds and Beasts Records, describe their artists as “independently esoteric”, which I’d be inclined to agree with, as music like this might not be for everybody. However, I do think they have a unique sound and — with a bit of luck — they’ll have some success.
From a scan of the record label’s Instagram, they have been performing the new track at various venues near their home in the North of England, so people around the Yorkshire area may well be seeing more of them soon.
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