When I started this blog I had the intention of sharing albums that I thought people would love – old or new – but with the internet there is so much new music at my fingertips that I sometimes lose sight of the albums I listen to on a regular basis. The albums that I listen to at work and put on while we’re making dinner – the ones that I love, aren’t getting enough love.

I would love to say that I found this band in obscurity and get my piece of the “ I liked them before they were mainstream” pie, the truth is that they didn’t join my library until last summer.

Bad Veins is a band that began their musical journey in 2006 but making sure that things were done the way they had envisioned, their debut didn’t drop until 2009. Their self-titled debut had a lot of buzz, and they followed up with their 2010 The Outliers EP, but we haven’t heard much from them since.

Cincinnati duo, Benjamin Davis and Sebastien Schultz put out a debut that was hard to deny. The band started as Davis’ solo project, but once he added the live drumming of Shultz, he knew he had found what he was missing.

Opening track “Found” starts with a marching band drum that brings me back to my days of parade baton twirling (no joke) but soon you hear a trumpet and piano – great layers. Each track offers something different, but never strays too far so that the album is incohesive – kind of like different hues of the same colour. I love the intensity of the vocals on “Crosseyed”, listen around the 0:37 – something in the way he says “cause I can’t take it back” is just perfect. And when a synthesizer or something kicks in at 2:17. Love that.

Bad Veins – Crosseyed
Bad Veins – Crosseyed

I also love when a lot of thought is put into the flow of an album. When the songs seem like they’re in the perfect order so that each song is able to shine. They have a song called “The Ending”, but “Go Home” is the perfect ending to this album

Bad Veins – Go Home
Bad Veins – Go Home

There are a lot of single tracks that I hear and love, but the album doesn’t live up to their best effort. On Toe Jams, I try to share albums that I love all the way through, or at least 5 tracks. This LP is played on repeat start to finish. If I was a musician, I would consider this a mission accomplished.

According to their Twitter, they are in the studio and working on new material so I will keep you posted on any release dates. If you like what you hear I really suggest grabbing this album. And if you already have it, let me know your thoughts.

As Always,

Happy Listening!
 
* If you are a member or manager of the above band and you would like your track removed, please contact us and we will swiftly oblige. Fans – new or old – please support these bands by using your coffee money to buy their records.